A sunken submarine off the North Wales coast deserves to be better remembered and it is a “disgrace” there is no memorial in Caernarfon, according to two campaigners. Gwynedd councillor Dilwyn Lloyd and amateur historian Richard Thomas want to see a plaque in the town to remember the H5 submarine which sank in 1918 killing 27 seamen. The wreck of the H5 remains at the bottom of the sea 17 miles off the west coast of Anglesey. A total of 26 of the victims of the disaster on March 2 1918 were British. Read more http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/fresh-caernarfon-memorial-bid-submarine-10860578 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_H5
In “Submarines At War 1939-45” Alastair Mars wrote that “ ‘H’ class submarines were of American First World War design and many still in service ( in WW2 ) had been built in the U.S.A.” ( H5 was built by Vickers in Montreal, Canada, laid down on 11th January 1915 ) “ Good little boats for their time, they displaced about 400 tons and had a total complement edging 30. Right for’ard was a tiny space around the four torpedo tubes; then came a watertight bulkhead and the torpedo compartment. This measured some 22 feet in length and perhaps 9 feet across at the widest point. It contained four torpedo racks and, under these conditions, a mass of hammocks, suitcases, kit-bags and a collapsible mess table. About fifteen men were expected to live in this confined space, both at sea and in harbour. Going aft, through another watertight door, one came to little square messes for the chief and petty officers and engine-room artificers; then came a minuscule ward-room. Abaft this, was the control-room, another watertight door, then the engine-room and motor-room combined. Throughout the boat headroom was at a premium; whilst under the living spaces were “battery tanks”, the large cells being covered by floorboards which had frequently to be lifted in order to replenish each individual cell with distilled water. One or two men would usually sleep on the control-room floor and another in the engine-room. The majority managed as best they could - even in torpedo racks if these happened to be empty - in fact a torpedo rack was considered quite luxurious….there were only two bunks in the wardroom. “ The last ‘H’ class submarine to be taken out of service was the H34 in October 1945, twenty-eight years after she was laid down.
