*British, Pre-WW1, HM Submarine A1 – Two Original Photographs*
Two Original Photographs Pre-WW1 Submarine A1. These photographs originally formed part of the Lou Britton British Submarine Collection, which was acquired by the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport in 2007.
Approximate Dimensions:
Picture 1: HMS Submarine A1 – 19.4cm x 7.6cm
Picture 2: The Funeral of the Crew, April 19th, 1904, Haslar – 16.4cm x 10.2cm (likely a photograph of a newspaper photograph)
About HMS A1
HMS A1 was the Royal Navy’s first British-designed submarine and the first to suffer fatal casualties. As the lead ship of the A-class, she featured a single bow torpedo tube. She was sunk twice: first in 1904, becoming the Royal Navy’s first submarine casualty, with all hands lost; then again in 1911, when unmanned. Her wreck was discovered in 1989 and designated a Protected Wreck in 1998.
Built at Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness, A1 was larger than the earlier Holland-class boats. She was launched in 1902 but suffered a hydrogen explosion before her trials. In March 1904, A1 sank after a collision with the SS Berwick Castle, drowning the crew. She was raised, repaired, and returned to service, but was lost again in 1911. Although efforts to locate her failed, her wreck was found in 1989 off Bracklesham Bay.
The Funeral of the Crew, April 19th, 1904, Haslar
Sank 18 March 1904, after a collision with s.s. Berwick Castle off the Nab Lighthouse
She was accidentally sunk in the Solent on 18 March 1904 whilst carrying out a practice attack on the protected cruiser HMS Juno by being struck on the starboard side of the conning tower by a mail steamer, SS Berwick Castle, which was en route from Southampton to Hamburg. She sank in only 39 ft (12 m) of water, but the boat flooded and the entire crew was drowned. One consequence was that all subsequent Royal Navy submarines were equipped with a watertight hatch at the bottom of the conning tower. The accident (first submarine loss in peace or war) happened a few days after the Prince of Wales (Later King George V) went to sea in her for a trip, as part of Adm. Jackie Fisher’s propaganda programme to get money for S/Ms.
The Times of 24 Jan, 1907, reported that an obelisk of Sicilian marble had been erected by the Admiralty in the naval cemetery at Haslar in memory of the officers and men who lost their lives in Submarine A1 on March 18, 1904, and of the officers and men who were killed by an explosion on board Submarine A5 at Queenstown on February 16, 1905, and of those who lost their lives in Submarine A8, which accidentally foundered off Plymouth on June 8, 1905.
*Condition*
Excellent used condition. Please see photographs as part of the condition report.
RQMAEXBH_9879195007
