K4
Type: Steam submarine
Picture:
Wreck
Information: The K4 was built under the Emergency War Programme at the Fairfield yard on the Clyde and completed in 1917 she was lost in a collision with K-6 which sank her bows deep into the side of K-4 almost slicing her completely in half Commander Layton managed to draw free by running K-6 full astern but K-4 stood no chance of survival and she plunged to the bottom like a stone.
Harbour / slip:
Parking
directions:
Distance from
harbour:
Lat & Long: 56 15’.467 N 002 11’.583 W Sunk near the Isle of May
Chart:
Depth: 55m
Tides:
Diveboat: Marinequest
Diveshop: Edinburgh dive centre Aquastars
Accommodation: Marinequest
Suggested experience: Trimix CCR
Other comments: The impressive but spectacularly misconceived K class of submarines were essentially an early attempt to build a vessel which was both submersible and also fast on the surface, qualities which were not combined until the advent of nuclear power, if then. Mechanically complex, they were inherently difficult to trim while the need to raise and retract the funnels made surfacing and diving slow in the extreme. The numerous large openings in the hull were always a potential danger. Designated 'fleet submarines' they were intended to cooperate closely with surface warships moving at high speed but their low freeboard and complex silhouette made them difficult to distinguish, particularly at night and in bad weather.
Pub:
Created by: Finstrokes
Date: 7/7/07
Thanks To:
Underwater photos:
Wreck diagram: