“On this day in history” HM Submarine A12 placed in commission, 1908

“On this day in history” Royal Navy A-class submarine HMS A12 placed into commission.

Embed from Getty Images

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Getty seem to have captioned this photo “HMS Aurora A12,” but this is a mistake. The Aurora with pennant no. 12 was an Arethusa-class cruiser. Definitely not a submarine.

The A-class were the Royal Navy’s first submarines built to a British design. All thirteen submarines in the class were built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness.

Flotilla of A-class submarines, including HMS A12.

Already obsolete by the outbreak of war in 1914, A12 and the other submarines in her class were used for harbour defence and training. After the war, A12 was placed on the disposal list and scrapped at Ardrossan in 1920.