The K-Class submarine was a attempt by the Royal Navy to create a submarine capable of keeping pace with the massive dreadnoughts of the era - but sadly the design was badly hampered by issues from the start. The choice of steam turbines for a propulsion method presented the crews with an intricate dive procedures that had to be followed closely and without mistakes - a single error could doom the sub. What resulted was a series of accidents and mishaps that killed dozens of sailors and created deep embarrassment for the Admiralty. This is the true story of the British K-Class submarine!
Edited by Alex Anastasakis
Animations by Jack Gibson
Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s greatest vessels- from Titanic to Queen Mary and from the Empress of Ireland to the Lusitania. Join maritime researcher and illustrator Michael Brady as he tells the stories behind some of history's most famous ocean liners and machines!
#submarine #disaster #history #sinking #war #military #navy #royalnavy #documentary #facts #story #maritime #ships #subs #accident
As soon as Mike said "vents" and "foreshadowing" I thought "Oh God! Someone put a vent on a submarine!"
At least they scrapped the plans for the subs with screen doors and the steam powered hydrogen balloons!
All military submarines using a combustion engine for primary power have air vents since such submarines are really surface ships that can submerge (they are better classified as submersible ships rather than submarines). Only a pure electric or Nuclear don't have vents for intake and exhaust air. Aside from those there are other hull openings depending on the subs design, but only speaking of modern Nuclear subs there are plenty of hull openings for hatches, loading hatches for torpedoes, missile tubes, water intake for the reactor, boiler, desalination plants, cooling, ballast system, etc.
@@larrybremer4930 All American navy submarines are nuclear. So we don't worry about that.
Having vents was the only way to get air to the diesel, petrol or in this case steam engines during surface running. It was a standard feature on every nations subs until the nuclear age. The classic case is the USS Squalous which was lost then the engine room chief supposedly had a brain spasm and opened instead of closing the engine room vents as the ship was diving and flooded the vessel.
@@voiceofraisin3778 Some people really have a hard time with jokes.
Early submarines are so fascinating to me, but unlike more modern submarines, I don't envy the people who served aboard them.
They know it sucks. That's why they get the best food in the military. You're trapped in a steel tube for months, but here have some steak and lobster. It still wouldn't be enough to lift my spirits.
@@MakerInMotion I don't know how lobster is best food in military, or steak for that matter. I'm vegan.
Tbh. I don't wanna serve on any submarine, no matter how modern.
@@eroero830 You’re in the minority . Most people love steak and lobster 🦞 Why do vegans love telling people they are vegans ? Is this the phenomenon known as virtue signalling?
@@eroero830 Vegans are vegans because of a commitment to not take life. So vegans don't belong in the military given it's purpose.
Another point, diesel-electric submarines are not slower underwater because they use electric motors. The drive system uses electric motors on the surface as well. The motors are powered from either diesel-driven generators or storage batteries, but the motors are capable of the same hp surfaced or submerged. (although at maximum power, the storage batteries are depleted quite rapidly) But the hull design of these boats are much more hydrodynamic on the surface. Basically similar to conventional ships. Submerged, the deck gun, conning tower and overall hull shape create tremendous drag reducing their submerged speed. The adoption of the tear-drop hull shape (Albacore hull shape) changed that after WW II.
Right. That design philosophy began with the Germans who prior to WW1 reasoned a submarine was going to spend most of it's time on the surface anyway so they designed their subs with hulls that had good sea-keeping and handling abilities while surfaced. There was a penalty to be paid while submerged due to lack of streamlining but the German designers figured the trade-off was worth it. And so it proved.
Yep..
That may be true but the capacity of the batteries is strictly limited, so it wouldn't get very far at full speed. Underwater it would use a far more economical cruising speed, usually about 3 or 4 knots, depending on how far it needed to go.
IIRC most diesel-electric submarines up through the end of WWII actually had gearboxes and clutches allowing the diesel engines to be directly connected to the propellers. The electric motors were thus used only when diving. Modern diesel-electric subs indeed have a much simpler system with the diesel engines only driving the generators, and a separate electrical motor to drive the propeller, with no mechanical connection between the diesels and the prop shaft.
