HMS C16
Name: HMS C16
Builder: Vickers, Barrow
Laid down: 14 December 1906
Launched: 19 March 1908
Commissioned: 5 June 1908
Fate: Sold, 12 August 1922
Class and type: C-class submarine
287 long tons (292 t) surfaced
316 long tons (321 t) submerged
Length: 142 ft 3 in (43.4 m)
Beam: 13 ft 7 in (4.1 m)
Draught: 11 ft 6 in (3.5 m)
Installed power:
600 bhp (450 kW) petrol
300 hp (220 kW) electric
Propulsion:
1 × 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine
1 × electric motor
12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced
7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged
Range: 910 nmi (1,690 km; 1,050 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) on the surface
Test depth: 100 feet (30.5 m)
Complement: 2 officers and 14 ratings
Armament: 2 × 18 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tubes
HMS C16 was one of 38 C-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The boat survived the First World War and was sold for scrap in 1922.
1 Design and description
2 Construction and career
Design and description[edit]
The C class was essentially a repeat of the preceding B class, albeit with better performance underwater. The submarine had a length of 142 feet 3 inches (43.4 m) overall, a beam of 13 feet 7 inches (4.1 m) and a mean draft of 11 feet 6 inches (3.5 m). They displaced 287 long tons (292 t) on the surface and 316 long tons (321 t) submerged. The C-class submarines had a crew of two officers and fourteen ratings.[1]
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder 600-brake-horsepower (447 kW) Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 300-horsepower (224 kW) electric motor.[1] They could reach 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) on the surface and 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) underwater. On the surface, the C class had a range of 910 nautical miles (1,690 km; 1,050 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[2]
The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.[3]
Construction and career[edit]
C16 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, laid down on 14 December 1906 and was commissioned on 5 June 1908. The boat collided with C17 south of Cromer, Norfolk on 14 July 1909 when the steamer Eddystone drove through the flotilla - colliding with and sinking HMS C11. C16 was undamaged and participated in the Lord Mayor's Pageant (17-24 July 1909). C16 was sunk after being rammed at periscope depth by destroyer Melampus off Harwich on 16 April 1917. The boat bottomed out at 60 ft (18 m). A Mate – Samuel Anderson – was fired through a torpedo tube to try to escape, but unfortunately drowned. The captain – Lieutenant Harold Boase – tried to flood the boat in an effort to escape through the fore hatch, but the fender jammed the hatch, so the crew was trapped. The escape attempts were recorded by the commanding officer, and were found corked in a bottle found lying near him when the hull was salvaged. All the crew of C16 died. C16 was salvaged and recommissioned. C16 was finally sold on 12 August 1922.
^ a b Gardiner & Gray, p. 87
^ Harrison, Chapter 3
^ Harrison, Chapter 27
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)". Submariners Association: Barrow in Furness Branch. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
HMS C16 pages at MaritimeQuest
HMS C16 Roll of Honour
'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum
Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.
British C-class submarine
Preceded by: B-class
Followed by: D-class
List of submarines of the Royal Navy
List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1909
12 Jan: Sibyl Marston
24 Jan: Republic
4 Feb: Lobito
12 Feb: Penguin
6 Apr: HMS Blackwater
8 Apr: Mahratta
20 Apr: Eber Ward
29 May: Narara
11 Jun: Slavonia
12 Jul: John B. Cowle
14 Jul: HMS C11
July (unknown date): Waratah
5 Aug: Langton Grange, Lucania, Maori
11 Aug: USS Nezinscot
5 Sep: Eduard Bohlen
15 Sep: Francesco Morosini
16 Sep: Ocean Queen
September (unknown date): USS Katahdin
3 Oct: Sangstad
5 Oct: HMS Lee
5 Nov: Alligator
24 Nov: Alf
29 Nov: Ottawa
3 Dec: Ellan Vannin
8 Dec: Marquette & Bessemer No. 2
13 Dec: Governor Ames
26 Dec: Ada K. Damon
Unknown date: USS Nicholson, USS O'Brien
Other incidents
14 Jul: HMS C16, HMS C17
Unknown date: America, SMS Blücher
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1917
7 Apr: SMS Cormoran (scuttling), SS Maplewood
10 Apr: HMHS Salta
11 Apr: HMS Thrush
15 Apr: HMS Arcadian, Cameronia, USS Pike
16 Apr: HMS C16
17 Apr: Donegal, HMHS Lanfranc
19 Apr: SMS Seeadler
20 Apr: Malakand
21 Apr: SMS G42, SMS G85, SM UC-30
28 Apr: Medina
7 Apr: Lapland
14 Apr: HMS Veronica
16 Apr: HMS Melampus
28 Apr: Laura
Unknown date: Bohemia
March 1917 May 1917
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Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
British C-class submarines
Royal Navy ship names
Shipwrecks in the North Sea
World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea
Friendly fire incidents
British submarine accidents
Ships sunk in collisions
Maritime incidents in 1909
EngvarB from August 2014
North Sea articles missing geocoordinate data