In 1904, two submarines were lost in peacetime. They were:

18 March 1904 is the first recorded submarine disaster and it occurred a mile east of Nab Lightship off Spithead, England. The 180 ton Royal Navy submarine A-1 was hit by the liner SS BERWICK CASTLE while the sub was running submerged. A faulty periscope was blamed for the disaster. Although the boat sank in only 42 feet of water, the entire crew of 11 men was lost. The boat was later salvaged.

20 June 1904, the 150 ton Russian submarine DELFIN was lost. She was in the Baltic Shipyard at Kronstadt (near St. Petersburgh) and the wake from a passing tug poured down the open hatches and the boat foundered in the Neva River. Twenty-six men were lost, six survived and the boat was late salvaged.

Below is a running tally of submarines lost in peacetime, which will change monthly as we look at other submarine disasters.

England – 1 Russia – 1

We will report the peacetime submarine disasters, one year at a time, in our KTB Magazine.