R class (1917) - Guide 311

The R class, early hunter-killer submarines of the British Royal Navy, are today's subject.

Read more about the the ship here:
The First Hunter-Killers: British "R" Class Submarines of 1917, by David Miller - Warship 1993

[cartmann]

R-class submarines: realtively well designed and functional subs. Tried to kill its intended target
K-class submarines: a monstrosity and a death trap for their crews 💀

[andrewfanner]

We forget in these days of computer simulations just how good the hull designers of the RCNC and testers at the Haslar facility really were. The results of their work were seen of such critical importance to the Navy that they were to be destroyed in the event of a risk of capture and, if possible, the testing facilities likewise. All hail Froude and his successors!

[janwitts]

As the first true hunter killer this was a credible effort...

[tomlindsay]

Been waiting for you to cover this class, they blew my mind when I first heard of them in my youth.

[brucealbert]

Impressive number of photos for ONE class so long ago.

[waynesworldofsci-tech]

Hot dog, what a neat technological leap into the future. It’s too bad they never had a chance to prove their effectiveness.

But the technology — just incredible.

As an aside, I used to work with Chloride on big battery deals. Heard from some of the old timers about WW2 submarine battery production. I wish I’d written it down. Basically all I remember now is the pressure to get production up.

[RCAvhstape]

Very cool, I had no idea somebody was building attack subs before the end of WWII, very ahead of their time.

[The_Modeling_Underdog]

My favourite class of RN submarines from WWI. They had several flaws, due to unforeseen shortcomings of the design and using some equipment and fittings from other RN submarines classes. Thing is, you watch R.3 on that final picture and all you can think is "that's some elegant boat if you ask me".

Thanks for covering this, Drach. Much appreciated.

[klobiforpresident]

Only after having played the naval* game "From The Depths" do I appreciate what it means for a teardrop shaped vessel to have bad seakeeping. For anyone who wonders, here's the layman's explanation : normally when a ship rolls the side of it gets pushed into the water (and water doesn't like being pushed around). When a vessel is cylindrical this does not happen because it's round, it's like rolling a brick versus rolling a --dough flattening thing. What're they called?-- rolling pin. The brick resists, while the rolling pin does not. It's literally called a rolling pin, would be weird if it didn't roll well.

The actual explanation is more complex, anyone curious can start looking up words like "metacentric height", "righting force", and "angle of vanishing stability".

*as it turns out boats are the worst craft, unfortunately.

[goranserka]

I was waiting for this one for a LOONG time. Congratulations for the excellent work!

[oldgamesinvestigator]

Wow... there really is nothing new under the sun. Who knew the tear drop shape was already figured out by the Brits when submarines were at their dawning age. Thanks, Drachinifel.

[hattrick]

I just watched the video on submarine hunting strategy during WW1 again yesterday afternoon. I found myself wondering about the R-class subs… I was going to do a brief research on them today and look, you did it for me lol

[useofweapons]

I always feel bad when a boat doesn't get a name. Thanks for the content.

[mitchelloates]

I'm a retired USN submariner, 1977 - 97. I'd seen mention of the R class way back in the late 1970's, in a book on the general history of submarine development, just a brief description, and nothing else since.
The question I'm left with is this - how much, if any, effect did this attempt at building a hunter-killer submarine, have on submarine development in later decades when the supporting technology was more up to the task - or were they completely ignored and forgotten about, and the various navies basically have to start over from scratch, when it came to developing a hunter-killer submarine, in later years?

[Raptor]

It's crazy how ahead of its time this design was! And to think that the Royal Navy didn't make use of most of these innovations until after WW2!

[Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Didn't know concept for Hunter-Killer subs existed as far back as WW1

[stevoschannel]

Very interesting that the modern layout was used so long ago!

[thomaskositzki]

The design looks so modern - in fact it looks like a freaking Type 206 from afar!
Looks like a bad case of "too far ahead of it's time". ^^

[DeadBaron]

Wait what? A towed array in 1917?? I had no idea they even had that technology in WWI, it's absolutely insane how quickly submarines and technology in general developed. Just a couple decades prior, most ships were tall ships assisted by coal fired boilers. Cars didn't really exist other than a few handmade small batches until Ford's Model T. Then in WWI we had diesel-electric hybrid submarines with hydrophones to hunt German U-boats.

[pragmaticplatypus]

I really love your 20ish minute videos. Your long form content is fantastic but I just don't always have the time for them.