HMS ''L10'' was a L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat was sunk in 1918 by German torpedo boats.

Design and description

''L9'' and its successors were enlarged to accommodate 21-inch (53.3 cm) torpedoes and more fuel. The submarine had a length of

overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...

, 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 mean

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of .Gardiner & Gray, p. 93 They displaced on the surface and submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 38 officers and ratings.Akermann, p. 165 For surface running, the boats were powered by two 12-cylinder

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 engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

. When submerged each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the L class had a range of at . The boats were armed with four 21-inch

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 in the bow and two 18-inch (45 cm) in broadside mounts. They carried four reload torpedoes for the 21-inch tubes for a grand total of ten torpedoes of all sizes. They were also armed with a

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 ...

Construction and career

HMS ''L10'' was built at

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

by William Denny. She was assigned to serve in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

against German surface units counteracting German efforts to sow mines in British waters. Her greatest success led to her destruction, when on the morning of 3 October 1918, aged just under four months, the ''L10'' surfaced in the

Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (, ) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the Elb ...

with the mission of intercepting a German raiding party. This group, consisting of the torpedo boats , , and , had been delayed in the Bight because the ''S34'' had detonated a mine. The other torpedo boats were crowded round their damaged comrade, and so it was easy for ''L10''s commander, Alfred Edward Whitehouse to sneak into position and put a torpedo into the ''S33'', which began to sink. However, as she fired, the ''L10'' rose suddenly to the surface and was seen instantly by the ''V28'', ''S33'', ''S 60'' and ''V79''. Although she turned and tried to flee, ''L10'' was not fast enough to escape her pursuers and was rapidly chased down and sunk at 11:03 (CET) with all hands. ''S33'' was scuttling by a torpedo from ''S52''. ''L10'' was the only L-class boat to be lost 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 ...

Discovery

On 5 March 2020, it was announced that the wreck of ''L10'' had been found near the island of

Terschelling Terschelling (; ; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. ...

. The discovery was made by the Danish company JD-Contractor, who were searching for the Polish Submarine .

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:L10 British L-class submarines Ships built on the River Clyde 1918 ships World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Lost submarines of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Royal Navy ship names Maritime incidents in 1918 Warships lost in combat with all hands