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One of these innovations that directly reflected on
Vickers was the motive power installed in these boats.
The Admiralty opted for the Vickers designed and built
diesel engine. Two of these eight in-line cylinder
engines were installed. Diesel, or heavy oil engines as
they were called, had already proved to be infinitely
safer for submarines than petrol engines. An interesting
note is that the first submarine with a diesel plant
was the British A13 and, with a Vickers fuel-injection
system, it was running successfully by 1905. It proved
more efficient and more economical than petrol engines
of the period but it was three years before the first of
the D class, specifically designed with twin screws
for diesel propulsion, was launched.3 This of course
was the D1, launched in 1908.
Underwater propulsion was
by means of electric motors powered by battery storage.
The batteries were very large, as can be imagined, of
112 cells each and transferring 550 hp to the propellers
via a star clutch connected to the drive shafts.
Unfortunately, the E class boats suffered from serious
malfunctions in the star clutch, drive shaft and
propellers. As is the wont of anything mechanical, some
of these problems could be permanently repaired, but
others were prone to re-occurrence.
the star clutch
was stiff when they changed over to the electric motors
for entering harbour. This was a serious defect. A
submarine runs on the surface on her powerful and
economical diesel engines and submerged on electric
motors. Before she can dive, the diesels have to be
disconnected to allow the electric motors to be operated
independently of them. Sometimes this has to be done in
a hurry for a crash dive, so it was vital that the
clutch be in perfect order. 4
On the voyage out to
Sydney, both the AE1 and AE2 suffered their fair share
of mechanical breakdowns and AE2 lost propeller blades,
not once but twice. The first blade was lost from the
port propeller boss at 1700 hrs on the 4th March 1914,
just as she was clearing the Bay of Biscay, which meant
that the escort vessel, HMS Eclipse, had to tow her to
Gibraltar where she steamed in under the power of her
starboard engine and the AE2 was docked and repaired.
The second blade was lost when AE2 was approximately 90
miles out of Aden. This time four of the crew who were
also divers replaced the propeller blade underwater, the
task taking two days.
The problems with the
propeller blades were eventually attributed to poor
casting techniques at Vickers.
Although AE1 remained
free of this fault on her voyage, Lieutenant-Commander
Thomas Fleming Besant, RN, - captain of the AE1- had
this to say about the mechanics of the AE1 in his
summary of voyage report to the Naval Board in
Melbourne.
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engines ran satisfactorily, with the
exception of the exhaust and intake valve
springs, which were constantly breaking, it
being found that the springs with fewer
coils lasted longest:
The engine clutches
(toggle-clutch type) gave trouble after
leaving Singapore owing to the coupling
bolts becoming bent and in some cases
breaking, this causing an undue strain to be
put on the toggle-bolts and causing stems to
break.
The battery temperatures were
excessive in the tropics, and it was
frequently necessary to stop a charge owing
to the motor shaft overheating and affecting
the bearings.5 |
Lieutenant-Commander
Besant paid tribute to his Chief Engine Room Artificers,
Thomas Lowe and Joseph Wilson, (double check this fact
and see whether both were on the AE1 at the same time)
by saying in his report I consider that great credit is
due to the C.E.R.A.6
So these new and
innovative submarines, even after exhaustive trials and
tuning up in England, were less than perfect.
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The 'D' class and the 'E' boats which
followed, together bearing the brunt of
World War I, were very successful and had
few teething troubles. External main ballast
saddle tanks were fitted for the first time
allowing more space inside the submarine and
enabling the reserve buoyancy to be
increased from 10% or less in previous boats
to a dryer and safer 25% on the surface. The
radius of action at 11.5 knots was nearly
one-third greater than the 'C' class at 9
knots; but the hull diameter was no larger
and with only a 20 ft increase in length and
crew of 25 - 9 more than in a 'C' boat - the
accommodation was poor." -
"Submarine
Boats" - Richard Compton-Hall, pp 170 |
The AE1's escape
apparatus was most likely to be the Hall-Rees type.
"It consisted of a
helmet attached to an open diving frock belted at the
waist with a canister of sodium peroxide hung from the
chest. It could go through a hatch but its storage took
up almost as much room as a man himself. It was not
popular amongst submariners, nor was it used." -
from "Submarine Boats" -
Richard Compton-Hall, pp 165-166
Footnotes -
1. Richard
Compton-Hall, "Submarine Boats" - pp 118
2. Antony Preston, "Submarine Boats" - pp
3. Antony Preston, ibid - pp 169
4. (check author), "Dardanelles Patrol", pp 17
5. Australian Archives, Victoria - MP 472. Dept of Navy,
cf, asus, 1911 - 21
6. Australian Archives, Victoria - ibid
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