River-class submarine
 HMS Thames
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | River-class |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | S class |
| Succeeded by | Grampus class |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 345 ft (105 m) |
| Beam | 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m) |
| Draught | 15 ft 11 in (4.85 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 61 |
| Armament |
|
The River class, or Thames class, were a class of submarines built for the Royal Navy. Operating during the Second World War, the three boats of the class comprised Thames, Severn and Clyde. All the submarines were named after rivers in the United Kingdom. One was lost during the war and the rest taken out of service following it.
Design[]
The River class was the last attempt by the Admiralty to produce "fleet submarines", submarines fast enough to operate as part of a fleet, which at the time meant being able to manage somewhere around 20 knots (37 km/h) while surfaced. The previous attempts had been the steam powered K-class submarines and the large 12-inch (305 mm) gunned M-class submarines. The M class were K-class hulls re-engined with diesels and modified to take a single 12 in (305 mm) naval gun directly forward of the conning tower.
A design was drawn up in the late 1920s and three vessels were built by Vickers in Barrow: Thames in 1932, and Severn and Clyde in 1935. The latter two were a little larger than Thames. Initially 20 were planned but changes in thinking and cost limited the building to just the three.
The design compromised on diving depth to keep weight down and speed up. They had a safe diving depth of some 300 feet (90 m) compared to the Odin class before them which had managed 500 feet (150 m). They were powered by two diesel engines delivering 8,000 bhp (6,000 kW). Two Ricardo engines drove generators that supercharged the diesels up to 10,000 bhp (7,500 kW). This gave them a surface speed of 22 knots (41 km/h).
Operational history[]
During the Second World War they initially operated in the North Sea and Mediterranean.
Thames was lost off Norway on 23 September 1940. Clyde was used to deliver supplies to the besieged island of Malta in September 1941. Severn and Clyde were in service in the Far East when they were taken out of service in mid to late 1945.
Boats[]
References[]
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (June 2008) |
Bibliography[]
- Caruana, Joseph (2012). "Emergency Victualling of Malta During WWII". Warship International. LXIX (4): 357–364. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946
- D.K. Brown - Nelson to Vanguard, Chatham Maritime Press ISBN 1-86176-136-8
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to River class submarines. |
- River-class submarines
- Submarine classes
- United Kingdom military submarine stubs