View source for HMS L10

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
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|Ship country= United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name= HMS ''L10''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[William Denny and Brothers]], [[Dumbarton]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=24 January 1918
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=June 1918
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|Ship fate= Sunk, 3 October 1918
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[British L class submarine|L-class submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|914|LT|t|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|1089|LT|t|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|238|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|13|ft|3|in|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|2400|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)
*{{convert|1600|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (electric)
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[diesel engine]]s
*2 × [[electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|17|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|10.5|kn|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship range={{convert|3800|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} on the surface
|Ship test depth={{convert|150|ft|1}}
|Ship complement=38
|Ship armament=*4 × bow [[British 21-inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*2 × beam [[British 18 inch torpedo|{{convert|18|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}]] torpedo tubes
*1 × [[QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII|4-inch]] [[deck gun]]
|Ship notes=
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'''HMS ''L10''''' was a [[British L class submarine|L-class submarine]] built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat was sunk in 1918 by German torpedo boats.

==Design and description==
''L9'' and its successors were enlarged to accommodate [[British 21 inch torpedo|21-inch (53.3&nbsp;cm)]] torpedoes and more fuel. The submarine had a length of {{convert|238|ft|7|in|m|1}} [[length overall|overall]], a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|23|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a mean [[draft (ship)|draft]] of {{convert|13|ft|3|in|m|1}}.<ref name=gg9>Gardiner & Gray, p. 93</ref> They [[displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|914|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|1089|LT|t}} submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 38 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]].<ref name=a5>Akermann, p. 165</ref>

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 12-cylinder [[Vickers]]<ref>Harrison, Chapter 25</ref> {{convert|1200|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} [[diesel engine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]]. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|600|hp|0|adj=on}} [[electric motor]].<ref name=gg9/> They could reach {{convert|17|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|10.5|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the L class had a range of {{convert|3800|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.<ref>Harrison, Chapters 3</ref>

The boats were armed with four 21-inch [[torpedo tube]]s in the bow and two [[British 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (45&nbsp;cm)]] in broadside mounts. They carried four reload torpedoes for the 21-inch tubes for a grand total of ten torpedoes of all sizes.<ref>Harrison, Chapter 27</ref> They were also armed with a {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} [[deck gun]].<ref name=a5/>

==Construction and career==
HMS ''L10'' was built at [[Dumbarton]] by [[William Denny and Brothers|William Denny]]. She was assigned to serve in the [[North Sea]] against German surface units counteracting German efforts to sow mines in British waters. Her greatest success led to her destruction, when on the morning of 3 October 1918, aged just under four months, the ''L10'' surfaced in the [[Heligoland Bight]] with the mission of intercepting a German raiding party. This group, consisting of the torpedo boats {{SMS|S34|1914|2}}, {{SMS|S33|1914|2}}, {{SMS|V28||2}} and {{SMS|V79||2}}, had been delayed in the Bight because the ''S34'' had detonated a mine. The other torpedo boats were crowded round their damaged comrade, and so it was easy for ''L10''{{'}}s commander, Alfred Edward Whitehouse to sneak into position and put a torpedo into the ''S33'', which began to sink. However, as she fired, the ''L10'' rose suddenly to the surface and was seen instantly by the ''V28'', ''S33'', ''S 60'' and ''V79''. Although she turned and tried to flee, ''L10'' was not fast enough to escape her pursuers and was rapidly chased down and sunk at 11:03 (CET) with all hands. ''S33'' was scuttling by a torpedo from ''S52''. ''L10'' was the only L-class boat to be lost during the [[First World War]].

==Discovery==
On 5 March 2020, it was announced that the wreck of ''L10'' had been found near the island of [[Terschelling]]. The discovery was made by the Danish company JD-Contractor, who were searching for the Polish Submarine {{ORP|Orzeł|1938|6}}.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ettinger-Erichsen |first1=Robin |title=Jysk virksomhed gør sensationelt fund af ubåd fra 1. Verdenskrig |url=https://nyheder.tv2.dk/lokalt/2020-03-05-jysk-virksomhed-goer-sensationelt-fund-af-ubaad-fra-1-verdenskrig |access-date=9 March 2020 |work=nyheder.tv2.dk |agency=TV Midtvest |date=5 March 2020 |language=da}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite web|url=http://rnsubs.co.uk/dits-bits/br-3043.html|title=The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)|last=Harrison|first=A. N.|date=January 1979|publisher=RN Subs|access-date=27 September 2022}}

{{British L class submarine}}
{{October 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|North Sea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:L10}}
[[Category:British L-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea]]
[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1918]]
[[Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands]]