@@philiphumphrey1548that's what they said?
I was at a liquor store the other day and the young woman asked me what I was doing on my Sunday afternoon. I said watch some naval history videos, she said to watch Mike Brady's Oceanliner Designs and I was happy to tell her one of your Titanic videos was qued up at home on my laptop. Sharing that story from a small town in Western Canada!
hehehe I'm in small town BC and my wife and I enjoy these vids during dinner 👍
Also a small-town BC resident! Love Mike's videos~
Mike, I know you hear ( read mostly ) how much joy your passion has brought all of us viewers. Every video has so much soul and love seamed through the writing and visuals. It's truly no wonder why the now legendary words "it's your friend, Mike Brady..." causes auto-clicks, likes, and us to watch in full. I am 35. When I was 10, I started a history project on Titanic. As she did for so many us, Titanic unlocked a fascination and love for Titanic herself, as well as anything that's ever tasted the sea. I want to say thank you for all that you do. Thank you for how much love you put into what you do, and thank you for never failing to produce top quality videos, week after week. Your friend, -Brandon, huge fan and supporter of Oceanliner Designs. ( although, I'd absolutely LOVE to be a part and work with Oceanliner Designs lol )
I’ve also noticed that if you have a question about titanic, more often than not there’s a video on this channel about it which is AWESOME. He’s such a great resource
That's really lovely feedback, thanks Brandon! I am sad sometimes that I don't get to mingle and talk directly with my audience because I'd love to see people's reactions in real time! Reading the comments is always the next best thing and it's lovely to hear you and others are enjoying what the channel's making!
@@OceanlinerDesigns I don't know about you but I be incredibly uncomfortable in a cramped space inside those submarines if you are someone who is clostaphobic. Afraid of small spaces.
@@OceanlinerDesignsI mean these submarines were pretty cool designs but I can see as you said we're not really effective these subs were pretty much just steam ships with a mix of u-boat design put into it these so called k-boats are failed designs of subs but nice designs nether the less.🥴🙂
Read a paperback called the K ships years ago and the best quote was “my ends sinking, what’s your end doing?”
You've taken that quote right out of my planned comment move! A fascinating and comprehensive book, but I've not seen my copy for years. I was admonished once by the Master of a floating dock using the S word; controlled vessels apparently 'submerge', making 'sinking' highly appropriate sadly to the K boats.
I suppose when you realise your end’s sinking, you feel a strong urge to get straight to the point
Interesting timing. Just this morning I was reading "Greatest Naval Blunders" by Geoffrey Regan - the very chapter that talks about the K-class!
damn, is that a series? I picked up the royal blunders book by him in a second hand shop ages ago, some funny stuff in there..... and some sad stuff.
@@isthatrubbleHonestly, I don't know. I just picked up the naval blunders book as it came recommended.
Always a great day when our friend, Mike Brady, uploads a new video
Our dear friend, Brady
And we got him on TH&G glory scream yesterday
Let's suppose he and Drachnifel met at a local pub somewhere in Islington or a shady part of Cheltenham. Wonder what stories they would exchange after gulping down a few too many pints... They should do a video on that topic. I'd love to know what they will talk about.
@@largol33t12 I find it hard to imagine him at any lesser establishment than a proper victorian gentlemen's club.
Just a cool tiny fact at 12 noon today Titanic’s sets sail 112 years ago
Please get therapy. It was just a movie. It was just a movie. It was just a movie.
@The_Dudester no it wasn't.
it was just a jest, it was just a jest, it was just a jest....
@@nyotamwuaji6484 The ship sank 112 years ago. 1) Did you survive the sinking? NO!! 2) Did the sinking affect your daily income? NO!! Not unless you buy the DVD, the VHS, the online movie. The merch. 3) Would you be able to actually have a life, despite the fact that the ship sank? Yes, absolutely!! You should go outside and touch grass. See that yellow object in the sky? It's called the sun, it provides warmth and helps plants to grow. 4) Should you get therapy? Absolutely yes!! The ship sank 112 years ago. There was a movie in 1997 and since then, people have watched the movie over and over and over and they ponder, 'What if I went back in time, could I save the ship?' It was just a movie. It was just a movie. It was just a movie. LET IT GO!! GET A LIFE, PLEASE!!
