Odin-class submarine

Oxley and Otway
Class overview
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	L class
Succeeded by	Parthian class
In commission	22 July 1927—1959
Completed	12
Lost	6
Retired	12
General characteristics
Displacement	Group 1: 1,311 long tons (1,332 t) surfaced 1,892 long tons (1,922 t) submerged Group 2: 1,781 long tons (1,810 t) surfaced 2,030 long tons (2,060 t) submerged
Length	Group 1: 275 ft (84 m) Group 2: 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m)
Beam	Group 1: 28 ft (8.5 m) Group 2: 30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric 2 × diesel engines, 4,600 hp 2 × electric motors, 350 hp 2 screws
Speed	Group 1: 15.5 knots (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h) surfaced 9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) submerged Group 2: 17.5 kn (20.1 mph; 32.4 km/h) surfaced 9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) submerged
Range	8,400 nmi (15,600 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) surfaced 70 nmi (130 km) at 4 kn (4.6 mph; 7.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth	300 ft (91 m)
Complement	54
Armament	• 8 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern) with 16 reloads • 1 × QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk XII deck gun • 2 × Lewis machine guns

The Odin class submarine (or "O class") was a class of nine submarines developed and built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s. The prototype Oberon was followed by two ships originally ordered for the Royal Australian Navy, but transferred to the RN in 1931 because of the poor economic situation in Australia, and six modified boats ordered for the RN. Three modified ships were built for the Chilean Navy as the Capitan O'Brien-class submarines in 1929.

Design

They were built to replace the ageing L-class submarines which did not have adequate endurance in the Pacific. These boats were theoretically able to dive to 500 feet, though none were formally tested beyond 300 feet. Armament consisted of eight 21-inch torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern) and one 4-inch gun. The boats were of a saddle tank type with fuel carried in riveted external tanks. These external tanks proved vulnerable to leaking after depth charge damage betraying the position of the submarine. These boats were the first British submarines fitted with Asdic and VLF radio which could be used at periscope depth.

Ships

Ship	Builder	Launched	Fate
Oberon (ex-O1)	Chatham Dockyard	24 September 1926	Scrapped 1945

Oxley class submarines :

Ship	Builder	Launched	Fate
Otway	Vickers, Barrow	7 September 1926	Scrapped 1945
Oxley	Vickers, Barrow	29 September 1926	Sunk in a friendly fire incident by Triton near Norway, 10 September 1939

Odin class submarines:

Ship	Builder	Launched	Fate
Odin	Chatham Dockyard	5 May 1928	Sunk by Italian destroyer Strale in the Gulf of Taranto, 14 June 1940
Olympus	William Beardmore and Company	11 December 1928	Mined off Malta, 8 May 1942
Orpheus	William Beardmore and Company	26 February 1929	Sunk by Italian destroyer Turbine in the Mediterranean, 19 June 1940
Osiris	Vickers, Barrow	19 May 1928	Scrapped in September 1946 in Durban.
Oswald	Vickers, Barrow	19 June 1928	Sunk by Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi off Calbria, 1 August 1940
Otus	Vickers, Barrow	31 August 1928	Scuttled in September 1946 off Durban.

See also

Media related to Odin class submarines at Wikimedia Commons

References

• Submariners Association: O Class
• Battleships-cruisers.co.uk: Odin Class
• Uboat.net
• D.K. Brown, Nelson to Vanguard, Chatham Maritime Press ISBN 1 86176 136 8
• Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, By Robert Hutchinson