HMS E20

350px HMS E20 in Harbor
History
Name:	HMS E20
Builder:	Vickers, Barrow
Laid down:	25 November 1914
Commissioned:	30 August 1915
Fate:	Sunk by torpedo, 6 November 1915
General characteristics
Class & type:	E class submarine
Displacement:	667 long tons (678 t) surfaced 807 long tons (820 t) submerged
Length:	181 ft (55 m)
Beam:	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion:	2 × 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) diesels 2 × 840 hp (626 kW) electric 2 screws
Speed:	15.25 knots (28.24 km/h; 17.55 mph) surfaced 10.25 knots (18.98 km/h; 11.80 mph) submerged
Range:	3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 65 nmi (120 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Complement:	30
Armament:	5 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes (2 bow, 2 beam, 1 stern) 1 × 12-pounder gun

HMS E20 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 25 November 1914 and was commissioned on 30 August 1915.

Service history

While the German Submarine UB-14 had been in port on 30 November, Turkish forces had captured the French submarine Turquoise before the submarine or any of the confidential papers on board could be destroyed. When Turquoise was caught, her commander had not signaled her predicament to anyone, so a scheduled rendezvous with the British submarine E20—as far as anyone other than Turquoise or the Germans and Turks knew—was still on. UB-14 had been sent to keep the rendezvous, reportedly going so far as to radio messages in the latest British code. Upon arriving at the designated location, UB-14 surfaced and fired a torpedo at E20 from a distance of 500 metres (550 yd). Only when E20's crew saw the torpedo did they realize something was amiss, but it was too late to avoid the weapon. The torpedo hit E20's conning tower and sank the submarine with the loss of 21 men. UB-14 rescued nine men, including E20's captain who, reportedly, had been brushing his teeth at the time of the attack.

External links

• 'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum