Name HMS R12 Commissioned 29 October 1919 Fate Sold, 21 February 1923 Construction started 1 December 1917 Length 50 m Builder Cammell Laird | Laid down 1 December 1917 Decommissioned December 1919 Class and type R-class submarine Launched 9 April 1918 Draft 3.51 m | |
HMS R12 was one of 10 R-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. The boat was not completed before the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1923.
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Design and description
The R-class submarine was designed to meet an Admiralty requirement for a specialised hunter-killer submarine with an emphasis on submerged performance. The boats had a length of 163 feet 9 inches (49.9 m) overall, a beam of 15 feet 3 inches (4.6 m) and a mean draft of 11 feet 6 inches (3.5 m). They displaced 410 long tons (420 t) on the surface and 503 long tons (511 t) submerged. The R-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 20 ratings. They had a diving depth of 150 feet (45.7 m).
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single eight-cylinder 240-brake-horsepower (179 kW) diesel engine that drove the single propeller shaft. When submerged it was driven by a 1,200-horsepower (895 kW) electric motor. They could reach 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) on the surface and 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) underwater. On the surface, the R class had a range of 2,400 nautical miles (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) and 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged.
The boats were armed with six 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. They were equipped with an array of five hydrophones in the bow to allow them to locate and engage targets while submerged.
Construction and career
HMS R12 was laid down on 1 December 1917 by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead, launched on 9 April 1918 and commissioned on 29 October 1919. She came too late to see any combat in World War I, like most of the other R class submarines. R12 was paid off in December 1919, and sold on 21 February 1923 to J. Smith.