HM S/M L 26

Type | Submarine |
Class | L |
Pennant | N 26 |
Builder | Vickers (Barrow) |
Ordered | Dec 1916 |
Laid down | 1917 |
Launched | 29 May 1919 |
Commissioned | 12 Oct 1926 |
End service | 21 Dec 1944 |
History | Completed at Chatham Dockyard Decommissioned on 21 December 1944. |
Dimensions
238 .5’ x 23 5‘ x 16’ = 890 tons (surface)
1,080 tons (submerged)
Armament
Four 21″ bow torpedo tubes.
Eight 21″ Mark IV*S Torpedoes.
One 4″ Quick Firing Mk III gun on breastwork mounting.
90 rounds ammunition.
One Lewis gun and five rifles.
Propulsion
Twin Diesel engines 2,400 HP = 17.5 knots.
76 tons oil fuel = 2,380 miles @ 16 kts or 4,030 miles @ 8 kts.
1.7 tons per day on patrol.Main motors 1,600 HP = 10.5 kts submerged.
Batteries. 336 cells of 135 tons.
1.5 hrs at 9 knots submerged.
Hull
Saddle Tank type. Operational diving depth 150 feet but known to reach 250-300′ in service.
Complement: 4 Officers and 37 men
Detection equipment: Two 30 foot periscopes
Type 118 Asdic set.


L 26 [Lt. Cdr. Frank Lipscomb] served with the 6th Submarine Flotilla at Portland in the pre-War years as a training boat. The Boat was at Blyth on August 28 1939.

Patrol 1: Left Blyth August 31, 1939 for a patrol in the Helgoland Bight. At 07:15 hrs on September 6 two Konigsberg class cruisers and destroyer escort were sighted 45 miles West of Horns Reef. They were too far away for L 26 to mount an attack. The Boat returned to Blyth on September 13

Entered Blyth docks for repairs
Patrol 2: Left Blyth September 30. Returned to Blyth October 11

October 14 Boat left Blyth for Rosyth, L 26 did not return to Blyth.
© P Armstrong