@@The_DudesterYou're telling people to get over something that they like and that they need therapy because of it, Sounds like it's you who needs therapy, get over yourself.
Very impressive that they were able to save so many lives during those disastrous test runs, casting doubt on the perspective that life was cheap in those times. Absolute heroes living by the word of never leaving a man behind (against terrible odds)
“This is what we in the industry call foreshadowing” love it lmao
I love when my friend, Mike Brady from Oceanliner Designs uploads another video.
He is also my friend!
I've always been interested in submarines. My favorite is the WW2 generation, because of how advanced they were without solid state electronics. The newer trends towards air independent power have been fascinating.
I'm in favor of bestowing the much-deserved honorific, "Professor," to our friend, Mike Brady. He is making his superb Maritime/Nautical History 101 class available to the masses, on KZhead.
The part that is glossed over, that it sank, and was able to be refloated, and some of the men saved. This was ww1, that is so impressive that it was done.
Yep. I assumed any such event would have been a death sentence for anyone onboard. The fact any lives were saved is impressive!
I worked at Barrow in Furness for Bae Systems.. I was there during the construction of the first Astute Class Sub. I have to say, it was a hell of experience being to walk past each day watching this amazing machine being constructed. It was 4 stories high and just short of 100m long. It's not until you are able to stand literally within fingertips next to it are able to truly appreciate it's size.
Wow, what a monster of a thing! Amazing experience :)
@@OceanlinerDesigns it very much was. I returned a couple of weeks before it's official launch and was able to snag a very sneaky off the books tour inside and yeah.. I do not know people can work on subs lol
My Navy recruiter talked me into volunteering for both the Nuke Program and submarines, due to my brighteyed stupidity. Luckily my grade average in BE&E School was 2% too low, so I flunked out before nuke school, and changed track to Electronic Tech/Comms, going to the surface fleet. I served on an ASW Frigate, hunting subs! I was much happier. I did get to tour a WWII sub on museum display duty in San Francisco Harbor. Very cramped. Easy to see why they were called "pig boats". I've read the big nuke subs are better. 😎👍
Pampanito in San Fran is way bigger than the UK one at Gosport (I've seen inside both) and the German ones of which I've seen only pix.
Boomers are great if you have a family waiting for you at home and if you enjoy constantly running drills. Otherwise fast boats get to go everywhere and do cool stuff. Going subs was such a double-edged sword though. The novelty wears off quick, and it'll either make you or break you.
Finally... a mention of the M-Class Submarines 🙂 Battleship gun or aircraft carrier (Beating the Japanese to it a few decades earlier)... they were unique and bold creations.
the french had the surcouf with 8 inch guns lol. she vanished while transiting to the pacific
@@sean270wn3The US built a few non-turreted cruiser submarines with nasty deck guns in the late ‘20s/early ‘30. They didn’t take it as far as the French of British but they carried a six-incher. Actually got a lot of good use out of them during the war.
@@grahamstrouse1165 neat, I didn't know that
The French did make a sub that had a turret for two 8 inch guns
@@WolfeSaber9933 Well of course... the last 2 nations on Earth able to "compete" with each towards the end of WW1 and just after was UK and France. The whole large gun thing was actually impractical on a submarine... especially the 12 inch gun on the M1-Submarine lol. It was just a "look what we can build" contest... ironically they were never actually going to be used on each other. UK and France had become big allies after the Napoleonic wars.
I served on "modern" US subs and I am fascinated by the earlier crazy designs.
pre-688 or post?
I served on a Lafayette class. O7 from another "bubble head"
@@M16_Akula-III Exactly 688. OK City and Baton Rouge (in that order).
@@SueBobChicVid Ah...Nice! I ain't no submariner but it's nice to hear 'bout stories like this!
