HMS X1
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| History | |
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| Name: | HM Submarine X1 |
| Builder: | HM Dockyard Chatham |
| Laid down: | 2 November 1921 |
| Launched: | 16 November 1923 |
| Commissioned: | December 1925 |
| Decommissioned: | 1936 |
| Fate: | Scrapped at Pembroke, 12 December 1936 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 363 ft 6 in (110.79 m) |
| Beam: | 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Endurance: |
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| Test depth: | 350 ft (110 m) |
| Complement: | 111 (11 officers and 100 ratings) |
| Armament: |
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HM Submarine X1 was conceived and designed as a submersible commerce raider for the Royal Navy; at the time of her launching she was the largest submarine in the world. The idea of a submarine cruiser had been proposed as early as 1915, but was not put into practice until 1921. X1, which was based on the uncompleted German U-173 class of 2,000-ton "U-cruisers", was laid down on 2 November 1921 at the Naval Dockyard Chatham and completed on 23 September 1925, commissioning in December 1925.
The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, of which Britain was a signatory, did not ban submarines but it did ban their use against merchant ships, which was X1's unacknowledged purpose; its armament had been designed to successfully engage the classes of vessels likely to be escorting convoys, such as destroyers and frigates. Therefore, a certain amount of secrecy surrounded X1, the government even going to the lengths of taking a national newspaper to court over its pictures of the new submarine following her launch, all copies of the paper being seized.
The X1's 1-inch (25 mm) thick pressure hull was 19 feet 7.5 inches (5.982 m) in diameter amidships, and was divided into 10 water-tight compartments. This was almost completely surrounded by her external hull, which also contained the main ballast tanks and most of her fuel. Her intended maximum diving depth was 500 feet (150 m), but was reduced to 350 feet (110 m) once in service.
She was expected to sink her targets using gunfire and so was given four 5.2-inch (130 mm) guns to be able to defeat a destroyer or armed merchant ship, although she was fitted with six bow tubes for 21-inch (530 mm) torpedoes to supplement her guns.
X1 carried four QF 5.2 inch Mk I guns in twin unarmoured turrets, one forward and one aft of the conning tower. They had a range of about 16,000 yards (15,000 m). A circular trunk ran from each mounting to the magazine in the pressure hull which contained 100 rounds per gun. A working chamber which was 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter encircled the trunk between the pressure hull and the gun mount. Her ammunition hoists were problematic and could not sustain the desired rate of fire of six rounds per gun per minute. Special ballast tanks were used to compensate for the loss of weight as ammunition was fired. Working and control of the guns required no less than 58 men. The fire-control tower was in the middle of the conning tower and had a top section that could be raised 2 feet (0.61 m) when in use. The upper control room was between the tower and the pressure hull. Just aft of the control room was the rangefinding room, with a 9-foot (2.7 m) rangefinder on the bridge that could be raised 8 feet (2.4 m).
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