XE-class submarine
The XE-class submarines were a series of twelve midget submarines that were built for the Royal Navy during 1944; four more to a slightly different design were built 1954-5 as the Stickleback class. They were an improved version of the X class used in the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz.
XE4 in Sydney Harbour, 1945 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators | Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | X class |
| Planned | 16 |
| Completed | 15 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| Retired | 13 |
| Preserved | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 53.25 ft (16.23 m) |
| Beam | 5.75 ft (1.75 m) |
| Draught | 5.3 ft (1.62 m) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (91 m) |
| Complement | 4–5 |
| Armament | Two × 4,400 lb (1,996 kg) detachable explosive charges |
They carried a crew of four, typically a lieutenant in command, with a sub-lieutenant as deputy, an engine room artificer in charge of the mechanical side and a seaman or leading-seaman. At least one of them was qualified as a diver.
In addition to the two side charges (each of which contained two tons of amatol explosive), they carried around six 20-pound (9 kg) limpet mines which were attached to the target by the diver.
They and their depot ship HMS Bonaventure arrived at Labuan in July 1945. Four of them managed to take part in operations before the war ended.