View source for HMS J1

{{Short description|J class submarine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:HMAS J1 (AWM H12457).jpg|300px|HMAS J1 in 1919]]
|Ship caption=HMAS ''J1'' in 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship name=HMS ''J1''
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship builder=HM Dockyard at [[Portsmouth]] in [[Hampshire]]
|Ship launched=6 November 1915
|Ship fate=Transferred to Australia, 25 March 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Australia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval-1913}}
|Ship name=HMAS ''J1''
|Ship acquired=25 March 1919
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=12 July 1922
|Ship fate=Sunk 26 May 1926
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class=[[British J-class submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1210|LT|t}} (surfaced)
*{{convert|1820|LT|t}} (submerged)
|Ship length={{convert|275|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|22|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|14|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*Three shafts
*Surfaced: three 12-cylinder diesel engines
*Submerged: battery-driven electric motors
|Ship speed=*{{convert|19|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} (surfaced)
*{{convert|9.5|kn|abbr=on}} (submerged)
|Ship range={{convert|4000|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} max{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}
|Ship complement=44 personnel
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*six [[British 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450 mm)]] torpedo tubes
*(four bow, two beam)
*one {{convert|4|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} gun
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''HMS ''J1''''' (later '''HMAS ''J1''''') was a [[British J-class submarine|J-class]] [[submarine]] operated by the [[Royal Navy]] and the [[Royal Australian Navy]].

==Design and construction==
{{Main|British J-class submarine}}
The J class was designed by the Royal Navy in response to reported German submarines with surface speeds over {{convert|18|kn}}.<ref name=Bastock86>Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 86</ref> They had a displacement of 1,210 tons surfaced, and 1,820 tons submerged.<ref name=Bastock86/> Each submarine was {{convert|275|ft}} in length overall, with a beam of {{convert|22|ft}}, and a draught of {{convert|14|ft}}.<ref name=Bastock86/> The propulsion system was built around three propeller shafts; the J-class were the only triple-screwed submarines ever built by the British.<ref name=Bastock86/> Propulsion came from three 12-cylinder diesel motors when on the surface, and electric motors when submerged.<ref name=Bastock86/> Top speed was {{convert|19|kn}} on the surface (the fastest submarines in the world at the time of construction), and {{convert|9.5|kn}} underwater.<ref name=Bastock86/> Range was {{convert|4,000|nmi}} at {{convert|12|kn}}.<ref name=Bastock86/>

Armament consisted of six [[British 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450 mm)]] torpedo tubes (four forward, one on each beam), plus a 4-inch deck gun.<ref name=Bastock86/> Originally, the gun was mounted on a [[Breastwork (fortification)|breastwork]] fitted forward of the conning tower, but the breastwork was later extended to the bow and merged into the hull for streamlining, and the gun was relocated to a platform fitted to the front of the [[conning tower]].<ref name=Bastock86/> 44 personnel were aboard.<ref name=Bastock86/>

''J1'' was built by HM Dockyard at [[Portsmouth]] in [[Hampshire]], and launched on 6 November 1915.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HMAS J1 |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-j1 |accessdate=2011-03-13}}</ref>

==Service history==
{{see also|Action of 5 November 1916}}
''J1'' operated in patrols in the [[North Sea]]. In November 1916, a German force of half a destroyer flotilla, three dreadnoughts, and a battlecruiser set out from port to rescue two submarines {{SMS|U-20|Germany|2|sub=y}} and {{SMS|U-30|Germany|2|sub=y}} that were stranded in fog off [[Jutland]]. On the return, having only rescued one of the submarines, the force passed ''J1'' off [[Horns Reef]] on 5 November 1916. Two of the dreadnoughts, {{SMS|Kronprinz|1914|6}} and {{SMS|Grosser Kurfürst|1913|6}}, were torpedoed  by ''J1'', earning her commanding officer, Commander [[Noel Laurence|N. F. Laurence]], a [[medal bar|Bar]] for his [[Distinguished Service Order]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29886 |date=1 January 1917 |page=10 |supp=y }}</ref> The dreadnoughts did not sink, but reached port and underwent repairs.