Great work as always. I also enjoyed Fredrik Knudsen telling of the tale, he goes into a deeper level of detail on the Battle of May Island and the absolute cluster it was.
Hey Mike! Would you consider making a video on the history/progression of ship propulsion from inception to modern day? That would be awesome! Love the channel mate keep it up 🚢
Sure can't fault the bold ideas the Edwardians had. The _execution_ of those ideas, however, sometimes was not so great - like this one. As you point out though, it was an era of immense industrial progress, and sometimes they just didn't know until they tried (and failed). Another excellent and fascinating video about something I didn't even realize existed. Also a great reminder of the lives lost in the name of progress.
The joy of knowing that I’m not the only person who wanted a video on the K-Class
Yes, nuclear subs and ships are definitely "steam powered"... Instead of having traditional boilers, the reactor provides the heat source in the primary coolant loop which goes through the steam generator to create the superheated water / steam that goes into the steam turbines...
This reminded me of the S5, an experimental submarine built by the US. I won't spoil it if anyone wants to look it up, the story is insane.
Oh cool, no idea so I'm going to have a look now. Cheers!
Well, if it isn't our friend Mike Brady from Oceanliner Designs!
I worked on the Isle of May for a while. Lovely location. Amazing bird life. It's surprising how little anyone knows of the disaster that occured near there in 1918.
Wow.... it was truly Murphy's Law on that K-Class exercise....so tragic,this is why i love history,we shouldn't try to abolish it, instead let's continue to learn lessons from it...great vid Mike 👍
Thank you Mike Brady for covering the things you do. You keep me and my wife dully interested and entertained.
The K-Class is my passion. The submarine I am obsessed with and what got me interested in any type of ocean vessel. I am SO excited to watch this video. I know it's going to make my day. Thank you! 🎉
Crap submarine
@@scouseaussie1638 Worst of both worlds?
@@scouseaussie1638 Thank you for such a detailed and concise response. You must have put hours of research into that report. Yours sincerely, a non convict not from one of the most likely places to supply convicts in the UK or elsewhere.
I’ve been waiting for so long for someone to post a video about the K Class. It’s been my favourite ‘weapon’ of war since I found out about it, especially its origins. A perfect example of an initial idea which makes sense in a doctrine, but purely impractical mechanically
I have commented before about how appreciated your in depth research and superb presentation skills are, but to these I must now add your ability to discover little known subjects and include them in your videos. Most impressive and, I might add, very, VERY much appreciated ! One more time - thank you, Mike !!!!!!
Fredrik Knudsen made a documentary about this a few years ago. That shit was insane. May I suggest making a video about how batteries in old subs worked? Always been curious about that.
I've seen the batteries they use in the Gato class, it's a few massive banks of lead-acid cells.
Huge banks of wet lead-acid cells They produce hydrogen when hot, when overcharged, and in the presence of salt water Wet lead-acid battery management became a whole field until they started shifting to solid cells post WW2
His video isn't all that great because the entire history section is wrong, particularly the claims he made about German submarines (the Royal Navy had more submarines at the start of the war and they were more sophisticated, and both sides used them for the same thing). Plus he obfuscates that the problem at May Island was, as is often the case with these collisions, a cavalier commander of a small vessel executing turns in front of larger vessels without properly informing them. The same thing led to collisions like the carrier USS _Wasp_ striking the destroyer USS _Hobson_ in 1952, which actually killed more people.
Another absolute masterpiece sir Brady! Something else I did not know until now. Wow, thank you!🏴
As a former sailor in the RCN I appreciate the fact that you didn't preface the ship's names with "the" HMS and so on. Also that you didn't call Nautilus "the Nautilus".
The answer to the propulsion plant problem for submarines is now quite obvious: Clean, proven sail power!
LoL!
Water sails for the win!
Excellent book on this subject by Don Everitt called "The K Boats", with a quote on the cover "I say Number One, my end is diving... what the hell is your end doing?" Only one ever hit anything with a torpedo- which didn't explode!
Must be 30 years ago since I read it, but this quote remains etched !
