Thames-class

The Thames class or River class were a class of submarines built for the Royal Navy. They were the last attempt by the British Admiralty to produce so-called "Fleet Submarines"; that is, submarines fast enough to operate, as part of a fleet that at that time meant being able to operate at a speed of around 20 knots (37 km/h) on the surface. Earlier attempts had been the K-Class steam-powered submersibles and the M-Class 305mm gunned submersibles (1940).

History

The design elaborated in the 1920s led to the construction of three units by the Vickers company in Barrow-in-Furness; the Thames in 1932 and the Severn and Clyde in 1935. The latter were slightly larger than the Thames. Initially 20 were planned but changes in thinking and budgets limited the series to only three units.

The problem was that they had external fuel tanks, riveted to the hull, which caused constant leaks. This design compromised the maximum immersion depth which had to be limited to 90m compared to the previous Odin Class which managed 150m. This issue was resolved in later models. The difference that the first submarine (Thames) had from the next two was that they were equipped with floating tanks in the superstructure.
They were powered by two diesel engines with a joint power of 8,000 hp; two Ricardo engines provided supercharging, being able to reach 10,000 hp, being able to reach more than 22 knots on the surface, making it the first diesel submarine to exceed 22 knots of speed. The three submarines could carry 12 M2 mines as an alternative to torpedoes. During World War II they initially operated in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. The Thames was lost on August 3, 1940, although the reason was never known, the possible collision with a mine in the Norwegian Sea is being considered. The Clyde was used to supply for the beleaguered island of Malta in September 1941. The Severn and Clyde were in service in the Far East of when they were decommissioned in mid to late 1945 and sold for scrapping in 1946.

Logbook

• Thames
  • 1939 - Assigned to the 2nd flotilla of submarines based in Dundee, Scotland.
  • 1940 - lost in August in front of the coast of Norway, possibly due to the clash with a mine.
• Clyde and Severn
  • 1939 - Sent to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
  • 1940 - Assigned to the 2nd submarine Flotilla based in Dundee, Scotland.
  • 1941 - Used as transport of goods during the siege of the island of Malta. They had their base in Alexandria, Egypt. The Clyde managed to transport around 1200 tons of supplements in September.
  • 1944 - They were sent to the Eastern fleet.