Английская Википедия:HMS E54

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Шаблон:Infobox ship imageШаблон:Infobox ship careerШаблон:Infobox ship characteristics

HMS E54 was a British E-class submarine built by William Beardmore, Dalmuir. She was laid down on 1 February 1915 and was commissioned in May 1916. She sank the German submarines UC-10 on 21 August 1916 and U-81 on 1 May 1917. E54 was sold for scrap on 14 December 1921.

Design

Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E54 had a displacement of Шаблон:Convert at the surface and Шаблон:Convert while submerged. She had a total length of Шаблон:Convert[1] and a beam of Шаблон:Convert. She was powered by two Шаблон:Convert Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two Шаблон:Convert electric motors.[2][3] The submarine had a maximum surface speed of Шаблон:Convert and a submerged speed of Шаблон:Convert. British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of Шаблон:Convert of diesel and ranges of Шаблон:Convert when travelling at Шаблон:Convert.[1] E54 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at Шаблон:Convert.

E54 was armed with a [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder Шаблон:Convert]] QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.[2]

E-Class submarines had wireless systems with Шаблон:Convert power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to Шаблон:Convert systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was Шаблон:Convert although in service some reached depths of below Шаблон:Convert. Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.[1]

Service

In July 1916, E54 was listed as being part of the 8th Submarine Flotilla, part of the Harwich Force.[4] On 29 June 1916, E54 left Harwich to take part in the regular patrol by British submarines near Terschelling, returning to base on 6 July.[5] On 15 August 1916, E54 left Harwich for a patrol off the Dutch coast with the hope of intercepting Zeebrugge-bound German submarines.[6] On 20 August, while carrying out this patrol, E54 sighted a German submarine and fired two torpedoes which missed. Two more German submarines were sighted that day, but E54 did not manage to get into a position to deliver an attack against these submarines.[7] On 21 August, E54 spotted a fourth submarine, the minelaying submarine Шаблон:SMU, which was returning from a minelaying mission off the Humber estuary, near the Schouwen Bank lightship. E54 and attacked with two torpedoes, one of which struck UC-10, sinking the German submarine with all hands.[8][9]

From 19–27 February 1917, E54, together with the submarines Шаблон:HMS, Шаблон:HMS and Шаблон:HMS, and supported by the depot ship Шаблон:HMS, patrolled off the West coast of Ireland in order to counter German submarine attacks.[10] From the end of March, E54, together with E32, Шаблон:HMS and Шаблон:HMS, was deployed to Queenstown (now Cobh) in the South of Ireland for continued anti-submarine patrols.[10] On 29 April 1917, E54 was on patrol south of Ireland when a surfaced submarine was sighted. E54 attacked twice, firing a single torpedo each time, but the attacks were unsuccessful and the target passed out of view.[11] On the morning of 1 May, E54 sighted and attacked another submarine, but her torpedoes again missed.[11] Later that day, an explosion was heard by E54Шаблон:'s crew, and on going to investigate, spotted a steamer (the British ship Dorie) blowing off steam and down by the bow. E54 dived and then spotted the German submarine Шаблон:SMU, which had torpedoed Dorie and had surfaced to finish off the steamer. E54 fired two torpedoes at U-81, both of which hit, sinking the German submarine. E54 picked up seven survivors from U-81 and after determining that Dorie could still make port unassisted, returned to Queenstown to land her prisoners and replenish torpedoes. E54Шаблон:'s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander Robert Raikes was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order (i.e. a second award of the DSO).[11][12]

On 16 May 1917, E54, which was now operating out of Lough Swilly, was cruising off the Hebrides when a German submarine (probably Шаблон:SMU) and attacked with two torpedoes that missed. Later that day, U-30 torpedoed the British merchant ship Шаблон:SS, which broadcast a distress signal before sinking. The next day E54 spotted MiddlesexШаблон:'s boats, and was approaching them when the British destroyer Шаблон:HMS opened fire, forcing E54 to dive, and followed up with a depth charge before rescuing MiddlesexШаблон:'s crew.[13]

In July 1917, E54 was listed as being part of "VulcanШаблон:'s Flotilla" as part of the Northern Division of the Coast of Ireland Station and based at Rathmullan on Lough Swilly.[14] By August, E54 had moved with the Flotilla to Killybegs, on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal.[15] In October 1917, the flotilla, including E54 had moved to the Southern Division and was based at Berehaven.[16] In August 1918, E54 was listed as being based at Gibraltar.[17] E54 remained at Gibraltar at the end of the war on 11 November 1918.[18]

In February 1919, E54 was listed as attached to HMS Vernon, the torpedo school at Portsmouth.[19] In July that year, while still attached to Vernon, E54 was noted as having a special complement.[20] E54 was sold for scrap on 14 December 1921.[21]

References

Шаблон:Reflist

Bibliography

Шаблон:British E class submarine