Ironic the modern nuclear subs are again... steam powered.
😂❤ excellent point
Lol so very true
Brilliantly informative and a fascinating history I had no awareness of. Thank you Mike for such a well put together production, really enjoyed it.
When it comes to innovating in navel history, The Italian Battlecruiser project of 1921 by Ferdinado Cassone, is an interesting one to note. It was one of the Largest Ships proposed for the Regina Marine at that point in time, and also it was one of the most unique when it comes to its power-plant arrangement, and its 456mm main armament. Unlike most conventional ships, the Ship design had what is called a "Two-Tiered" power-plant. In which the ships Boilers where to be placed ABOVE the Engines in the Engine compartment. The idea was this arrangement was to reduce the length of the ships citadel to save space while not increasing the ships tonnage above 45,000 tons. Although this Engine Layout did increase the Height of the citadel above the waterline just bellow the armored deck in some places, which was one of the major downsides with the power-plant proposal. However the Design itself was never seen through, due to the rather advanced and ambitious nature of the Tier-tiered power-plant, and infrastructural and economic constraints of the time.
My great uncle served on K12 from 1917-1920. He also ended up surviving the sinking of Poseidon. I must try to find out more about the records of the various surface ships and submarines he served on.
Cool! Did he ever get to meet Leslie Nielsen by the way?!
“Kalamity class” sounds like it’d be a D&D thing, in this essay I will
The quality of your videos is unparalleled anywhere, and this one is a fine example. Thank you for your hard work, my friend Mike Brady 👍👍👍
This is why i look forward to your videos. i had no idea steam subs were so prevalent in our navy.
This video reminds me of another interesting topic, if it hasn't been covered yet - dazzle camouflage from the first world war. It seems like a great mix of engineering and design that would appeal to the viewers of this channel!
Seconded! I'd love that. It's interesting to note that new models of car where there design is still secret but they need to complete road testing in the real world use a variation of essentially dazzle camo so the shape and features can't be determined!
I've been fascinated with the K class for some time. I think the subject has also been covered by Drachinifel and History in the Dark.
Fascinating as always. When I saw the design issues in the K series I was struck by the success of the eventual descendents of the vessels in the tumblehome design of the hulls of the Zumwalt class destroyers, which to the extent the function of the design of the K ships involved trying to straddle both surface and underwater travel at a fast speed seems to have been fulfilled in the tumblehome design. Another apparent function that was fulfilled was that of concealment from the enemy by being lower to the water, although each ship in entirely different ways; one by diving under the water and the later ship by adapting a stealth design against radar detection. Imagine if the tumblehome technology was sufficiently advanced in World War I for practical use and the very interesting ways it may have influenced submarine development and pointedly the K concept.
This is the most illuminated foreshadowing ever to be shaded or lit. Thanks, my friend.
*Sees thumbnail.* “Ya can’t park there, mate!”
"Just watch me!". *sinks*
I always wait in anticipation to hear him say “I’m your friend Mike Brady..” 🇺🇸
Excellent writing and presentation as always! Appreciate that you're covering more types of vessels.
I've recently found this channel and it's always a pleasure to watch a new upload, thanks Mike for your quality and interesting content :)
That is one of the best intros you’ve ever made “They are made to sink, and rise again, however in some cases that second part was a little harder to pull off” that was incredibly… Accurate, and funny, but also sad at the same time, I am really confused about the way you said it, but I love it 😅
Awesome video Mike
Thank you!
Another amazing episode from one of my favourite channels. Thanks Mike, totally absorbing content delivered in a gimmick free style. This story is interesting from a technological stand point but is also an incredible story of human endeavour. Those sub-mariners are truly heroes and I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be a crew member of one those death traps.
Absolutely fascinating and thoroughly absorbing. What a sorry story! I’ve always been interested in the K class and the subsequent derivatives, and this fully provided gripping insight.
Only Britain can steam punk a idea
The moment I saw the title, I’m thinking, so you have to quench the fire before diving, and then wait for the boiler to reheat after surfacing, and you figure that’s a useful quality?
