The K class - Lawn-darts of the sea? 

Pinned post for Q&A :)

The scariest part about the K class is that the stern can be poking out of the water and the bow can still be below crush depth.

Has any class of ship's design caused its crews to receive medals for Bravery simply for being assigned and operating it? Cause these crews deserve to have them.

To be fair, the future _was_ steam-powered. It's just that it would require much higher energy density than an oil boiler.

Monty Python couldn't write a more tragically hilarious skit. "When Royal Navy wanted a fleet submarine that could keep up with the Battle fleet everyone said they were daft, but the Royal Navy built the K Class all the same, just to show them. The first sank into the sea. So they built a second one. And that one sank into the sea. So they built a third. That burned down, rolled over, and then sank into the sea. But the fourth one stayed up. Until it got rammed by a Battlecruiser, the pumps failed and then sank into the sea. But that didn't matter Son, because we're British and we never admit a mistake." It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. Rest in peace all those brave, unfortunate souls.

I alternated between cringing for the safety (danger) of the crews, and wanting to thrash the leadership that refused to recognize the utter unsuitability of these deathtraps.

There were so many awful incidents that I had to keep notes: 17:22: K3 sea trials 20:47: K13 disaster 33:58: K1, K2, K4, K6, K14, K16 incidents 37:46: K2 uncontrolled dive 38:05: K11 boiler room fire 40:32: “Battle” of May Island chaos 50:58: K15 stern sinking 51:43: K3 crushing dive 53:54: K8, K14, K15 incidents 54:19: K5 stuck at bottom, collision with towed destroyer 54:35: Fleet exercise disaster, K5 implosion 56:14: K15 sinking at port 57:04: K22 emergency rapid blow

The most insane thing about this class of ships is that they built THAT many of them

With all the "friendly fire" incidents between RN cruisers and submarines that were traveling together, you'd think one of those incidents would include the claim of "Japanese torpedo boats".

There was a quote from a K boat captain that went " the K boats handled like a battle ship but had the bridge of a picket boat"

I can't believe that they actually put Prince Albert in a can.

A major reason for the USN trying to develop Fleet Boats was the Treaty Regime. Commerce raiding had to be conducted under the Cruiser Rules, which it considered suicidal. So the prewar USN subs were designed and crews trained under the doctrine that they would only be used against warships. Of course, that was ditched on the afternoon of Dec 7 1941 when the famous signal, "Execute unrestricted air and submarine warfare against Japan" was broadcast

Really enjoy the 3D animation bits..they definitely help to visualize the ship's systems as you describe their functions. Hopefully you can collaborate with Dr. Willis more in the future!

The K-class: a submarine with the engineering of the Mk 14 torpedo and the luck of the Second Pacific Squadron

Having scuba dived on both the subs sank in the battle of isle of May it was one of the most sombre set of dives thinking of all the poor buggers that got killed that night. We looked, paid respects but did not touch the 4 pieces of those 2 subs on the sea floor. That was 25 years ago and they were still on remarkably good condition. I hope that they still are as a memorial to the brave men who sailed in them knowing their history even then.

I really liked the 3-D renderings, they really helped show exactly how the machinery plant was supposed to work, as well as give an idea of the actual size of the subs.

Sounds like a certain series of castle mentioned in a monty python movie. "Everyone said i was crazy to build a k class but i did it anyway, and she sank. So i built a second, and she burst into flames and sank. So i built a third, and it burst into flames, exploded, and sank. So i built a forth, and it managed to make it long enough to be scrapped."

the K class motto: just when you thought it couldn't get any worse....

I've always thought the K-Class were a type that was just way too ahead of their time. The idea of a Fleet Submarine was definitely a forward thinking one, and today the steam powered fleet-submarine is a reality as US Carrier Battle Groups do have submarines that accompany them, but the technology of the 1910's just was not able to meet the types needs. Either K13/22 was a damn lucky boat, or the sub was so determined to sink itself and only the sheer bloody-mindedness of her various crews and commanders stopped her from achieving said goal... The M-Class subs were a subject I read about as a kid and I was absolutely fascinated by all 3 (Obviously the story of M1 and M2 are the most storied) so a Wednesday Video on that class is one I'd very much look forward to!

WOW. The powerplant animation emerging from the flat plan view is eye-poppingly wonderful!

I have some original negatives of these moored by the Forth Bridge. Not in great nick but I must do something with them sometime soon. Thanks for making this vid. and reminding me.

I think this is the first time one of these lists about a class had to dedicate most of its time to a series of truely horrible series of accidents. Good lord these were terrible boats.

That was truly diabolical. No matter how many times I re-hear or re-read the story of the K-boats, it just never gets any less appalling. Great video - thanks, Drach.

A submarine that is powered by steam AND diesel, with a negatively bouyant bow, a fuel tank open to the sea, AND carrying of all things, depth charges. These submarines were freakin' wild! All of a sudden, Surcouf doesn't seem so crazy.

Ah, yes. The Koffin class. We’re going down the rabbit hole again.

