HMS K8

HMS K8 was a British K class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 28 June 1915 and was commissioned on 6 March 1917. K8 was sold on 11 October 1923. It had a complement of fifty-nine crew members and had a length of 338 ft.

Design
K8 displaced 1800 LT when at the surface and 2600 LT while submerged. It had a total length of 338 ft, a beam of 26 ft, and a draught of 20 ft. The submarine was powered by two oil-fired Yarrow Shipbuilders boilers each supplying one geared Brown-Curtis or Parsons steam turbine; this developed 10,500 ship horsepower (7,800 kW) to drive two 7 ft screws. Submerged power came from four electric motors each producing 350 to 360 hp. It was also had an 800 hp diesel engine to be used when steam was being raised, or instead of raising steam.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 24 kn and a submerged speed of 9 to 9.5 kn. It could operate at depths of 150 ft at 2 kn for 80 nmi. K8 was armed with ten 18 in torpedo tubes, two 4 in deck guns, and a 3 in anti-aircraft gun. Its torpedo tubes were four in the bows, four in the midship section firing to the sides, and two were mounted on the deck in a rotating mounting. Its complement was fifty-nine crew members.