Tweet
The B class was a class of eleven submarines of the Royal Navy, built by Vickers and launched in 19041906. Most served in World War I.
The B class was similar in design to the A class, intended for coastal patrol work. The boats had petrol engines for surface propulsion and batteries for underwater propulsion. The design was intended to overcome the limitations of speed, endurance and seakeeping that affected the boats of the A class, and the boats were substantially longer and heavier. Improvements were made to surface speed, about 10 to 12 knots (19 to 22 km/h) for the A class, and endurance (600 to 1300 nautical miles (1100 to 2400 km), but the underwater speed of 7 knots (13 km/h) was much the same. Seakeeping was improved by the addition of a deck casing, and underwater manoeuvrability by the addition of hydroplanes.