HMS M2 facts for kids
HMS M2 retrieving her Parnall Peto seaplane.
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United Kingdom |
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| Name | HMS M2 |
| Builder | Vickers |
| Laid down | 1916 |
| Launched | 1919 |
| Fate | Sank during exercise, 26 January 1932 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | M-class submarine |
| Displacement |
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| Length | 295 ft 9 in (90.14 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft 8 in (7.52 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Endurance | 80 nmi (92 mi; 150 km) at 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) |
| Test depth | 200 ft (61 m) - accidentally reached 239 ft (73 m) in 1923 |
| Complement | 62 |
| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | 1 × Parnall Peto seaplane |
| Aviation facilities | Hangar and Hydraulic catapult |
HMS M2 was a Royal Navy submarine monitor completed in 1919, converted in 1927 into a submarine aircraft carrier. She was wrecked in Lyme Bay, Dorset, Britain, on 26 January 1932. She was one of three M-class boats completed.
Design and career
Four M-class submarines replaced the order for the last four K-class submarines, K17-K21. Although they were similar in size, the M class was an entirely different design from the K class, although it is possible that some material ordered for the K-boats went into them. In any event, the end of the First World War meant that only three were completed.
M2 was laid down at Vickers shipyard at Barrow in Furness in 1916, and launched in 1919. Like the other members of her class, she was armed with a single fixed 12-inch (305mm) gun as well as torpedo tubes. The Mark IX gun was taken from spares held for the Formidable-class battleships.
The M-class submarines were very large for the time at 296 feet (90 m) long. They were designed to operate as submarine monitors or cruisers. They displaced 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) on the surface and 1,950 long tons (1,980 t) when submerged. Two 12-cylinder diesel engines producing 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) drove them on the surface; underwater, they were driven by electric motors producing 1,500 hp (1,100 kW).
After the accidental sinking of M1 in 1925, M2 and her sister M3 were taken out of service and reassigned for experimental use. Her 12-inch gun was removed, replaced by a small aircraft hangar, the work being completed in 1927. This could carry a small Parnall Peto seaplane, specially designed for the M2, which, once its wings had been unfolded, could be lowered onto the sea alongside by a derrick for take off. On landing, the aircraft was hoisted back onto the deck and replaced into the hangar. In October 1928, a hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted, to enable the seaplane to take off directly from the deck. The submarine was intended to operate ahead of the battle fleet in a reconnaissance role, flying off her unarmed seaplane as a scout.
The concept of a submarine cruiser was pursued with X1, but was not a success and was later abandoned.
Aftermath
The submarine currently lies upright on the sea bed at (50°34.6′N 2°33.93′W / 50.5767°N 2.56550°W). Her keel is about 100 ft (30 m) below the surface at low tide, and her highest point at the top of the conning tower at around 66 ft (20 m). She is a popular dive for scuba divers. The wreck is designated as a "protected place" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
After the loss of M2, the Royal Navy abandoned submarine-launched aircraft, although other navies experimented with the concept in the inter-war years and with Japan producing some 42 submarine aircraft carriers both before and during the Second World War.
