First War submarine tragedy marked at Faslane

The accidental sinking during trials of Royal Navy submarine K13 in the Gare Loch in January 1917, with the loss of 32 lives, has been marked at ceremonies in Glasgow and Faslane.

Wreaths were laid on the disaster memorial at Elder Park in Govan by the commander of the Royal Navy's submarine service, Commodore Ben Haskins CBE and Dunbartonshire Deputy Lieutenant, Kenny Grieve DL.

Fourteen of the 80 people on board were staff members from the nearby Fairfield shipbuilders on the Clyde.

The ceremony was also attended by a platoon of trainee submariners and their instructors, the chair and members of the Submarine Association and members of the public.

Mr Grieve also laid a wreath at a ceremony in the Faslane cemetery, where some of the dead men are buried.

He was accompanied again by Cdre Haskins and members of the submarine association and the

Helensburgh branch of the British Legion.

That evening, a commemorative dinner was held at the Faslane naval base, home to several submarines of the Royal Navy.

Dunbartonshire's Lord-Lieutenant Mrs Jill Young MBE, attended the dinner with serving submariners, trainees and veterans.

As is the tradition, a memorial candle was lit at the start of the dinner to remember absent friends and extinguished at the end. K13's bell was rung each time a name of a victim of the tragedy was read at each service.

The K13 was one of a new design of submarine which had been built to carry out a special task.

Navy tactics at the time decreed that a new fast type of submarine, which was steam powered, would operate ahead of the main fleet and engage enemy vessels before surface ships did.

The K13 sank during pre-deployment trials near the Faslane naval base.

Sea water leaked into the engine room on a test dive and despite attempts to surface, the vessel sank shortly afterwards.

Thirty-two men died in the accident but 48 were rescued when the K13 was briefly brought to the surface before sinking again.

A court of inquiry found that the vessel had submerged with ventilation shafts and the main engine room hatch left open, despite instruments in the control room alerting the crew that this was the case, causing the submarine to sink.

K13 was refloated and refurbished before going to sea under a different number and serving for the rest of the war.

She was scrapped in 1926.