HMS E26

HMS E26 was a British E-class submarine built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was, along with the future HMS E25, one of a pair of submarines ordered by the Ottoman Navy on 29 April 1914, but was taken over by the Royal Navy and assigned the E26 name. She was laid down in November 1914, launched on 11 November 1915, and was commissioned on 3 October 1915.

HMS E26 was lost with all hands in the North Sea, probably in the vicinity of the eastern Ems, on or about 3 July 1916. Her wreck has been found by a group of Dutch divers in 2006.

Design
Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E26 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. E26 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at 5 kn.

E26 was armed with a 12-pounder 76 mm QF gun, mounted 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.