H.M.S. L 24 (1919)

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H.M.S. L 24 (1919)
Pendant Number: L.24[1]
Builder: Vickers[2]
Ordered: December, 1916[3]
Launched: 19 Feb, 1919[4]
Collision: 10 Jan, 1924[5]
Fate: with Resolution
H.M.S. L 24 was one of thirty-five "L" class submarines completed for the Royal Navy.

Service

L 24 was lost in a collision with H.M.S. Resolution eleven miles southwest of Portland Bill. She had been part of an exercise attack (the submarines discharging air blasts rather than dummy torpedoes, given the rough weather would prevent recovery of the valuable torpedoes) along with L 25 and some "H" class boats on the Fleet at the time of the accident, and went down nearly instantly with fourteen live mines on board as the submarines were executing the third of four planned attacks. L 24's periscope had been sighted shortly before she was struck. The submarine recovery vessel Moordale was dispatched to the scene, and ships dropped 11-pound indicator charges to encourage any survivors that help was at hand.

Though weather initially prevented divers from trying to locate the wreck, minesweepers Truro and Burslem succeeded in getting a hawser underneath a wreck located by a light ray operated by P38 late on the 11th. It was marked with a buoy. One widow, that of E.R.A. Wallace, had lost her first husband in the loss of the submarine A 3 to a similar accident before the war.[6][7]

It was decided that the submarine could not be salvaged and the dead were left entombed at a depth of thirty fathoms. A final tribute to the fallen was conducted on 19 January, and included four sloops and twelve submarines under command of Rear-Admiral Nicholson in the minesweeper Ross. After the memorial service at 10am, a salute was fired, "The Last Post" sounded by bugle and a wreath laid.[8]

Curiously, all three junior lieutenants lost aboard the submarine had the given name of Donald.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. pp. 82, 90.
  2. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 93.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 93.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 93.
  5. ↑ "British Naval Disaster." The Times (London, England), 11 Jan. 1924, p. 10.
  6. ↑ "British Naval Disaster." The Times (London, England), 11 Jan. 1924, p. 10.
  7. ↑ "The Lost L24." The Times (London, England), 12 Jan. 1924, p. 8.
  8. ↑ "The Dead In L24." The Times (London, England), 18 Jan. 1924, p. 9.
  9. ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/173. f. 184.
  10. ↑ Phillips Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/173. f. 184.
  11. ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 776.

Bibliography


"L" Class Submarine
L 1 Group
  L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4  
  L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8  
L 9 Group
L 9 L 10 L 15 L 16 L 18
L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23
L 24 L 26 L 27 L 32 L 33
L 9 Group Minelayers
L 11 L 12 L 14 L 17 L 25
L 50 Group
L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56
  L 69 L 71  
<– "K" Class Submarines (UK) "M" Class –>
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