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HMSHolland 5

Coordinates:50°43′44″N0°14′53″E/ 50.729°N 0.248°E/50.729; 0.248
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50°43′44″N0°14′53″E/ 50.729°N 0.248°E/50.729; 0.248

A submarine of theHollandclass
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHolland 5
Ordered1900
BuilderVickers, Sons and Maxim,Barrow
Launched10 June 1902
Commissioned1902
FateFoundered offBeachy Head,8 August 1912
General characteristics
TypeSubmarine
Displacement105 long tons (107 t) (submerged)
Length63 ft 5 in (19.33 m)
Beam11 ft 10 in (3.61 m)
Draught11 ft 10 in (3.61 m)
Installed power
  • 160hp(120 kW) (petrol engine)
  • 70 hp (52 kW) (electric motor)
Propulsion
Speed7kn(8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged
Range20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km) at 7 kn (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged
Test depth100 ft (30 m)
Complement8
Armament1 ×18 inch (450 mm)torpedo tube(Up to 3torpedoes)

Holland 5was the last of the fiveHolland-class submarinesordered by theBritish Admiraltyto evaluate the potential of thesubmarinewith theRoyal Navy.She was one of the first submarines to be accepted intoRoyal Navyservice, and unique to her class, she carried one of the earliestperiscopes.By the time she was launched, a number ofA-class submarineshad already been ordered to replace this class in navy service.

She had a single-hull design, built from"s" grade steel.She sank whilst under tow to the scrap yard in 1912, possibly caused by the torpedo hatch being left open. The wreck was rediscovered in 2000 and was designated under theProtection of Wrecks Actin 2005. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed byHistoric England.

Damage has been caused to the site in recent years, and at some point between September 2008 and June 2010, the torpedo hatch was stolen off the wreck.

Design and description

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Holland 5was the fifth of the experimentalHolland-classsubmarinesto be launched on 10 June 1902[1]at a cost of £35,000.[2][3]She was built byVickers, Sons and MaximinBarrow-in-Furness,under licence fromHolland Torpedo Boat Companyand to a design byJohn Phillip Holland.[2][4]She was launched one month ahead ofHolland 6(which was later designatedA1).[5]The BritishHollandclass was an extension of the design used onUSSHolland.[2]

She was equipped with one of the firstperiscopes;at the time of her launch, no other submarines in theRoyal Navyor theUnited States Navywere so equipped.[5]It was of British design, which used a ball and socket joint on the hull to raise and lower the scope.[2]She was constructed of"s" grade steel,which at the time of her construction was only used on this class of submarine and theForth Bridge.She utilised a single-hull design, and so herpressure hullcontained her fuel tanks,ballastand other internal workings.[6]However, she was limited to a maximum depth of 100 feet (30 m).[2]

Service history

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Along withHolland 3,she was one of the first two submarines to be accepted intoRoyal Navyservice on 19 January 1903.[6]However, by the time she was launched she was already considered obsolete and thirteenA-class submarineshad already been ordered.[7]

On 4 March 1903, she was part of the flotilla ofHolland-class submarines that were undergoing a demonstration for CaptainReginald BaconinStokes Baywhen a petrol explosion occurred aboardHolland 1.[8]Along with the otherHolland-class submarines, she was quickly reduced to the role of harbor defense and training.[7]By 1909, at the time of fleet display in theThames,theHollandclass were no longer considered "seaworthy" by the media.[9]In 1910,Holland 5ran aground offFort Blockhouse,the location ofHMSDolphinand the home of theRoyal Navy Submarine Service.[7]

By 1912, the decision was made to scrap theHolland-class vessels.[7]The submarine foundered in theEnglish ChanneloffBeachy Head,Sussex,on 8 August 1912, when she was under tow on the way to being scrapped atSheerness.[5]It was not clear why she sank, but a theory is that the torpedo tube hatch was left open, causing the boat to take on water.[10]

Wreck discovery and research

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In September 2000,[5]the wreck of submarineHolland 5was discovered at a depth of 98 ft (30 m) about 6 miles (9.7 km) off the British coast nearEastbourne.[11]In April 2001, the Archaeological Diving Unit conducted asonarscan and confirmed the identity of the wreck. The boat sits upright on the seabed.[5]

On 4 January 2005,Andrew McIntosh,Minister for Tourism and Heritageof theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport,announced that the wreck was designated under theProtection of Wrecks Act.[12]This makes trophy hunting and vandalism of the site a criminal offence.[13]

In 2010, it was discovered that at some point divers had stolen the torpedo tube hatch off the wreck. It was determined that the item would have no monetary value and would have gone into a private collection.[14]There were no official dives on the wreck during 2009 due to the conditions, and the last sighting of the hatch in place was in September 2008.[6]Further damage has been caused to the site by fishing nets, which may have resulted in damage to the periscope and the other implements installed on the upper superstructure.[6]

Holland 5remains the only submarine of her class on the seabed.Holland 1,the only other boat of her class remaining, is on show at theRoyal Navy Submarine MuseuminGosport,Hampshire.[5]Species seen on or around the wreck site includebrown crabs,European spider crabs,poutings,poor cod,Sagartia elegans(a species ofsea anemone), worms of theSerpulidaefamily,[15]andEuropean Conger.[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Naval & Military intelligence".The Times.No. 36791. London. 11 June 1902. p. 13.
  2. ^abcde"Holland Class".Barrow Submariners Association. Archived fromthe originalon 4 October 2015.Retrieved19 January2012.
  3. ^"The Progress of the Submarine During 1903".The Times.No. 37360. 5 April 1904. p. 8.
  4. ^Akermann, Paul (2002).Encyclopaedia of British Submarines, 1901–1955.Penzance: Periscope. p. 479.ISBN978-1-904381-05-1.
  5. ^abcdef"Holland No.5".English Heritage.Retrieved19 January2012.
  6. ^abcd"Holland 5 Submarine".Nautical Archaeology Society. Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2012.Retrieved19 January2012.
  7. ^abcdMcCartney, Innes (2008).Lost Patrols: Submarine Wrecks of the English Channel.Penzance: Periscope. pp. 135–136.ISBN978-1-904381-04-4.
  8. ^"Explosion on Board a Submarine".The Times.No. 37020. 5 March 1903. p. 9.
  9. ^"The Fleet in the Thames".The Times.No. 39014. 17 July 1909. p. 8.
  10. ^Pugh, Tom (1 September 2010)."Thieves target historic submarine wreck".The Independent.Retrieved19 January2012.
  11. ^Mattock, Jo (7 October 2010)."Hatch Stolen from Submarine Wreck".DIVE.Archived fromthe originalon 15 September 2012.Retrieved19 January2012.
  12. ^"Heritage Minister Andrew McIntosh Acts To Protect Wreck Site Of Prototype Submarine".4 January 2005.Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Archived fromthe originalon 7 March 2008.Retrieved19 January2012.
  13. ^"Submarine wreck to be protected".BBC News.4 January 2005.Retrieved19 January2012.
  14. ^"Divers steal from Holland 5 submarine off Sussex coast".BBC News.1 September 2010.Retrieved19 January2012.
  15. ^Dooley, David."Species seen on the Holland 5 submarine site".Nautical Archaeology Society. Archived fromthe originalon 7 September 2012.Retrieved19 January2012.
  16. ^"Time Team Specials – The Lost Submarine of WWI – Channel 4".Channel 4.Retrieved22 December2015.
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