Fuel oil for the boiler makes it much less of a headache.
@danl6634 Actually no, more of one, this was heavy fuel oil (bunker oil) which needs to be preheated since it normally has the consistency of asphalt.
@@CruelestChris No it doesn't have that sort of consistency at all. And the environment would have remained more than hot enough to keep the oil liquefied in any case, much to the chagrin of the crew no doubt. So in conclusion still "better" than quenching the fire in a conventional fuel oil boiler system.
@skylined5534 Yes it does, it's like treacle without a preheater.
This is just what I needed to watch this morning. Thank you Mike!
killed me with the "foreshadowing". Great vid. Starting to love these.
One of, if not the most absurd naval disaster in history.
Eh. My vote would be HMS Captain
His Swedish Majesty's warship _Vasa_ would like a word as well.
Operation Viking and the Honda point disaster are both pretty strong contenders for that title.
@@temerityxd8602 Neither of those incidents were the fault of the ships themselves though.
@@Ray-pu6wr Neither was May Island, it was a helm fault that could never be replicated and would have been a minor incident with two casualties if Lier hadn't decided to Leeroy Jenkins an entire squadron of subs into his own fleet.
Yay, the dapper Australian finally did a video on the aquatic lawn dart!
Definitely do a video on the Monitor class submarines you mentioned at the end, super unique class of submarine. Or a video on X-1, one of my favorite submarines ever. WW1 and interwar submarines were so unique
Bold concept and some very brave people! Thanks for anther interesting and informative video.
War is hell.
The British admiralty had a long and distinguished history of consistently making poor decisions
I was very curious about WWI subs and couldn't find much of any info online. Then I saw this and now I have the whole picture in just 27 minutes! Thanks for such a great video!!!
Two of my family members Captained some of America's first submarines, Lt. Richard Sauffley and Admiral George McFadden O'Rear.
The fleet that sinks itself, the Germans loved them!
So the K Class aren't Submarines, they are Submersibles. They are designed to be on the surface 98% of the time to keep up with the fleet, but are able to submerge for very short periods. At a time when diesel engines were just in development & submarine design was at it's infancy.
They _were_ submarines by the standards of their time. Pretty much every submarine created before the 1940s was a “submersible” spending about 90% of the time on the surface.
That's a mighty sharp axe you have and I'm sure you've split many a hair with it.
Thank you so much! Sincerely! You finally came out with a new video not about the Titanic!
Wow that was so interesting, I've never heard this story about the K Class subs. Thank you Mike.
Same. I'm a little ignorant of pre wwII hardware so this was fascinating!
Traditionally the worst enemy of the Royal Nave has always been the Admiralty.
No, the RN’s worst enemy has always been the treasury.
Steam power needs exhaust 😂
Sadly yes :s
Well, yes but no. Modern nuke boats are very technically steam driven.
@@792slayer it wasnt like that in the 1st and 2nd world war, the innovation wasnt that far yet
@@Larssema I realize that. I just like bringing up that modern nuclear ships still use steam for power generation. A surprising number of people don't know that.
@@792slayer im being 100% honest, i did not know it either, i do know there are nuclear powered ships, but i dont know how it all works
Great video. It is ironic that, post-ww1, the US Navy also became obsessed with the 'fleet submarine' concept - submarines with the speed and range to keep up with the rest of the fleet. They did not go with steam power though - presumably the British Ks and Ms were a cautionary tale. But the USN did develop an entire series of fleet submarines up through the 1920s and 1930s. The end-result of this evolution were the submarines used to devastating affect in the Pacific during ww2. Whilst never used for the original purpose of accompanying the main fleet, they had the speed and range to be especially effective in that theatre of war.
The "Fleet Sub" concept finally culminated in the nuclear powered USS Triton. A huge boat at the time, it was fast enough (30+ knots UNDERWATER) to range out ahead of the battle fleet to surface and use their powerful radar as a picket boat. It was soon replaced by carrier launched radar planes. Then Triton was repurposed for SpecOps. Running her that fast at depth must have been quite a ride! 😎👍
You may have said it in your video and I didn't catch it, but one important thing to note is that the K-22 was actually the K-13 after the disastrous sinking incident, refitted and sent out with a new crew in tow. Maritime superstiton at the time stated a vessel that sank and lost its crew was considered unlucky, so most often such a vessel was renamed in an effort to throw off the portent of disaster. It didn't work in this case.