The submarine was later transferred to Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean.<ref name=tall /> On 9 November 1918, during an engagement with {{SMU|UB-57||2}}, ''J1'' launched a depth charge from a specially fitted launcher.<ref name=tall>{{cite book |title=HM Submarines in Camera An Illustrated History of British Submarines |last=Tall |first=J.J |author2=Paul Kemp |year=1996 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0-7509-0875-0 |page=53}}</ref>

[[File:HMA submarine J1 being refitted in Sutherland Dock, Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney Harbour (8286981816).jpg|thumb|left|''J1'' being refitted at [[Cockatoo Island Dockyard]] in 1919]]
After the war, the [[British Admiralty]] decided that the best way to protect the Pacific region was with a force of submarines and cruisers.<ref name=Bastock86/> To this end, they offered the six surviving submarines of the J class to the [[Royal Australian Navy]] as gifts.<ref name=Bastock86/> ''J1'' and her sisters were commissioned into the RAN in April 1919, and sailed for Australia on 9 April, in the company of the cruisers {{HMAS|Sydney|1912|2}} and {{HMAS|Brisbane|1915|2}}, and the tender {{HMAS|Platypus|1917|2}}.<ref name=Bastock86/> The flotilla reached Thursday Island on 29 June, and Sydney on 10 July.<ref name=Bastock86/> Because of the submarines' condition after the long voyage, they were immediately taken out of service for refits.<ref name=Bastock86/>

''J1'' and ''J4'', plus ''Platypus'', sailed on 10 February 1920 for [[Geelong]], where a submarine base was established.<ref name=Bastock86/> Apart from local exercises and a 1921 visit to Tasmania, the submarines saw little use, and by June 1922, the cost of maintaining the boats and deteriorating economic conditions saw the six submarines decommissioned and marked for disposal.<ref name=Bastock86/>

==Fate==
The submarine was paid off on 12 July 1922. ''J1'' was sold to the Melbourne Salvage Company on 26 February 1924.<ref name=Borrett>{{Cite web |title=Dive Site - J1 Submarine |url=http://www.borrett.id.au/divelog/divesite.php?loc=57 |accessdate=2011-03-13 |archive-date=25 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425142038/http://www.borrett.id.au/divelog/divesite.php?loc=57 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The hulk was scuttled in the  [[ship graveyard]] off [[Port Phillip]] Heads at {{coord|38|18|58|S|144|33|13|E|region:AU-VIC_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} on 26 May 1926.<ref name=Borrett/> The J1 wreck, also known as "38 Metre Sub", "135 Foot Sub", or "New Sub", is submerged in {{convert|38|m|ft}} of water, and is accessible by experienced divers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victorian Ships' Graveyard Wrecks |url=http://www.vicshipwrecks.com/control.html |accessdate=2011-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423024918/http://vicshipwrecks.com/control.html |archive-date=23 April 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Milowka |first=Agnes |title=Victoria's J Class Submarines |author-link=Agnes Milowka |url=http://www.agnesmilowka.com/index.php/articles/module-positions/55-victorian-submarines.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707093701/http://www.agnesmilowka.com/index.php/articles/module-positions/55-victorian-submarines.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Arnott |first=Terry |title=WWI J Class Subs |publisher=Maritime Archaeology Association Of Victoria |url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/~maav/jclassid.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514012505/http://home.vicnet.net.au/~maav/jclassid.htm |archive-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last=Bastock |first=John |title=Australia's Ships of War |year=1975 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |location=Cremorne, NSW |isbn=0207129274 |oclc=2525523}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|HMS J1 (ship, 1915)}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.scubadoctor.com.au/divesite.htm?site=J1-Deep-Submarine|title=J1 Deep Submarine Dive Site|publisher=The Scuba Doctor|date=}}

{{J-class submarine}}
{{Australian submarines}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:J1}}
[[Category:British J-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portsmouth]]
[[Category:1915 ships]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Scuttled vessels of Australia]]
[[Category:Royal Navy ship names]]
[[Category:Underwater diving sites in Australia]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Victoria (state)]]