Submarine E29. Operational History 1917/1918. Can you help?

[Archer]

Dear Forum members

I have googled (so please, no "google is our friend" answers), and I have searched this site, but have come up with very little of substance, or else contradictory information.

I cannot visit Kew in person, as I live at the Southern tip of Africa, so I do not have ready access the ship's log.

I'm looking for an accurate operational history of Submarine E29 for the period 1 July 1917 to 11 November 1918.

• Two officers were decorated for service in E29: Shove and Webster. Both of them had left the ship by 1 July 1917.
• Ronnie Blacklock commanded E31 and E45 during the relevant period.

Is there a member out there who can pick this up?

 

 

 

 

[Archer]

I should have added the commanding officers I have identified:

Lieutenant (later Admiral Sir) Colin Cantlie - 22 April 1917 - 26 July 1918

Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Commander)  Alec Murray Carrie - 26 July 1918 - 9 September 1918, and again 13 September 1918 - 13 April 1919

 

Edited 5 April by Archer

[KizmeRD]

Take a look also at the following…

http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._E_29_(1915)

MB

[Lawryleslie]

Not sure if this will help but the National Archive website is very accessible. There is a very helpful "chat facility" to help you navigate the site.  You can register for free which enables you to access digitised images and send them to your own email free of charge. Not sure if there are geographical restrictions though. I have used this facility numerous times to download documents for free.

[KizmeRD]

From "A Dammed Un-English Weapon by Edward Grey" 

Lt Blacklock in the Harwich Flotilla's E.29 also had a brush with a U-boat but, on this occasion, the enemy got away. It was a thrilling chase and one which exemplified the courage of the British submarine captains in their dangerous task. The U-boat was sighted on the surface at 1,ooo yards but, as Ronnie Blacklock took E.29 down to attack, the U-boat commander sighted the British submarine and began diving at precisely the same time. Now that both boats were submerged it became a game of blindman's buff and Blacklock used the hydrophones to pick up the sound and direction of the U-boat's engines. `If we pick him up,' he told the crew, `we'll try to ram him underwater.' Fortunately for E.29 the enemy boat was not located and, after a long search, the hunt was called off. Had she rammed the enemy as Blacklock intended it is highly likely that she would have plunged to the bottom alongside her victim.

(October 1918).

MB

[KizmeRD]

Unfortunately the logbook is not digitised, so requires a trip to Kew (which original poster is unable to do)…

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C1882/cnext/C1882/C3844539

MB

[Archer]

Thank you for all the replies! Wonderful!

Still wondering whether any of our members have detailed notes up their sleeves. We live and learn!

:cheers:

William 

[Archer]

@KizmeRD

The extract from A Dammed Un-English Weapon has always puzzled me, because as I noted above, Ronnie Blacklock commanded E31 and E45 during the relevant period. Lieutenant Carrie was commanding officer of E29 in October 1918. Could Edward Grey have made an error, or could Ronnie Blacklock have been acting as skipper on that patrol?

History is not always curt and dried!

 

[KizmeRD]

It’s not inconceivable that submarine skippers belonging to the same flotilla may have occasionally and temporarily stood-in for each other, in event of illness or for other reasons. A typical Harwich submarine patrol lasted 10 days, and far less than that if the sub was only going out to lay mines. I’m trusting that Edwyn Gray was through in his research and actually read the logbooks in the National Archives at Kew - he wrote a whole bookshelf worth of books on British submarines, so I’d be prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

MB

[Archer]

Very good answer. Thank you.

 

Later [edit] ->

Now that I have located the passage on google Books, it seems to come in a discussion of events taking place in October-November 1916. The next incident recorded is the loss of K.1 in November 1916.

I wish there were more references to E29 on the internet.

Anyway, thanks again for your answers - excellent as always.

:cheers:

William

 

Edited 5 April by Archer
Subsequent thoughts!