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British M Class SubmarineThe British Royal Navy M class submarines were a small class of diesel electric submarine built during World War I. The distinguishing feature of the M class was a 12 inch (305 mm) gun mounted in a turret forward of the conning tower. They were originally intended as coastal bombardment vessels but their purpose had been changed before detailed design begun. The intention was that merchant ships could be engaged at periscope depth or on the surface using the gun, rather than torpedoes. At that time torpedoes were considered inneffective against moving warships at more than 1000 yards. The weapon was normally fired from periscope depth using a simple bead sight on the end of the gun aligned with the target through the periscope at a range of around 1200 metres. The exposure time of the gun above the surface was around 75 seconds. The submarine had to surface to reload the gun, which would take about 3 minutes. The guns were 12 in/40 calibre Mark IX guns from spares for the Formidable-class battleships. The mounting allowed them to elevate by 20 degrees, depress 5 degrees and train 15 degrees in either direction from the centre line. M1 and M2 had 18 inch torpedo tubes whilst M3 and M4 had 21 inch diameter tubes and were 3 metres longer to accommodate them. However, in practice the concept was not very successful and only three of the four M-class boats ordered were completed, all between 1917 and 1918. M-class submarines are sometimes called submarine monitors. - M1 was the only one to enter service before the end of World War I but did not see action. She was lost with all hands while on exercise in the English Channel after a collision with a Swedish collier, SS Vidar, on 12 November 1925. The wreck of M1 was discovered by a diving team led by Innes McCartney in 1999 at a depth of 73 metres. Later that year the wreck was visited again by Richard Larn and a BBC TV documentary crew, and the resulting film was aired in March 2000.
- M2 was converted to a seaplane carrier in 1925, a hangar replacing the gun turret. She was lost off Chesil Beach on 26 January 1933. It is thought that the hangar door was opened prematurely. M2 lies in much shallower water, only 32 metres deep with the top of the conning tower only 20 metres below the surface at low tide. She is a popular attraction for local scuba divers with as many as six boats anchored above her on busy days.
- M3 was converted to a minelayer in 1927 with stowage for 100 mines, primarily to test the mine-handling equipment of the Porpoise class, and scrapped in 1932.
- M4 was broken up before competion.
Reference - Martin H. Brice M-class Submarines, Outline Publications, 1983, ISBN 0946784000
- D.K. Brown, The Grand Fleet, Warship Design and Development 1906-1922, Caxton Editions, 2003, ISBN 1840675314
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