"I say, Number One, my end is diving... What the hell is your end doing...?"

I really enjoyed this, as I knew of the class, but not the details of their service, I enjoy the details that you put into your videos, your style of presentation ( which was advice you gave in a livestream I listened to you yesterday). Your description of the battle of may Island was very well done, you can almost feel the battlecruiser speed past at fingertip distance, or the QE's up close and personal too. Bravo zulu

Dear drachnifel , I recently found this out that there is a memorial for hms k13 in carlingford Sydney, Australia. it was made in dedication to a officer who was lost and was made by his widow. In the 1920s , along Carlingford rd near the old train station

My favourite K class quote "My end is diving No1. What the hell is your end doing?"

Loving the CAD animations Drach! Really brings a blueprint to life

Reading a book on the K-class in my local library in the '70's was actually got me interested in naval history...

This is one of the most riveting stories I´ve heard of the horrors of Submarine service. It explains some of the secrecy around Naval Service. The old Saw `Don´t go near the water´ comes to mind. The disasters caused by inattention, incompetence, inexperience, and hubris are punished cruelly and quickly by Old Neptune. The Horror stories told in the average yachting Marina are sobering.

A memorial to K13 is just down the road from where I live in Carlingford, NSW. It was donated and erected by Charles Albert Harry Freestone, a survivor of K13, who had moved to Australia and developed a successful local business. It serves as a memorial not just to K13, but to all HM submarines lost on service.

Excellent video about history I was not aware of. (Largely because my parents decided in 1956 to emigrate to Canada, when I was only 7). I noticed one amusing thing ... about the closed-captioning on my computer. Every time you spoke about the Vickers company, it was interpreted as "Vicar's". I have trouble imagining a Vicar working on submarines in his Sunday best!

After watching this video im am now vary certain that any submarine that hull number that starts with a K has an extremely high chance of either causing a lot of problems,having a structural problem or in a lot of soviet cold war cases have a reactor malfunction

Rather appropriately named, given how they ended up resulting in K-class scenarios for many of their crews. Sadly, they weren't divided into CK, MK, NK, SK, XK, and ZK sub-classes.

Got to hand it to K-22, despite her long record of incidents, she still managed to be one of the last in service,

Those blue print animations were very cool. I really liked them. I would have liked to hear some narration about what we are seeing durning the animation. but that could be a whole videos worth of explaination.

I've been looking forward to learning about the history of the K class disaster this since Drach introduced me to the K class years ago and OH MY GOD ITS SO MUCH WORSE THAN I EVER IMAGINED!

Steam power on a sub. It seems ridiculous today. At the time, few could have imagined the rapid submersion times that air power would demand during the next war. No matter the situation, being part of the engine room crew on such a vessel would have been hell.

Wonderful video of the K class, you gotta hand it to this era of British ships. Even if the technology was behind, their ships were dam tough enough to properly lawn dart without structure damage. Little shout out to HMS Victoria for fellow lawn dart glory.

Sad to say, I miss the old intro Drach, that music was MUCH better. Otherwise, excellent video as always. I first read about the K class back in high school and was fascinated by them, glad you did this piece on them. 👍

This is a truly an extraordinary story, even for today, let alone when it took place.

And I was hoping it was about the Dutch K class subs who had the highest kill rate at the start of the war and were only passed by the US at the end of the war.

The story of that K13 sub rescue would make one hell of a good survival story movie.. Fascinating doco here thanks.

If it's not mentioned in the video, the show Down the Rabbit Hole by Frederik Knudsen on youtube did a wonderful play by play of the Battle of May Island that is definitely worth a watch.

I've been waiting for this episode for years. 🎉

Most informing and entertaining video about submarines I have ever viewed,

Well, listening to the May Island "incident", I guess we know what the developers used to train the Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts navigation AI... The really startling thing about this litany of near and actual disasters is that almost none of the issues seem to be due to the actual steam power plant, which is ironic given that that was the major objection against building them in the first place.

Drach is the only historiographer who could narrate the Battle of May Island. His inimitable style of narration is absolutely perfect for this FUBAR incident. A thought occured to me while watching this: German radio operators picking up the radio transmissions of the the fleet, putting it on speaker for the crew, whilst giving a play by play of the chaos enveloping the British ships, with a bilingual officer translating and the cook passing out bowls of their favorite snacks and beer. With the cheeky radio operator sending out a message in English, thanking the British for providing such a comedic show for them.

If the mark 14 torpedo was a submarine. War is dangerous enough without your vessel being determined to find ways to try to kill you.

The rescue mission of K13 would make a fantastic mini series.

The K-3 getting attacked by one of its own navy's armed trawlers was amusing enough but I died when the response to this was to just leave without explanation.

I remember reading about the K-Class in the Epic book of Heroic Failures. Glad beyond glad to see they've been genuinely covered here.

Remember to leave that like folks

Excellent, I love submarine engineering. Please do the M-class soon.

