Submarine "G 8" found

[bingoworlddk]

Hej

 

In case you haven't seen this - the Danish Sea War Museum Jutland has located the lost submarine "G 8".

Article here in Danish

The site does have a choice of languages, but unfortunately their news is only in Danish.

 

I'll try and summarise what the article says:

Sea War Museum Jutland has found the wreckage of the British submarine "G 8" north of Hirtshals.

It disappeared in January 1918. It lies at a depth of around 100 metres and an examination by an underwater robot suggests that the submarine sank after an accident or technical fault.

The wreckage was initially scanned using a 3D-multibeam scanner (images in the article).

The wreckage was then identified using an underwater robot.

The stern is free from the bottom and stands vertical. Further back the torpedo tubes on either side of the hull are visible. Aft the protective coverings for the depth rudder (not sure if this is the correct term) are visible. On the starboard side the coverings are covered in fishing nets. The depth rudder points upwards indicating that the crew tried to steer the submarine towards the surface after some sort of accident.

The decking between the stern and the tower is corroded in places not covered by fishing nets. The tower is covered in nets, but enough is visible to see the brass plates and both periscopes.

Behind the tower the decking is visible and can clearly be followed, showing a torpedo hatch with its opening device (can't translate tandstangsarrangement).

Beneath the aft hull some of the rudder is visible as well as the protective coverings for the depth rudders on either side.

"G 8" was attached to the 10th Submarine Fleet stationed at the mouth of the river Tees in Yorkshire. December 27th, 1917 "G 8" left its base with a crew of 28 with orders to patrol Kattegat. It was due to start its return journey on January 3rd to arrive on January 6th, 1918. When it did not turn up, the submarine was declared missing on January 14th, 1918.

Sea War Museum Jutland discovery of the submarine 101 years later shows that it was on its return journey, when struck by accident. "G 8" lies with its stern pointing towards Tees.

The museum has located 31 submarines, from both world wars, and it has always been possible to see if it had been sunk by mines, torpedoes or bombs.

"On "G 8" we cannot see any sign of explosive damage, but the submarine hull could have been breached by a nearby explosion, or suffered a leak by other means, after which the crew desperately tried to sail the submarine to the surface", says Gert Normann Andersen.

 

Please excuse any translation errors.

I'm not too familiar with English naval expressions, and just in case I got it wrong, by stern I mean the front of the submarine.

 

There are no images in the article itself from the underwater robot - unfortunately.

 

Regards

Steen

 

[Hyacinth1326]

If there is no sign of mining (the usual cause of destruction attributed to this Tees boat) the boat may well have hit a patch of dense water while sailing trimmed down with only the conning tower above the surface (so producing a minimal target).  There are some good accounts by Second World War submariners who narrowly escaped being sunk in this fashion - see Ben Bryant 'One man Band'.  If G8 suddenly entered a stretch of dense water (caused by melting ice) the boat would become heavy. Trim would be lost.  In the event of the conning tower or any other part of the boat where there was an open hatch, dipping below the surface, the boat could have been inundated. The evidence points to a sudden, catastrophic plunge which could not be arrested using the hydroplanes. An H boat was suspected to have been lost in this fashion during the Second World War. Submariners called it 'pooping'.  Slow flooding could do the same thing but would not account for the angle of the boat which seems dramatic, likewise the position of the hydroplanes.  If this is the cause of her loss then I would expect that the conning tower hatch is open.  The only other thing I can think of is that she collided with an obstruction or was run down by a merchant or even a warship.  If either of these had been the case there would be extensive damage to both casing and pressure hull.  None has been reported.

 

Presumably the boat was trapped on the sea bed with men still alive within the control room at least.  They would have turned the hydroplanes to the hard a rise position and attempted to drive G8 to the surface via a combination of pressurised air (assuming they had reserves) and the power of the motors. The DSEA set was not introduced until the late 1920s. The trapped men had no means of escape.  It is highly likely they fell victim to carbon dioxide (see Thetis and Untamed) or chlorine gas in the end. 

 

Bingoworld the stern is the rear of the boat and the bows, the front but it is easy to confuse the term with the word 'stem' which was traditionally used to describe the bows.

Edited 1 August , 2019 by Hyacinth1326