Holland 602 type submarine

The Holland 602 type submarine, also known as the H class submarine was one of the most numerous submarines of the First World War. The type was designed by the Electric Boat Co. of the United States. Most of the boats were however built in Canada by the subsidiary of the British Vickers company. Operators included the United States Navy, the Chilean Navy, the Royal Navy, the Imperial Russian Navy, the Soviet Navy, the Italian Regia Marina, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Dutch Navy, the Royal Danish Navy and the Kriegsmarine.

The prototype for the class were the two submarines ordered in 1911 for the Chilean Navy. The 313/421 ton subs were built to the John Philip Holland "design 19-E" and "design 19-B". The Chilean Navy however refused to accept delivery of the boats. They were then sold to the Royal Canadan Navy, becoming HMCS "CC-1" and HMCS "CC-2". The United States H class submarines "H-1", "H-2" and "H-3" were then built to "design 30", with an increased displacement of 358/434 tons.

In October 1914, after the start of World War I, the British Admiralty ordered ten submarines to "design 602E", to be built by Canadian Vickers in Montreal, Quebec. These would become the British H class submarines. Another ten submarines were secretly construced at Fore River Yard at Quincy. Massachusetts in the then neutral United States. This group was impounded by the United States government and ended up in the Chilean Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy after the Armeican declaration of war. A third group of twenty-five British H class subs was constructed in 1917-1919 in Britain, many of them serving in World War II.

In the summer of 1915 eight "type 602" submarines were ordered by the Italian Regia Marina. These were built in Montreal, Quebec.

The Imperial Russian Navy ordered a total of 17 submarines from Canada. These were built at a temporary shipyard in Barnet on Burrard Inlet outside Vancouver, British Columbia. They were then disassembled, taken by ship to Vladivostok, by the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Saint Petersburg and Nikolayev to be reassembled in Russian Shipyards. In Russia they were known as the "Amerikansky Golland" class submarines. Six of the boats were undelevered at the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917. These were later brought by the United States Navy, and after reassembly at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, they became the United States H class submarines "H-4" - "H-9".

The Finnish Navy salvaged two of the Russian subs scuttled of Hanko at the end of the Finnish Civil War, but was unable to refit them for service. Instead a Finnish naval armament program was started, that produced the German designed submarines, that served as prototypes for the WWII German U-boats.

Submarines

Royal Navy

* British H class submarines
** Group 1 (1915)
*** HMS H1 - HMS H10 (10 boats)
** Group 2 (1915 - 1918, The whole group was impounded by the US government.)
*** HMS H11 and HMS H12 (2 boats)
*** HMS H13 - HMS H20 (8 boats) were transferred to Chile and Canada
** Group 3 (1917-1919)
*** HMS H21 - HMS H52 (25 boats; H53, H54 cancelled)

United States Navy

* United States H class submarines
** USS "H-1" - "H-3" (3 boats, prototypes)
** USS "H-4" - "H-9" (5 boats, originally built for the Imperial Russian Navy)

Italian Regia Marina

* Italian "H1" - "H8" (8 boats)

Imperial Russian Navy

* American Holland class submarine
** Baltic Fleet
*** AG-11 - AG-16 (5 boats)
** Black Sea Fleet
***AG-21 - AG-27 (6 boats)

Royal Canadan Navy

* "CH-14" and "CH-15" (2 boats)

Chilean Navy

* ex HMS "H13" and HMS "H16" to HMS "H20" (6 boats)

Royal Danish Navy

* HMS "U-1" and HMS "U-3" to HMS "U-10" (8 boats)
** Northsea fleet
***HMS "U-11" to "U-16" (5 boats)

References

* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/cdnsubs.htm World War One Submarines Built in Canada]
** [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/cdnhboat.htm The Canadian-built British H-boats]
** [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/hpatsubs.htm Technical Details]
** [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/hclaspht.htm Photo gallery]
* [http://www.submarinehistory.com/SubmarineBaseHistory.html City of Los Angeles . . . An Inland City with the First Submarine Base on the Pacific Coast]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=45 uboat.net]

Literature

* "The Legend of Electric Boat", by Jeffrey L. Rodengen, 1994 ISBN 0-945903-24-3
* "Britain's Clandestine Submarines 1914-1915", by Gaddis Smith, 1964, ISBN 0-208-01504-3.
* "The Subterfuge Submarines", by E. C. Fischer jr., in "Warship International , 1977 Vol. XIV No.3
* "Building Submarines for Russia in Burrard Inlet", by W.Kaye Lamb, in "BC Studies" No.71 Autumn, 1986