Here's my own assessment of the K class. From what I've learned in this video, they were a far, far greater danger to especially those who operated them than they were to the enemy. Even if they saw action during world war 1, they probably wouldn't have done much and they most likely wouldn't have been able to do much due to the massive amount of issues they had. This is one of, if not the most disgraceful ships to ever exist and one of the most dangerous to exist for those who used them. It's quite heartbreaking to see the crews that had to operate these things, especially those who die because of these ships, to go through what they did operating this class. It's terrible to say the least and almost none of it was due to combat action. But, the video itself was very well done, good job Drac.👍

If only the K class were armed with Mark 14 torpedoes. A match made in heaven.

This is my favorite piece of military hardware of all time.

oh god yes ive been waiting for these ever since down the rabbit hole did a video about the battle of may island

Deserves best title of the year award

I really would love to see an animation of the total cluster fuck at May island

Fantastic video Drach, thank you. I’ve been looking forward to this one since I found your channel. As always, excellent work

Would love to hear about any investigations and fallout from the Battle of May Island.

These visuals are impressive!

My Ggf’s youngest brother was the K1’s last leading signalman and went on to serve until discharged in 1919

I'm amazed that no one took the rational choice of setting scuttling charges and abandoning ship.

I've been looking forward to this for a long time ... and it does not disappoint. What a marvelous disaster of a boat.

Fisher's initial reaction turns out to have been prescient.

Just wanted to comment to say that the audio on this one is far better than I'd come to expect from you (over you fairly long history, to be fair).

The boiler room on a K class sounds like one of the most terrifying workspaces in human history.

Poor K3 & K13! A great, informative and, as usual, a most amusing video! Well done indeed! P.S. The most hysterically funny one I've heard you narrate yet Drach!

Disregarding the may island, it is fair to remember that all early submarine classes had many teething problems and accidents, K:s were not alone in that.

Great video always good to see a detailed analysis about a specific vessel type.

While watching this video I had to dig out my mother's box of old photos. A photo is titled "H.M. Submarine K2, 1921". On the reverse my mum has written "The Sub Uncle John served on."

What a wonderful and informative video. Great combination of narration and pictures to bring everything to life.

You need to make a tee shirt. "I survived the K Class"

Excellent. Now... First I'm an ex cold-war submariner. Second, I own a model of the mid-nineteen twenties 'O' (Oberon) Class - 'Fleet Submarines' - My model being the 'Olympus'. These were the first submarines to be given tradional ships names, instead of pennant numbers as with all previous classes. There were three fit's - the O, P and R class, all based on the same hull-form. My model needs rebuilding. This is a working model approx 1:35 scale - a 'porpoising' design (uses thrust to vary neutral bouyancy/ depth). Probably scratchbuilt by a serving or ex 'O' boat submariner. So a program on the 'O' , 'P' & 'R' Class (original class) of RN subs would be useful and interesting.

Someone in Hollywood made a movie in the 1930s or 40s in which a civilian bought a submarine for work in the South Pacific. The native crew wasn't up to it and dove with the hatch still open. Then, the main adventure plot continued.

The nose diving sub - reminded me of my hi skool buddy & his dad's Chavette - little hatch back Long story - short Compassion of gang of strangerz - the field grass covered car eventually - got its rear wheels grounded & four wheels rolling on black top tarmac ! 🇨🇦

I almost choked on my coffee when I read the title of this video

Love the 3D models! And as always enjoyed your superb story telling! :-]

I'd love to see a movie about this rescue, just listening to it was thrilling.

Holy cow! What a debacle, any sailor that served on any of those deserved a chest full of the very best high-ranking medals!

Everyone thinks steam powered subs was a crazy stupid idea, but sine the early Fifties, hundreds has had successful careers (at least in Western navies) - the nuke boats

A worthy naval equivalent to the F-104 Lawndart.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone into submarines. Videos like this make me remember why I didn't.

K class , a really really confusing name as it also needs nations designation and years build as other wise you will looking at a list as long as your arm . As each maritime nation operating sumbamarines has one or more K-class submarines some where .in their history .

"and then K-X experienced an uncontrollable dive...." i see a pattern emerging

K22 is the sub that made me happy when I hear about

I hear tell that morale among the crews assigned to the K-boats was at rock bottom. Hm. I wonder why? ):D

Oh god, that training exercise was an absolute clusterfuck

Great episode drach! Is there any information regarding the financial outlay on these failed fleet sub experiments? Could the RN have had another heavy cruiser or battle cruiser if the money hadn't been wasted?

Mr. Murphy and his law was working overtime on the K-Class... I thought that it was the Russian Navy that had to deal with "And then things got worse..."

I can't wait to see your video on the M class. I read about them almost fifty years ago in a book on submarines belonging to my older brother.

thanks, sir, for a very cogent and entertaining coverage of this tragic design. they tried, some died, but that is the way of the sea, and service to the realm

Sounds like a mix between gilligans island and star blazers. Like

I actually like the new intro.

... The fact that nobody remarked that the K class had Prince Albert in a can, and should definitely let him out, is an unforgivable loss to terrible comedy

just wanted to say Love the update to your intro video music