"E" Class Submarine (1912)

A total of fifty-seven "E" Class Submarines entered service in the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy between 1913 and 1917.

Overview of 57 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
E 1	Chatham Royal Dockyard		9 Nov, 1912		Scuttled 8 Apr, 1918
E 2	Chatham Royal Dockyard		23 Nov, 1912		Sold 1921
E 3	Vickers		29 Oct, 1912		Torpedoed 18 Oct, 1914
E 4	Vickers		5 Feb, 1912		Collision 15 Aug, 1916
E 5	Vickers		17 May, 1912		Lost 7 Mar, 1916
E 6	Vickers		12 Nov, 1912		Mined 26 Dec, 1915
E 7	Chatham Royal Dockyard		2 Oct, 1913		Lost 8 Apr, 1918
E 8	Vickers		30 Oct, 1913		Scuttled 8 Apr, 1918
AE 1	Vickers		18 Jun, 1913		Lost 14 Sep, 1914
AE 2	Vickers		22 May, 1913		Scuttled 30 Apr, 1915
E 9	Vickers		29 Nov, 1913		Scuttled 8 Apr, 1918
E 10	Vickers		29 Nov, 1913	Aug, 1914	Lost 18 Jan, 1915
E 11	Vickers		23 Apr, 1914	Sep, 1914	Sold Mar, 1921
E 12	Chatham Royal Dockyard		5 Sep, 1914	Oct, 1914	Sold Mar, 1921
E 13	Chatham Royal Dockyard		22 Sep, 1914	Dec, 1914	Sold Dec, 1921
E 14	Vickers		7 Jul, 1914	Dec, 1914	Mined 27 Jan, 1918
E 15	Vickers		23 Apr, 1914	Oct, 1914	Lost 15 Apr, 1915
E 16	Vickers		23 Sep, 1914	Feb, 1915	Mined 22 Aug, 1916
E 17	Vickers		16 Jan, 1916	Apr, 1915	Wrecked 6 Jan, 1916
E 18	Vickers		4 Mar, 1915	Jun, 1915	Sunk 24 May, 1916
E 19	Vickers		13 May, 1915	Jul, 1915	Scuttled 8 Apr, 1918
E 20	Vickers		12 Jun, 1916	Aug, 1915	Sunk 5 Nov, 1915
E 21	Vickers		24 Jul, 1915	Oct, 1915	Sold Dec, 1921
E 22	Vickers		27 Aug, 1915	Nov, 1915	Torpedoed 25 Apr, 1916
E 23	Vickers		28 Sep, 1915	Dec, 1915	Sold Sep, 1922
E 25	Beardmore		23 Aug, 1915	Oct, 1915	Sold Dec, 1921
E 26	Beardmore		11 Nov, 1915	Dec, 1915	Lost 6 Jul, 1916
E 27	Yarrow		9 Jun, 1917	Aug, 1917	Sold Sep, 1922
E 29	Armstrong		1 Jun, 1915	Oct, 1915	Sold Feb, 1922
E 30	Armstrong		29 Jun, 1915	Dec, 1915	Lost 22 Nov, 1916
E 31	Scott		23 Aug, 1915	Dec, 1915	Sold Sep, 1922
E 32	J. S. White		16 Aug, 1916	Oct, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 33	Thornycroft		18 Apr, 1916	Nov, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 35	John Brown		20 May, 1916	Jul, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 36	John Brown		16 Sep, 1916	Nov, 1916	Lost 17 Jan, 1917
E 37	Fairfield		2 Sep, 1915	Mar, 1916	Lost 1 Dec, 1916
E 38	Fairfield		13 Jun, 1916	Jul, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 39	Palmer		18 May, 1916	Oct, 1916	Sold Oct, 1921
E 40	Palmer		9 Nov, 1916	May, 1917	Sold Dec, 1921
E 42	Cammell Laird		22 Oct, 1915	Feb, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 43	Swan Hunter		11 Nov, 1915	Mar, 1916	Sold Jan, 1921
E 44	Swan Hunter		21 Feb, 1916	Jul, 1916	Sold Oct, 1921
E 47	Fairfield		29 May, 1916	Oct, 1916	Lost 20 Aug, 1917
E 48	Fairfield		2 Aug, 1916	Mar, 1917	Sold Jul, 1928
E 49	Swan Hunter		18 Sep, 1916	Dec, 1916	Mined 12 Mar, 1917
E 50	John Brown		13 Nov, 1916	Jan, 1917	Mined 1 Feb, 1918
E 52	Denny		25 Jan, 1917	Mar, 1917	Sold Jan, 1921
E 53	Beardmore		1916	Mar, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 54	Beardmore		1916	May, 1916	Sold Dec, 1921
E 55	Denny		5 Feb, 1916	Mar, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 56	Denny		19 Jun, 1916	Aug, 1916	Sold Jun, 1923
E 24	Vickers		9 Dec, 1915	Jan, 1916	Mined 24 Mar, 1916
E 34	Thornycroft		27 Jan, 1917	Mar, 1917	Mined 20 Jul, 1918
E 41	Cammell Laird		22 Oct, 1915	Feb, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 45	Vickers		25 Jan, 1916	Aug, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 46	Cammell Laird		4 Apr, 1916	Oct, 1916	Sold Sep, 1922
E 51	Scott		30 Nov, 1916	Jan, 1917	Sold Oct, 1931

Performance

The Grand Fleet Battle Orders specified that the top speed on the surface was 14 knots, but that a more realistic "sea-going speed" was 12 knots.^[1]

History

E 28 was cancelled before completion.

On 11 November, 1914, a conference of representatives of shipbuilding firms were asked to prioritise their capacity to build "E" class boats, and this resulted in an order for 38 boats from 12 firms, with an additional two being ordered from Denny before the month was out.

Radio

By war's end, all boats of "E" class and later were given 3 kilowatt Poulsen wireless sets, affording ranges of 200 miles submarine-to-submarine, and 300-400 miles between shore stations and submarines. Reception of shore stations of 400 miles was common, and high power shore stations could be received over 500-600 miles.^[2]