HMS E22 was a British E-class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 27 August 1914 and was commissioned on 8 November 1915.
Design Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E22 had a displacement of at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of and a beam of . She was powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors.Akerman, P. (1989). Encyclopaedia of British submarines 1901–1955. p.150. Maritime Books. The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of of diesel and ranges of when travelling at . E21 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at .
E22 was armed with five 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.
E-Class submarines had wireless systems with power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below . Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.
Crew Her complement was three officers and 28 men.
Service history E22 was involved in experiments in the North Sea to intercept Zeppelins on 24 April 1916. E22 carried two Sopwith Baby seaplane scouts on her casing. The boat would then submerge in calm waters and the planes would float on the surface. They would then take off and then return to the East coast of England at Felixstowe. The trials were not repeated.
E22 was torpedoed by the German U-boat off Great Yarmouth in the North Sea on 25 April 1916. There were two survivors, ERA F.S. Buckingham and Signalman William Harrod, taken prisoner by the U-boat.
Wreck HMS E22 wreck has been located, this information comes from HeritageGateway.org.uk site
During the survey, the high-resolution bathymetry images revealed the wreck of a submarine, located around 70 km off the coast of East Anglia. The vessel was lying, totally uncovered, on the seabed, in around 35m of water. The structure was almost intact, with the hull broken just behind the conning tower. Due to its location, it was identified as wreck ID 28012 on the Admiralty database. (5)
Identified as HMS E22 following a commercial seabed survey in 2022. Using Historic England’s deskGIS and Google Earth systems, the location has been identified as approximately 50 nautical miles east of Great Yarmouth. (12)
References
Bibliography
External links HMS E22 - Online Memorial 'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=31132bac-4aff-11ed-b9a0-0022481aebf2&resourceID=19191