I have been waiting for your presentation of this calamity for so long!
I know this video isn't about Titanic, but, happy 112th Anniversary to Titanic, when she left Southampton!
Mike, it's such a pleasure to see your channel continue to grow and succeed.
Very interesting article Mike, well done! Nice to see the M2 and the M1... we dived M2 off Portand about 15 years ago. Fascinating dive although a plankton bloom mid water above us - think dense green cloud, meant it was extremely dark. The hanger door is open and you can clearly see the launch rail for the Parnell Pito light float plane. Lets have more like this please! Thank you.
Thanks to that aussie lingo I now know why there is a K13 Memorial Park in Carlingford, western Sydney. I drove past it for years not knowing what it was. Thank you.
An amazing follow up from watching the THG stream!
Michael please for the love of all that is Buoyant and Sea Worthy do a podcast or collab with Drachinifel, a discussion on anything ship related between you two would instantly be a classic
I've been waiting for your take on this debacle. I read about it 20yrs or so ago & just couldn't believe the general stupidity (& apathy) exhibited by the bigwigs in charge. Thank you for giving such a clear description of events here.
been waiting for years for a decent channel to do the K boats! at last!
Love your content. Very knowledgeable, I always learn lots of new things and history I didn't know. And just as important for videos like this on KZhead - a very good voice for narration, that's very comfortable to listen to. Keep up the good work! Greetings from Norway! 😊👍🇳🇴
Absolutely fascinating! I had no idea that steam power had ever even been *considered* for a submarine! 😶🌫
I worked in the Clyde Sub Base on the Gareloch where K 13 sank - the dead are buried in a cemetery very close to the base, I've seen the graves.
Fascinating video, Mike! I’d love to see more videos on submarines in the future. 🖖😀
What a wonderful and informative video, i enjoyed this so much . Many thanks!
Started building a scale K-class submarine on Stormworks last October. Extended the workbench size to accomodate it and scratch built the hull in two days from the same image of the deck plans you use in your video. Had it floating with temporary ballast and was roughing in the periscopes, armament, decks, bulkheads and powerplant when the game was updated to handle stupid Space DLC crap that broke steam power, fluid dynamics and the game's overall optimization. Gonna be one of those things I want to but will never be able to finish.
Actually, the first combat submersible was the Turtle built during the American revolutionary war. Turtle was the world's first submersible vessel with a documented record of use in combat. It was built in 1775 by American David Bushnell as a means of attaching explosive charges to ships in a harbor, for use against the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War.
Admiralty clearly failed to add giant Edwardian solar panels, just in case the turbine, batteries & generator all failed... Sadly, these boats were like building a class of HMS Captains. Lovely quick shot of the Carlingford Memorial too. Thank-you Mike & crew.⚓
Small error: The narration of 1,400T at 10:34 doesn't match the displayed text of 1,4000T (extra zero)
Excellent video, but the madness didn’t end there. The Admiralty then went on to build the M Class submarine. No steam this time - but they did have 12” cannons!
Thanks Mike
I remember my TMC telling me that all of our procedure were written in blood and sweat. In order for us to run, others had to walk, and occasionally fall. Shit's wild when you think about it.
"Humidity was absolutely off the charts." I believe it can't go any higher than 100%, sir.
Beyond horrifying. The only words to describe the "Battle of May Island". Excellent video, thank you, Sir.
It is nigh impossible for the cynic to not crack jokes about the K-class, or just to outright mock them and pour lashings of scorn over them. However, you've avoided this and I commend your very sober and unbiased (as far as one can be) documentary on them. While I have a high regard for Drachinifel, you can be sure his video's comment section was an echo chamber of jokes and hindsight sages, which is always a shame. Good work. Thanks.