The Submarine Heritage Centre - The H Class

Sponsorship Comments

This painting was commissioned by Dorothy Moody and family in memory of Bob Moody who served in this class of submarine and who was a founder member of the Submarine Old Comrades Association - Barrow-in-Furness Branch.

H Class Technical Facts:

- Background: A class of 36 boats, of which ten were built by Canadian Vickers, two by Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Plant, Mass. and twenty four in the United Kingdom. Of these, Vickers at Barrow built twelve. All of the boats were ordered in 1916.
- Dimensions (in feet and inches): Length: 164 ft 6, Beam: 15 ft 4, Draught: 14 ft.
- Displacement: Surfaced: 434 tons. Submerged: 504 tons.
- Machinery: Surface: twin 8 cylinder 4stroke S.A. diesel engines = 480 shp. Submerged: Twin electric motors = 640 bhp, Twin shafts.
- Endurance: 2,970 nautical miles.
- Armaments: 4 x 21 inch bow torpedo tubes.
- Complement: 22.

Historical Facts:

The majority of the Vickers built boats were completed to late to see action in WWI. Whilst the majority of the class were scrapped during the 1930's, nine boats survived to see action in WWII, of which three were Vicker's boats, H28, H31 and H32.

Although employed mainly as A/S training boats, they did form part of the “ring of steel” around the French port of Brest, whilst Scharnhorst, Gneisenhau and Lutzow were there after their Atlantic sorties of 1940/41.

H31 was lost in the Bay of Biscay on the 24th December 1941. H28 and H32 were sold for scrap in 1944.

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