HMS B2


HMS B2 was one of 11 B-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

Design and description

The B class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding A class. The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. The B-class submarines had a crew of two officers and thirteen ratings.
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the B class had a range of at.
The boats were armed with two 18-inch torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.

Construction and career

B2 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, launched on 30 October 1905 and completed on 9 December 1905. The boat was lost when she accidentally collided with SS Amerika northeast of Dover in the early hours of 4 October 1912. She was commanded by Lieutenant P.B. O’Brien, and was one of several submarines sent to Dover to take part in Channel exercises during the extended lead up to the First World War. B2 was surfaced and was struck just forward of the conning tower. The accident resulted in the deaths of 15 crew members. The only survivor was the boat's bridge officer, Lt. Pulleyne. The boat was not recovered in order to allow the bodies to remain undisturbed. In recent years the wreck was discovered by amateur divers.