HMS ''K2'' was the second of the K class submarines and was built at HM Dockyard,

Portsmouth, England Portsmouth ( ) is a port city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in England not located primarily on the ...

. She was laid down on 13 November 1915 and was commissioned in May 1917 one year before the end of

World War I 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 ...

. In January 1917, ''K2'' was damaged by an explosion and fire during her first diving trials. On 11 January 1924, it collided with as they departed

Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains ...

. ''K2'' smashed a hole in the forward casing of ''K12'' and buckled her bows for about . On 7 November 1924, ''K2'' collided with during exercises. ''K2'' was sold on 13 July 1926 to John Cashmore Ltd for scrapping at Newport.

Design

Like all

British K-class submarine The K-class submarines were a class of steam-propelled submarines of the Royal Navy designed in 1913. Intended as large, fast vessels with the endurance and speed to operate with the Naval fleet, battle fleet, they gained notoriety and the ni ...

s, ''K2'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. It had a total length of , a beam of , and a draught of . Retrieved fro
Naval-History
on 20 August 2015. The submarine was powered by two oil-fired

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also o ...

boilers and one geared Brown-Curtis or Parsons steam turbine; this developed 10,500 ship horsepower (7,800 kW) to drive two screws. It also contained four electric motors each producing . It was also fitted with a diesel engine providing to be used when steam was being generated. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . It could operate at depths of at for . ''K2'' was fitted with a

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

, ten

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, and two

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

s. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bows, the midship section, and two were mounted on the deck. Its

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 fifty-nine crew members.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:K02 British K-class submarines Royal Navy ship names Ships built in Portsmouth 1916 ships