H.M.S. C 11 (1907)

H.M.S. C 11 (1907)
Builder:	Vickers
Launched:	27 May, 1907
Rammed:	14 Jul, 1909
Fate:	by S.S. Eddystone

H.M.S. C 11 was one of thirty-eight "C" class coastal submarines completed for the Royal Navy. She was the fortieth submarine to be built for the Royal Navy. She would sink after being rammed in 1909, becoming the Navy's third submarine deadly loss.

Service

C 11 was run down by the steamer S.S. Eddystone while in company with H.M.S. Bonaventure and seven other submarines and eight destroyers off Cromer at 11.45pm on the night of 14 July, 1909. Eleven men died, but Lieutenant & Commander Charles Gordon Brodie managed to escape along with Lieutenant Geoffrey Robert Sladen Watkins and A.B. Stripes.

The submarine was raised 52 feet and was being towed, slung beneath lighters, when she struck an unknown obstruction and became fixed in place.

The cruiser H.M.S. Vindictive remained on station for six weeks, assisting in the operations to salve the submarine, but the efforts were not successful. Before leaving, the crew of the cruiser delivered an "impressive funeral service" in their No. 1 dress and Captain Hill read the Burial Service under colours which had been put at half-mast before a bluejacket firing party fired three volleys and the buglers sounded the "Last Post" to honour the twelve men lost.

Diving had proven very difficult in the rolling seas and shifting sands where the submarine had been lost. Her periscope and some conning tower fittings, only, were salved by divers, and the boat was judged to have filled with sand and been buried by early September.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Lieutenant & Commander Charles G. Brodie, 23 September, 1907 – 14 July, 1909  (vessel lost under his command)

See Also

• Wikipedia
• "Submarine Disaster." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jul 16, 1909; pg. 10; Issue 39013.