H.M.S. A 1 (1902)

H.M.S. A 1 (1902)
Builder:	Vickers^[1]
Launched:	9 Jul, 1902^[2]
Commissioned:	Jul, 1903^[3]
Rammed:	18 Mar, 1904^[4]
Fate:	by Berwick Castle

H.M.S. A 1 was one of thirteen "A" class coastal submarines completed for the Royal Navy.

Service

As the boat was being worked up for service, it was sometimes referred to as "No. 6 submarine", as she followed the five smaller experimental Holland type boats. On the evening of 12 February 1903 while she was taking on gasoline at Vicker's at Barrow-in-Furness, one of her batteries exploded. A ladder was thrown out of the conning tower and six men were injured to various extents.^[5]

During exercises with the Home Fleet off the Nab on the afternoon of 18 March, 1904, A 1 was run down by the Union-Castle mail steamer Berwick Castle while submerged. The submarine was supposed to carry out a mock attack on the second class protected cruiser Juno as Hazard and Firequeen observed. About fifteen minutes prior to the collision, Berwick Castle sighted A 1, apparently surfaced, four points off her port bow. A 1 submerged shortly thereafter, and an slight turn by the Berwick Castle brought her onto a collision course with the submarine. Admiral Fisher declared that any lookouts aboard the steamer could not have seen the submarine's periscope in time to avoid the collision. Aware that naval manoeuvres were in progress, Berwick Castle's crew mistook the impact of the collision with A 1 for a hit by a practice torpedo and she initially enlisted the assistance of Firequeen.^[6]^[7] The lost sub was located by divers after bubbles had indicated its position in seven fathoms. She bore damage indicating she'd been struck on the starboard side aft.^[8]

Although subsequently raised on 18 April 1904, A 1 was repaired but never recommissioned. Instead she was converted to a target vessel, and was sunk in that capacity in August 1911.^[9]

A 1 was the Royal Navy's first submarine loss.^[10]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant Loftus C. O. Mansergh, 20 July, 1903^[Inference] – 18 March, 1904^[11]
Lieutenant Philip E. U. Townshend, 1 January, 1910^[12] – 28 March, 1910
Lieutenant in Command Robert H. T. Raikes, 28 March, 1910^[13] – 4 April, 1910^[14]
Lieutenant in Command Noel F. Laurence, 4 April, 1910^[15] – 3 May, 1910^[16]
Lieutenant & Commander (I, Gr.) Cornelius O. Regnart, 3 May, 1910 – 19 September, 1910
Lieutenant Geoffrey N. Biggs, 16 January, 1911 – after 1 July, 1911 (left on paying off)

Footnotes

↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 86.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 86.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 86.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 86.
↑ "Accident at Barrow". The Times (London, England), Friday, Feb 13, 1903; pg. 4; Issue 37003.
↑ Telegram. C.-in-C. Portsmouth to Admiralty. 19 March, 1904. Reproduced in Lambert. p. 82-83.
↑ Sueter. p. 150-156.
↑ Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. p. 17.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 86.
↑ "Submarine Disaster." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jul 16, 1909; pg. 10; Issue 39013.
↑ Mansergh Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/141/107
↑ The Navy List. (April, 1910). p. 344.
↑ Raikes Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/94. pf. 220, 221.
↑ Raikes Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/94. pf. 220, 221.
↑ Laurence Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/175. f. 579.
↑ Laurence Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/175. f. 579.

Bibliography

Lambert, Nicholas (2001). The Submarine Service, 1900-1918. Aldershot: Ashgate for Navy Records Society.
Sueter, Commodore Murray F. (1907). The Evolution of The Submarine Boat Mine and Torpedo from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Time. Portsmouth: Gieve's.