Accidents and Incidents

Accidents formed an inevitable part of a submariner's life given the basic nature of early submarines and the risks with which they had to be operated. Between 1918-1939, the Submarine Service lost 14 boats. In the Dockyard, the wide variety of hazardous industrial work undertaken by the workforce, when building and refitting submarines, inevitably led to some accidents. Notable accidents involving Chatham submarines included, in July 1909, the collision between C17 (the first submarine built at Chatham) and C16 when C17 had to be towed back to the Dockyard for repair and, post war, the accidents to both the Truculent and the Talent.

The image above shows the submarine K26 at sea.  Built and launched by Vickers, Barrow in 1919, K26 was towed to Chatham to be completed. During completion works, two dockyard workers were killed when, preparing for trials, a faulty valve in the boiler room blew back steam. The two victims were scalded to death. In 1923, K26 joined the fleet and was sold out of naval service just five years later. The 'K' class submarine suffered more disasters than other class of warship in the Royal Navy. They were commonly known as 'the Calamitous 'K's'. The class suffered six sinkings and 16 major accidents.

Image © Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust