"A" Class Submarine (1902)

The Royal Navy's thirteen "A" Class Coastal Submarines entered service between July 1903 and early 1906.

Overview of 13 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
A 1	Vickers		9 Jul, 1902	Jul, 1903	Rammed 18 Mar, 1904
A 2	Vickers		16 Apr, 1903		Wrecked Jan, 1920
A 3	Vickers		9 Mar, 1903		Rammed 2 Feb, 1912
A 4	Vickers		9 Jun, 1903		Sold Jan, 1920
A 5	Vickers		3 Mar, 1904		Broken up 1920
A 6	Vickers		3 Mar, 1904		Sold Jan, 1920
A 7	Vickers		23 Jan, 1905		Lost 16 Jan, 1914
A 8	Vickers		23 Jan, 1905		Sold Oct, 1920
A 9	Vickers		8 Feb, 1905		Broken up 1920
A 10	Vickers		8 Feb, 1905		Sold Apr, 1919
A 11	Vickers		8 Mar, 1905		Broken up May, 1920
A 12	Vickers		8 Mar, 1905		Broken up Jan, 1920
A 13	Vickers		18 Apr, 1905		Broken up 1920

Service History

The "A" class served as coastal defence submarines, being first used in the Portsmouth and Devonport Submarine Flotillas. They continued to serve in the war, usually alongside "B" and "C" class submarines which were similarly limited to coastal patrol by their limited duration and habitability.

While this is a very stubby page, I have not found evidence that an "A" class submarine was ever effective in destroying enemy assets or impeding their objectives. They were, however, certainly an instrument for the Royal Navy to educate her future submarine officers and a springboard for continued maturation in design and construction.

While many were scrapped after the war, it appears that all operations of this type ceased at various points in 1916. They were simply quaint, had little in the way of targets, and were obviously prone to being mistaken for enemy U-boats. — TONY LOVELL, Editor.