TO BE SCRAPPED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 246, 17 October 1936, Page 14

TO BE SCRAPPED

BRITISH “WHITE ELEPHANT’ SUBMARINE LONDON, Oct. 14. Britain’s £1,000,000 “white elephant” submarine XI, built in 1922, which is capable of submerging for 2£ days, is to be scrapped. It has been out of commission for years, ana probably is the Admiralty’s worst investment. The XI was Britain’s first post-war submarine and became a fully commissioned ship in the Fifth Flotilla at Portsmouth in September, 1925, after trials extending over nearly two years. She is officially known as the “X type” and was built at Chatham, being 363 i feet long, with a beam of 29.8 feet and a draught of 15.3 feet. Her surface displacement is 2425 tons, 3600 tons submerged, and her surface speed 19J knots from engines developing 7000 h.p* Submerged, she travelled at 9 knots. She has four 5.2 in. guns and two Lewis guns, and a crew of 100. Her fuel capacity is 450 tons. Her displacement when submerged is almost equal to that of a light cruiser and arrangements were made to send her on a ’on" o'’’pr v cas cruise. Under Commander P. E. Phillips she travelled from Portsmouth to Gibraltar and back.