ii Submarine Town supplement, July 2007
● Two experiments 70 years apart: the Nordenfelt II under construction in B
121 years of d
THE fine, mild weather which had ushered out a month of rain
and squalls meant one fewer thing for Thorsten Nordenfelt to
worry about as he prepared for the big day.
Only ten weeks earlier the Swedish industrialist had signed a breathtakingly
bold agreement with the Turks to deliver two submarines which he
claimed would put them at the forefront of the new and mysterious art of
underwater warfare.
Now, on April 14 1886, it was time to
deliver. Or half-deliver, as the submarine
at the Barrow Shipbuilding Company
Booming
was the only one of the pair which was
just about ready.
The other, being built by steam
Barrow
yacht specialists des Vignes in Chertsey,
Surrey, was far from complete, but with
UNTIL the Industrial Revolution,
Nordenfelt’s partner the Rev George
Barrow was a tiny isolated
hamlet at the southern tip of the
● A seaplane is launched from
Garrett, clergyman and submarine
designer, back from his travels the
Furness peninsula in north-west
and B11 in the Dardanelles
England.● The fi rst operational
attracted the first submarine VC
all-British submarine, A1,
outlook seemed a little brighter.
The population was barely
D1, launched at Barrow
is launched at Barrow on
Job 143, or Nordenfelt II, was not
2,000 in 1840, but, as a result of
1908, signalled the end of
July 9, 1902 (above)
just a new departure for the thriving
Lancashire town – it was the start of
burgeoning iron and steelworks,
engined boats, and D4 was t
a tradition of submarine construction
by 1880 that figure had reached
British submarine fitted with a
almost 50,000.
● Classic World War 2
which continues today, more than 121
12-pdr giving her more clout to
T-boat HMS Triumph is
years later.
Barrow then launched itself as
her increased range. The D-bo
launched at Barrow-in-
As for the Nordenfelt II, perhaps
a major force in shipbuilding.
had true wireless capability –
Furness in February 1938
best not to dwell too long on her.
Today the population is around
versions could receive but, un
(right)
She was, after all, a leap in the dark
70,000, and BAE Systems
D-boats, could not transmit.
– an ambitious prototype of impressive
Submarine Solutions is the largest
The legendary E-class
proportions, but with design features
employer, although tourism is
major innovations, such as wa
● Front page: A Barrow-
built B-class submarine which doomed her to failure.
also now a significant factor.
bulkheads, which gave them a
with its hull submerged, She raced through a sketchy
The shipyard has undergone
depth of 200ft, and of the 5
and (inset) HMS Astute in programme of sea trials and was then
several changes of name, and in
between 1911 and 1917, 20 of
Devonshire Dock dismantled and loaded aboard a steamer
its various guises has produced
26 were built and completed at
bound for Constantinople.
some famous surface ships,
Lt Cdr Max Horton (E9)
She was then reassembled as the
including the aircraft carrier HMS
first British submarine comma
● K4 aground at Walney
Invincible, the Mikasa, Japanese
Island, Barrow, in January
Abdul Hamid, where she had the honour
draw blood, sinking the cruiser
flagship at the Battle of Tsushima,
1917 (below) – a massive
of being the first submarine to fire
September 1914, while E11 (
and the Orient Line’s Australian
vessel compared to the
a torpedo while submerged (although
Martin Nasmith VC) and E14
liner SS Oriana.
Holland boats of just 15
that action almost proved fatal as the
Geoffrey White VC), both Barro
years earlier
loss of what little trim she had caused
also enhanced the reputation
the notoriously unstable Company, which became the Electric
fledgling Silent Service.
vessel to almost sink). Boat Company, were severed, although
Two experimental designs –
But by that stage
the relationship resumed in the 1960s.
class and the massive Nautilus
Barrow was already
Holland No 1 was launched in 1901,
– were produced pre-war but th
moving on – the bigger,
and the class of five was completed by
something of a lull for the town
faster Nordenfelt IV
the middle of 1903.
Three F-class boats were p
was launched in 1887,
Although still limited by technology
elsewhere in the UK, and the ya
but she again had
and design, the Admiralty saw enough
a back seat with the E-class repla
dangerous design flaws.
in these relatively reliable little 122-ton
the G-class – six of the 14 (G8
The Russians,
boats to sanction further developments.
went down the slip at Barrow, a
mindful of developments
Submarine development was now
of the 52 H-class.
elsewhere in Europe,
moving on apace, and in just a decade
There was no I-class, and no
bought the boat, but she
yards such as Barrow were turning out
link for seven J-class boats; t
was wrecked off Jutland
machines which Nordenfelt and Holland
class was not the Admiralty’s fin
on her delivery voyage in
could only have dreamed about.
Six of the 17 outlandish K-cl
1888.
Before the Hollands had been
constructed at Barrow, based
By 1900 Nordenfelt’s,
finished the Royal Navy was
Admiralty outline for steam-p
plagued by financial
aiming to solve some of their
difficulties, had moved on
shortcomings by building
the France in an attempt
bigger boats.
to resurrect his fortunes,
A1, a joint concept by
though his old company had
Capt Bacon and Vickers, was
a stake in the Barrow yard
more powerful and much
through the Maxim company.
bigger at 207 tons and 105ft.
Elsewhere, a laborious
A baker’s dozen were built at
process of trial and error
Barrow between 1903 and
(particularly in the United
1905.
States and France) saw
Submerged performance
engineers solving problems
was still sluggish, so the
which had stumped Nordenfelt.
Admiralty went bigger again,
At the forefront was John P
ordering 11 B-class boats
Holland, whose company licensed
which were 40ft longer and
the RN to build five of his vessels.
displaced 100 tons more
By this stage the Navy was undecided
than their predecessors.
as to the usefulness of such vessels, but
The C-class was similar
as other nations were building them
in size to the B-class, and
in the hope of stealing a march on
32 of the 38 were Barrow
the mightiest navy in the world, the
boats, and while all three
Admiralty felt it wise to know what they
classes were designed for
were dealing with, if only to learn how
coastal defence the offensive
to defeat this new threat.
possibilities were becoming
The work was done at the Vickers, much clearer – given impetus
Sons and Maxim yard in Barrow, by the deeds of Lt Holbrook
and with modifications which
were necessary to an essentially
unproven class, Holland No 1
took shape.
Among the modifications was
the provision of a rudimentary
periscope, designed by the
Superintendent of Submarines
at Barrow, Capt Reginald Bacon,
which was an improvement on
squinting through a tiny porthole.
During the build programme,
● One of the ill-fated K-class submarines seen from the air, looking every inc
the links with the Holland
that she was
xx2-3Barrow_NN_Jul.indd 12-3Barrow_NN_Jul.indd 1 119/6/07 13:30:529/6/07 13:30:52
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