HMS E20

HMS E20 was a British E-class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 25 November 1914 and was commissioned on 30 August 1915. She was sunk, torpedoed by SMU UB-14, on 6 November 1915.

Design
Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E20 had a displacement of 662 LT at the surface and 807 LT while submerged. She had a total length of 180 ft and a beam of 22 ft. She was powered by two 800 hp Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two 420 hp electric motors. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 16 kn and a submerged speed of 10 kn. British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of 50 LT of diesel and ranges of 3255 mi when travelling at 10 kn. E20 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at 5 kn.

E20 was fitted, possibly uniquely within her class, with a 6-inch howitzer deck gun, forward of the conning tower. She had five 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.

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.

Loss
Operating in the eastern Mediterranean, E20 was scheduled to rendez-vous with the FRENCH SUBMARINE Turquoise on 6 November 1915. However, on 30 October, Turkish forces sank the Turquoise off Nagara Point in the Dardanelles, refloating her shortly afterwards, her confidential papers retrieved intact. Unaware of her plight, E20 attempted to keep the rendez-vous. The Imperial German Navy submarine UB-14, which was at Constantinople, was duly sent to intercept E20, reportedly going so far as to radio messages in the latest British code. Upon arriving at the designated location, UB-14 surfaced and fired a torpedo at E20 from a distance of 500 m. E20's crew saw the torpedo, but it was too late to avoid the weapon. The torpedo hit E20's conning tower and sank her with the loss of 21 men. UB-14 rescued nine, including E20's captain who, reportedly, had been brushing his teeth at the time of the attack.