On 31 January 1918, HM Submarines K4 and K17 were lost in the Firth of Forth through collisions in what became known as “The Battle of May Island”. 104 submariners’ lives were lost, but in actual fact the enemy wasn’t present. The use of the term “Battle” was Royal Navy black humour.
The K-class submarines were powered by steam on the surface and designed as “Fleet submarines”, ie their steam power rendered them fast enough to accompany the Grand Fleet. On the evening of 31 January, two flotillas of these submarines, comprising nine boats in all, set sail in company with about 30 surface ships for Scapa Flow where they were to take part in exercises with the Grand Fleet the following day. Sadly, a combination of mishaps off May Island led within 75 minutes to the sinking of two submarines and severe damage to three others and two surface ships. It was a dark, moonless night and the submarines were not burning navigation lights for fear a U-boat was loitering nearby. As it was, they had a low freeboard and were difficult to spot and matters were complicated by a bank of low mist. Human error and primitive communications made a bad situation worse.
Such hazards were part of the lot of early submariners and even today, submarine patrols are fraught with risk. I give an historically accurate account of the dangers and the lives of WW1 submariners in my first novel, The Custom of the Trade. The book has been described as gripping and received 799 mainly 5* ratings.
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