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T-CLASS
submarine
The T-class submarine was
a series of 55 submarines of the Royal Navy that served
in World War II. Their size (1,325 tons) was kept down
to allow more hulls to be built within the tonnage
restrictions of the London Treaty.
These new submarines were
subjected to strict design guidelines. They required a
strong armament and a patrol duration of at least 42
days for long-distance service.
The first T-class submarines were 275 feet long and
built with a distinctive bulbous bow.
Why the distinctive bulbous bow?
Naval planners assumed
that long-distance British submarines would have a very
hard time attacking Japan’s aircraft carriers and
battleships as they would be defended by smaller
destroyer escorts. In order to get through these
escorts, British submarines would have to unleash a
large torpedo salvo to ensure enough destroyers were
sunk or damaged.
The T-class, therefore, had a large protruding bow to
accommodate the large number of torpedoes.
However, the bow shape
adversely affected the speed while surfaced, prompting
the Admiralty to build nine slightly modified T-class
submarines with a more streamlined bow shape and the
external bow tubes moved further back.
In addition to six internal torpedo tubes, early T-class
submarines also had four external torpedo tubes. These
tubes were loaded prior to leaving port and could not be
reloaded internally. Two tubes were located near the
sub’s bow, and two were mounted on the sides, near the
sail. Amazingly, some of the T-class had an
extra—eleventh—external torpedo tube that faced the
rear. Some mid-war T-class subs also had their midship
tubes shifted to face the rear, though these interfered
with the T-class’ depth control.
The entire T-class submarine model also came with a
4-inch deck gun forward of the sail with which to attack
enemy surface ships. This gun fired a 35-pound shell.
The T-class submarine went on to serve mostly in the
Mediterranean, where British ports at Gibraltar and
Egypt mean that the long-range subs could stay supplied
for much longer than their Axis counterparts.
After the war, the T-class submarine’ s role was changed
to hunting Soviet submarines. For that mission, the
T-class was modified for better underwater
characteristics and had their deck guns removed and the
sail smoothed. The last of the class was operated by the
Israeli Navy until 1977 when it was decommissioned.
This primarily wood
model of the
T-class submarine is
33" long (1/100
scale)
$2,840.
Shipping and insurance in
the contiguous USA included.
Other places: $350 flat rate.
Model is built per commission only. We require only a
small deposit to start the process $900
the
remaining balance won't be due until the model is
completed, in less than 6 months.
Learn more about T-class here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_T-class_submarine
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