Name HMS E23 Commissioned 6 December 1915 Class and type E class submarine Construction started 28 September 1914 | Laid down 28 September 1914 Fate Sold, 6 September 1922 Length 55 m | |
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Displacement 662 long tons (673 t) surfaced
807 long tons (820 t) submerged Builders Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness | ||
HMS E23 was an E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on the 28 September 1914 and was commissioned on 6 December 1915. E23 torpedoed the German dreadnought SMS Westfalen (18,900 tons), holing her off Terschelling on 19 August 1916. E23 was sold on 6 September 1922 in Sunderland.
Contents
Design
Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E23 had a displacement of 662 tonnes (730 short tons) at the surface and 807 tonnes (890 short tons) while submerged. She had a total length of 180 feet (55 m) and a beam length of 22 feet 8.5 inches (6.922 m). She was powered by two 800 horsepower (600 kW) Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two 420 horsepower (310 kW) electric motors. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) and a submerged speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of 50 tonnes (55 short tons) of diesel and ranges of 3,255 miles (5,238 km; 2,829 nmi) when travelling at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). E23 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).
E23 was armed with a 12-pounder QF gun, mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inches (460 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.
E-Class submarines had wireless systems with 1 kilowatt (1.3 hp) power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to 3 kilowatts (4.0 hp) systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was 100 feet (30 m) although in service some reached depths of below 200 feet (61 m). Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.
Crew
Her complement was three officers and 28 men.