HMS L26

HMS L26 was a L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat was not completed before the end of the war and was one of three L-class boats to serve during World War II. She was sunk as a target in 1946.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS L26
Builder	Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down	31 January 1917
Launched	29 May 1919
Completed	11 October 1926
Fate	Sunk as a target, 1 November 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	L-class submarine
Displacement	914 long tons (929 t) surfaced 1,089 long tons (1,106 t) submerged
Length	238 ft 7 in (72.7 m)
Beam	23 ft 6 in (7.2 m)
Draught	13 ft 3 in (4.0 m)
Installed power	2,400 bhp (1,800 kW) (diesel) 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) (electric)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) surfaced 10.5 kn (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Range	3,800 nmi (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) on the surface
Test depth	150 feet (45.7 m)
Complement	38
Armament	4 × bow 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 2 × beam 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × 4 in (102 mm) deck gun

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 238 feet 7 inches (72.7 m) overall, a beam of 23 feet 6 inches (7.2 m) and a mean draft of 13 feet 3 inches (4.0 m).^[1] They displaced 914 long tons (929 t) on the surface and 1,089 long tons (1,106 t) submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 35 officers and ratings.^[2] They had a diving depth of 150 feet (45.7 m).^[3]

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 12-cylinder Vickers^[4] 1,200-brake-horsepower (895 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 600-horsepower (447 kW) electric motor.^[1] They could reach 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) on the surface and 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) underwater. On the surface, the L class had a range of 3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[3]

The boats were armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes 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.^[5] They were also armed with a 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun.^[2]

Construction and career

HMS L26 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, launched on 29 May 1919.^[1] She was transferred to HM Dockyard, Portsmouth and was completed there on 11 October 1926.^[6] The boat was damaged in the Mediterranean in March 1929, but was repaired in Gibraltar.

On 7 October 1933, L26 and sister submarine L19 ran aground on manoeuvres off Kintyre but were quickly refloated. The next day, 8 October, L26 suffered an explosion in the battery compartment on board in Campbeltown Harbour, Scotland, which killed two and injured 10 crew.^[7] L26's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Commander John Hugh Lewis, was Court-martialled over the incidents, and was found guilty of stranding the submarine and failing to check L26's batteries for damage after the grounding. He was severely reprimanded and dismissed from L26 by the court,^[8] although a second hearing cleared him of blame for the explosion and re-instated him to command of L26.^[9]

At the onset of World War II, L26 was a member of the 6th Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth.^[10] From 20 September 1939 to 15 January 1940, the 6th Submarine Flotilla was deployed off Skagerrak, Jutland and Horns Reef.^[11] Beginning on 22 March 1941, the Royal Navy and Allies began deploying submarines off Brest, France to prevent the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst from leaving port. L26 was among the submarines assigned to the patrol.^[12]

She was transferred to Canada in 1943 as an anti-submarine training ship. She was based at Digby, Nova Scotia at HMCS Cornwallis and at Bermuda, attached to HMCS Somers Isles. Purchased by the Canadian government in 1946, L26 was sunk as a target for sonar testing off St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia on 25 September 1946.^[6] The wreck was rediscovered during the search for wreckage from the Swissair Flight 111 crash.^[13]

Notes

1. Gardiner & Gray, p. 93
2. Akermann, p. 165
3. Harrison, Chapter 11
4. Harrison, Chapter 25
5. Harrison, Chapter 27
6. Colledge, p. 350
7. "Explosion on Submarine". Kalgoorlie Miner. Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. 10 October 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 5 March 2020 – via Trove.
8. "Dismissed: Submarine Commander: Grounding of L26". The Examiner. Launceston, Tasmania. 27 October 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 5 March 2020 – via Trove.
9. "Submarine Mishap: Commander of L26 Reinstated". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 December 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 5 March 2020 – via Trove.
10. Rohwer, p. 1
11. Rohwer, p. 5
12. Rohwer, p. 65
13. "Ocean mystery solved near Nova Scotia". CBC News. 24 August 2000. Retrieved 9 April 2016.

References

• Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Harrison, A. N. (January 1979). "The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)". RN Subs. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Revised & Expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.

External links

• Description of the L26 wreck Archived 15 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine