HMS C8

HMS C8 was one of 38 C-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The boat survived the First World War and was sold for scrap in 1920.

Design and description
The C class was essentially a repeat of the preceding B class, albeit with better performance underwater. The submarine had a length of 142 ft overall, a beam of 13 ft and a mean draft of 11 ft. They displaced 287 LT on the surface and 316 LT submerged. The C-class submarines had a crew of two officers and fourteen ratings.

For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder 600 bhp Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 300 hp electric motor. They could reach 12 kn on the surface and 7 kn underwater. On the surface, the C class had a range of 910 nmi at 12 kn.

The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.

Construction and career
C8 was laid down on 9 December 1905 by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, launched on 15 February 1907 and completed on 23 May.

In 1910 C8 was part of the Nore Submarine Flotilla. On 16 December 1910 the flotilla, including C8 was leaving Harwich harbour when C8 collided with the tender HMS Elfin (1905), which was carrying sailors back to the depot ship HMS Thames (1885). Elfin sank with the loss of five men. During World War I, the boat was generally used for coastal defence and training. C8 was sold for scrap on 22 October 1920.