HMCS ''CH-14'' was an H-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

originally ordered for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as ''H14'' during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Constructed in the United States during their neutrality, the submarine was withheld from the Royal Navy until after the US entry into the war. Entering service at the very end of the war, the submarine saw no action and was laid up at

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

following the cessation of hostilities. The submarine was gifted to Canada in 1919 and was in service with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

from 1921 to 1922 as ''CH-14''. The submarine was sold for scrap and

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

in 1927.

Design and description

Ordered as part of the War Emergency Programme from

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

of the United States, the H class were constructed at two shipyards,

Canadian Vickers Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada from 1911 until 1944. A subsidiary of Vickers Limited, it built its own aircraft designs as well as others under licence. Canadair absorbed the Canadian Vi ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and the

Fore River Yard Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

based on the US H-class design.Gardiner and Gray, p. 92 The boats displaced while surfaced and submerged. They were

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of . They had a complement of 4 officers and 18 ratings.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 16 The submarines were powered by a twin-shift,

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

and two electric motors. This gave the boats a maximum surfaced speed of and a submerged speed of . They had a fuel capacity of of diesel fuel.Cocker, pp. 40–41 This gave them a range of at 10 knots while surfaced. The H class had a designed diving depth of . The submarines were armed with four 18 inch (450 mm) tubes in the bow for the six

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es they carried.

Operational history

Royal Navy service

HMS ''H14'' was ordered in December 1914 from Bethlehem Steel, constructed at the Fore River Yard in Quincy,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and completed in December 1915. Due to the neutrality of the United States at the time, the submarines were constructed in secret and the vessel's launch date was not recorded. The intention was to construct the submarines and deliver them unarmed to Canada, where their armament would be installed. When the American government discovered the construction, they impounded ''H14'' and her nine completed sister boats, only releasing them following their own declaration of war two years later.Perkins (1989), pp. 187–188 During their internement, six of the ten completed submarines were ceded to Chile, leaving four at the Fore River Shipyard. Following the US entry into the war, the remaining four submarines were to sail to the United Kingdom by March 1918. On 29 March, ''H14'' got underway with three of her sister boats for the United Kingdom,Perkins (1989), p. 188 via

. On 15 April, ''H14'' departed

for the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

in a group that consisted of some 40 Allied ships led by . Shortly after leaving port, ''H14'' collided with the oiler , necessitating a return to Bermuda. ''H14'' was towed back to Bermuda by on 18 April. The vessel returned to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

with serious defects. After repairs, ''H14'' and sister boat '' H15'' sailed for the United Kingdom, departing the United States on 9 November. The war ended while in transit and the two subs were ordered to Bermuda where they were laid up. The two subs were placed in reserve there until December 1918 when Canada agreed to their transfer from the Royal Navy.Perkins (1989), p. 203

Royal Canadian Navy service

''H14'' and ''H15'' were officially transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy on 7 February 1919. Taken to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

in May 1919, ''H14'' lay in a state of disrepair until April 1920 when the Royal Canadian Navy decided to refit and commission the submarine. The H class was used to replace the s. The two submarines were commissioned at Halifax on 21 April 1922. ''CH-14'' became operational in August and with her sister boat, made a series of port visits around the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

. During the winter months of 1921–22, the two submarines sailed to Bermuda for training exercises. Due to budget cuts, plans were made to get rid of the H-class submarines and ''CH-14'' was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

on 30 June 1922. In 1923, the Royal Canadian Navy began planning to reactivate the submarines. However, this proved too costly and instead the submarine was sold for scrap in 1927.Ferguson, p. 208

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

CH type submarines

Canada's military submarines
{{DEFAULTSORT:CH-14 Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy British H-class submarines Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1915 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom CH-class submarines