"L" Class Submarine (1917)

The Royal Navy's "L" Class Submarines were completed between November, 1917 and some well after the war.

The boats were designed and produced as enlarged versions of the successful "E" class boats.

Overview of 35 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
L 1	Vickers	Apr, 1916	10 May, 1917	Nov, 1917	Sold 1930
L 2	Vickers	Apr, 1916	6 Jul, 1917	Dec, 1917	Sold 1930
L 3	Vickers		1 Sep, 1917	Jan, 1918	Sold 1931
L 4	Vickers		17 Nov, 1917	Feb, 1918	Sold Feb, 1934
L 5	Swan Hunter		26 Jan, 1918	May, 1918	Sold 1931
L 6	Beardmore		14 Jan, 1918		Sold 1935
L 7	Cammell Laird		24 Apr, 1917	Dec, 1917	Sold 1930
L 8	Cammell Laird		7 Jul, 1917	Mar, 1918	Sold Oct, 1930
L 9	Denny		29 Jan, 1918	May, 1918	Sold Jun, 1927
L 10	Denny		24 Jan, 1918	Jun, 1918	Sunk 30 Oct, 1918
L 15	Fairfield		16 Jan, 1918	Mar, 1918	Sold Feb, 1932
L 16	Fairfield		9 Apr, 1918	Jun, 1918	Sold Feb, 1934
L 18	Vickers		21 Nov, 1918		Sold Oct, 1936
L 19	Vickers		4 Feb, 1918		Sold 1937
L 20	Vickers		23 Sep, 1918		Sold Jan, 1935
L 21	Vickers		11 Oct, 1919		Sold Feb, 1939
L 22	Vickers		25 Oct, 1919		Sold Aug, 1935
L 23	Vickers		1 Jul, 1919		Sold 1946
L 24	Vickers		19 Feb, 1919		Collision 14 Jan, 1924
L 26	Vickers		29 May, 1919		Sold 1946
L 27	Vickers		14 Jun, 1919		Sold 1946
L 32	Vickers		23 Aug, 1919		Sold Mar, 1920
L 33	Swan Hunter		25 Sep, 1919		Sold 1932
L 11	Vickers		26 Feb, 1918	Jun, 1918	Sold Feb, 1932
L 12	Vickers		16 Mar, 1918	Jun, 1918	Sold Feb, 1932
L 14	Vickers		10 Jun, 1918	Jun, 1918	Sold May, 1934
L 17	Vickers		13 May, 1918		Sold Feb, 1934
L 25	Vickers		13 Feb, 1919		Sold 1935
L 52	Armstrong, Whitworth & Company		18 Dec, 1918		Sold 1935
L 53	Armstrong, Whitworth & Company		12 Aug, 1919		Sold 1938
L 54	Denny		20 Aug, 1918		Sold 1938
L 55	Fairfield		21 Sep, 1918	Dec, 1918	Sunk 9 Jun, 1919
L 56	Fairfield		29 May, 1919		Sold Mar, 1938
L 69	Beardmore		6 Dec, 1918		Sold Feb, 1939
L 71	Scott		17 May, 1919		Sold Mar, 1938

Radio

By war's end, all boats of "E" class and later were given 3 kilowatt Poulsen wireless sets, affording ranges of 200 miles submarine-to-submarine, and 300-400 miles between shore stations and submarines. Reception of shore stations of 400 miles was common, and high power shore stations could be received over 500-600 miles.

Torpedoes

L 1 Group:

• six 18-in tubes (4 forward, 2 broadside), ten torpedoes

L 9 Group:

• four 21-in bow, eight torpedoes
• two 18-in broadside, two torpedoes

L 9 Group Minelayers:

• four 21-in bow
• 16 mines (only 14 in L 25)

L 50 Group:

• six 21-in forward, 12 torpedoes

Guns

Though the plan incorporated a 3-in 20 cwt gun on a disappearing mounting, but as built the armament seemed to vary.

Initially, L 1:

• one 3-in H.A. gun on disappearing mounting

Initially, L 2 to L 8:

• unknown (varied)

Eventually, all L 1 Group

• one 4-in

L 9 Group:

• one 4-in gun on foredeck or on bridge (allegedly from L 12 onward, but one source indicates L 9)

L 50 Group:

• two 4-in Q.F. on bridge level

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).