K. Boats: Steam-Powered Submarines in World War I

AS NEW. Originally published 1963. The twin-funnelled K Boat was the biggest, fastest submarine of World War I. It suffered a series of accidents from the day trials began. This documentary answers questions about the numerous accidents, had while reconstructing the best concealed debacle in British naval history. pp. 144 illusts fold-out diagram #0221

This is pretty much by the numbers, but it does deal with a poor idea experimented with by both the Royal and Japanese Navies. The idea was simple, and was inspired by events during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Tactics on the RN side were heavily influenced by the idea that there were German submarines present, and ready to launch an attack on the battle line. The speed of the battle, usually conducted at about 15 knots for even the slowest vessels would have rendered such vessels of little use, but the paranoia gave birth to the “K”” Class of submarine.
These ships were to have a surface speed of 24 knots