HMS E1

HMS E1 (laid down as HMS D9) was a British E-class submarine that was built by Chatham Dockyard and cost £101,700. E1 was laid down on 14 February 1911. She was launched on 9 November 1912 and was commissioned on 6 May 1913. During World War I she was part of the British submarine flotilla in the Baltic.

Design
The early British E-class submarines, from E1 to E8, had a displacement of 652 LT at the surface and 795 LT while submerged. They had a length overall of 180 ft and a beam of 22 ft, and were powered by two 800 hp Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two 420 hp electric motors. The class had a maximum surface speed of 16 kn and a submerged speed of 10 kn, with a fuel capacity of 50 LT of diesel affording a range of 3225 mi when travelling at 10 kn, while submerged they had a range of 85 mi at 5 kn.

The early 'Group 1' E class boats were armed with four 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of eight torpedoes were carried. Group 1 boats were not fitted with a deck gun during construction, but those involved in the Dardanelles campaign had guns mounted forward of the conning tower while at Malta Dockyard.

E-Class submarines had wireless systems with 1 kW power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to 3 kW systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was 100 ft although in service some reached depths of below 200 ft. Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.

Crew
Her complement was three officers and 28 men.

Service history
E1 joined the 8th Submarine Flotilla, based at Portsmouth on commissioning.

She worked with HMS E5 and reconnoitered the Skagerrak in early October as a prelude to sending submarines into the Baltic. Then on 15 October 1914, she and HMS E9 sailed from Gorleston in a successful attempt to penetrate the German defences and enter the Baltic. On 18 October 1914, E1 unsuccessfully attacked the armoured cruiser SMS Victoria Louise in Kiel Bay. The torpedo ran too deep and missed. On 22 July 1915, E1 fired two torpedoes at the German Vorpostenboot (or patrol boat) Neumühlen, which missed. On 30 July 1915, she torpedoed and sank the German auxiliary minesweeper Aachen east-northeast of Östergarn, Gotland, Sweden. On 19 August 1915, she torpedoed and damaged the German battlecruiser SMS Moltke (23,000 tons) during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga.

E1's service ended on 3 April 1918 outside Helsingfors (now Helsinki), 1.5 nmi off Harmaja Light in the Gulf of Finland. She was scuttled by her crew, along with HMS E8, HMS E9, HMS E19, HMS C26, HMS C27, and HMS C35 to avoid seizure by advancing German forces which had landed nearby.