HMS B11
HMS B11
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| History | |
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| Name: | HMS B11 |
| Builder: | Vickers |
| Launched: | 1906 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | B-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 142 ft (43 m) |
| Beam: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Height: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | petrol engine, single propeller |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Complement: | 15 (2 officers and 12 men) |
| Armament: |
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HMS B11 was the last boat of the Royal Navy's B-class of submarines. Launched in 1906, it is best known for carrying out a successful attack on the Ottoman battleship Mesûdiye in the Dardanelles, an action for which her captain received the Victoria Cross. It spent the remainder of its active life serving in the Mediterranean, being converted into a surface patrol craft late in the war.
The submarine was constructed by Vickers in Barrow and was launched on 24 February 1906. Fitting out was completed 11 July the same year.
Along with HMS B9 and HMS B10 the submarine was deployed to Malta in 1912.
In September 1914 the submarine was redeployed to Tenedos join the fleet watching the entrance of the Dardanelles.
Later in 1914 while on patrol off the Dardanelles B11 chased a torpedo boat for 4 miles up the straight.
In April 1915 after HMS E15 ran aground off Kephez point, HMS B11 was one of a number of boats to attempt to destroy the wreck. The attack failed.
On 20 May 1915 HMS B11 sighted SM UB-8 while on patrol off the Gulf of Smyrna. HMS B11 attempted to attack but was spotted and SM UB-8 then dived before escaping.
On 13 December 1914, B11, commanded by Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, entered the Dardanelles and torpedoed the Ottoman battleship Mesûdiye.
B11 had been selected for the mission over HMS B9 and HMS B10 due to having been fitted with a new battery. The French boats at the submarine base had been rejected as it was agreed that they were less suitable than the British submarines. Guards were constructed over the various projections on the submarine's hull to reduce the risk of snagging on mines.
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Wikipedia