Submarine Development

Underhand, Unfair and 'Damned Un-English' was the popular view in the country when the Royal Navy's first submarine was launched from the Barrow shipyard without ceremony on the 2nd October 1901. The 'Naval and Military Record' of the day stated that 'the Admiralty regard these boats as wholly in the nature of an experiment and, like all experiments conducted from time to time, this one will be carried out with every privacy'.

In the early days, the widespread low regard for the submarine as a practical weapon was endorsed by many setbacks and tragic losses. But steadily the Royal Navy's confidence, experience and knowledge grew, and by 1914 the Submarine Service was formidable, efficient and effective.

In the quest for speed, endurance and fighting efficiency, many submarines were fitted with a vast array of additional contraptions and appendages. Indeed, development was geared to making the submarine more effective as a surface vessel, using its submersible capability mainly to transit in secrecy.

Only after the Second World War were concentrated efforts made to fit the submarine for its true role - to operate continuously beneath the waves. A variety of experiments were carried out, resulting in important advances such as the snort mast which gave the submarine enormously increased submerged endurance.

Eventually, the era of nuclear propulsion dawned, which at last freed the submarine from any dependence on the Earth's natural atmosphere. Total undetectability became a reality.

Thus, from the undistinguished beginnings of the Holland Class boats which had a submerged endurance of only 20 miles at 5 knots, the Royal Navy now has true submarines - vessels which can circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, and whose very existence can be sufficient to deter a potential adversary.