HMS ''E32'' was a

British E-class submarine The British E-class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D-class submarine. The E class served with the Royal Navy throughout World War I as the backbone of the submarine fleet. The last surviving E class submarines we ...

built by

J. Samuel White J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the Victorian era. During the 20th century it built destroyers and other naval craft for both the ...

Cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. She was launched on 16 August 1916 and commissioned in October 1916. HMS ''E32'' was sold in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

on 6 September 1922.

Design

Like all post-''E8''

s, ''E32'' had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of and a beam of . She was powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors.Akerman, P. (1989). ''Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955''. 149–150. Maritime Books.

/ref> The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of of diesel and ranges of when travelling at . ''E32'' was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at . ''E32'' was armed with a QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun, 12-pounder QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, 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 power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below . Some submarines contained

Fessenden oscillator A Fessenden oscillator is an electro-acoustic transducer invented by Reginald Fessenden, with development starting in 1912 at the Submarine Signal Company of Boston. It was the first successful acoustical echo ranging device. Similar in operat ...

systems.

Crew

Her

complement Complement may refer to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets * Complementary color, in the visu ...

was three officers and 28 men.

Service

''E32'' was built by

at their

shipyard. She was launched on 16 August 1916 and completed in October 1916. In November 1916, ''E32'' was listed as a member of the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, part of the

Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, it ...

. In February 1917, ''E32'' was one of for submarines that deployed with the depot ship for anti-U-boat patrols off Eagle Island. Patrols in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

continued, with ''E32'' spotting a German submarine on 8 March, but the German submarine escaped on the surface, outpacing ''E32''. On 5 April 1917, ''E32'' was operating with the decoy ship ''Q.13'' (the sloop ), when the merchant ship ''Benheather'' was torpedoed by the German submarine , but did not immediately sink. ''E32'' waited by the still floating wreck of ''Benheather'' for ''U-46'' to approach, and when the German submarine closed, fired three torpedoes, which missed.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:E32 British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy Ships built on the Isle of Wight 1916 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Royal Navy ship names