HMS R2 was one of 10 R-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. The boat was not completed before the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1923. Design and description The R-class submarine was designed to meet an Admiralty requirement for a specialised hunter-killer submarine with an emphasis on submerged performance. The boats had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The R-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 20 ratings. They had a diving depth of . For surface running, the boats were powered by a single eight-cylinder diesel engine that drove the single propeller shaft. When submerged it was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the R class had a range of at and at submerged. The boats were armed with six 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. They were equipped with an array of five hydrophones in the bow to allow them to locate and engage targets while submerged. Construction and career HMS R2 was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 4 February 1917, launched on 25 April 1918 and commissioned on 20 December. She came too late to see any combat in World War I, like most of the other R class submarines. R2 was sold on 21 February 1923 to E. Suren. Notes References British R-class submarines Royal Navy ship names 1918 ships