Technology; Submarines in World War I

William Belcher was the maternal great grandfather of my husband. He was born in the fall of 1884, in the Browney Colliery area, near Durham in the north east of England. His father was a coal miner, as was everyone else living on their street in the 1891 census. William was 28 years old when World War 1 started in the summer of 1914. By this time William was married, to Jane Henderson, and was the father of four children, Hugh (born 1910), Jane (born 1911), Lily (born 1913), and Thomas (born 1914). William was recorded in the 1911 census as a coal miner/ stoneman. A stoneman had the job of excavating stone from the mine, presumably to clear the hard strata to open up further seams of coal. Conscription did not start in the UK until January 1916, after the Military Service Act was passed, but as a miner William was not required to join the military; he was in a protected occupation. 

William joined the Royal Navy Reserve on the 6th January 1915, a year before national conscription, and despite his working in a protected occupation. His enrolment papers described him as having a height of 5' 7", a chest measurement of 40", with a sallow complexion and brown hair. His home address was recorded as 53 Thirteenth Street, Horden.

The not so 'Great War' had started 5 months earlier and combat fighting had started in earnest in September, when the First Battle of the Marne began. William was to serve about 4 1/2 years with the Royal Navy, as a reservist. It is not clear from his record whether or not he was able to return home at all during those years.

According to his RNR record, sourced from the National Archive at Kew, William started out serving at HMS Pembroke, as stoker. You can just make out the blurry lettering on this hat in the picture above. Confusingly HMS Pembroke was not actually a ship, but a 'stone garrison'; a training establishment at Chatham, Kent.

A stoker, during the time of steam powered ships, had the primary job of fueling the engine; transporting and shovelling heavy loads of coal to the furnaces deep in the bowel of the ship. With the decline of coal fired ships stokers became responsible for anything from the propulsion systems to hydraulics, electrical and firefighting systems. The word 'stoker' is now only a colloquial term for a marine engineering technician. I imagine that William spent time fuelling engines, and working as an engineer, given the variety of work he appears to have carried out during his time in service. There were various levels of superiority in the stoker role; Chief Stoker, Stoker Petty Officer, Leading Stoker, Stoker 1st Class, Stoker 2nd Class, and Stoker Fire Fighter. Since William's record simle states 'stoker', without any class, we can assume that he was probably a 3rd Class Stoker, or Stoker Fire Fighter.

After training William's first posting was with HMS Columbine, which started on 17th April, 1915. HMS Columbine was a depot ship, harboured in Rosyth during WWI. Whilst stationed on HMS Columbine the letters after the ship's name in his record suggest that his duty was related to working on B3, a submarine. At the start of WWI the Royal Navy Submarine Service had been in operation for just ten years or so; WWI would be the first time military submarines would have a significant impact on a war. In 1915 B3 and B4 submarines were assigned to local defence duties in the Firth of Clyde.

At the start of WWI there were just 10 B class submarines in the Royal Navy submarine service. By 1915 all the B class submarines were used for training and local defence purposes. These submarines were not designed for submariners to live in, hence the reason why William was assigned to the depot ship, HMS Columbine, where he would have bunked.

Life onboard a B class submarine would have been cramped, and stuffy. Ventilation was provided for the batteries, but not the crews living area, and there was no internal bulkhead (or wall) so the crew were exposed to the exhaust from the petrol engine. Mice were used to detect excess carbon monoxide. Missions in these submarines were to take no more than 3 days in the winter, and 4 days in the summer, but would officially only meant to stay submerged for a maximum of 10 hours. Several boats, during the war, would spend up to 16 hours under water. The boats were tested to dive to a depth of 100ft. Whilst their operational depth was closer to 50ft, several B Class submarines dived to a depth of 95ft during the First World War. With 2 officers to lead the crew, and 13 ratings (a naval term for a lowest level member of the navy, equal to private in the army), there would have been a crew of 15 men in this small vessel.

B3 was built in 1906, and served throughout the war. It was sold for scrap in December 1919. William went on to serve on various other ships throughout the war. He was demobbed in June 1919, with a clean record, a chevron for good conduct, and a British War Medal. His decision to enlist, when he didn't have to, and could have spent the war years working his regular job in the mines, speaks volumes about his strength of character. 

#Belcher

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http://www.dmm.org.uk/educate/mineocc.htm#s

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/conscription/#:~:text=Conscription%20introduced&text=In%20January%201916%20the%20Military,certain%20classes%20of%20industrial%20worker.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_B-class_submarine

https://britsub.x10.mx/html/class/b_class.html