HMS E54

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 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 . ''E54'' was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at .

''E54'' 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 tubes, 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 systems.

Service

In July 1916, ''E54'' was listed as being part of the 8th Submarine Flotilla, part of the Harwich Force. 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. On 15 August 1916, ''E54'' left Harwich for a patrol off the Dutch coast with the hope of intercepting Zeebrugge-bound German submarines. 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. On 21 August, ''E54'' spotted a fourth submarine, the minelaying submarine , 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. An early example of a Jolly Roger flag flown on return to port after this attack is on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.

From 19–27 February 1917, ''E54'', together with the submarines , and , and supported by the depot ship , patrolled off the West coast of Ireland in order to counter German submarine attacks. From the end of March, ''E54'', together with ''E32'', and , was deployed to Queenstown (now Cobh) in the South of Ireland for continued anti-submarine patrols. 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. On the morning of 1 May, ''E54'' sighted and attacked another submarine, but her torpedoes again missed. Later that day, an explosion was heard by ''E54''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 , 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. ''E54''s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander Robert Raikes was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order (i.e. a second award of the DSO).

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

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

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

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:E54
British E-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1916 ships
World War I submarines of the United Kingdom
Royal Navy ship names