HMS B1 was the lead boat of the B-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The boat survived the First World War and was sold for scrap in 1921. Design and description The B class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding A class. The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The B-class submarines had a crew of two officers and thirteen ratings. For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the B class had a range of at . The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation. Construction and career She was originally to have been called A14 but was renamed B1 on completion. The boat was built at the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 25 October 1904. She was too primitive to be of much use in World War I and was quickly relegated to training duties. B1 was sold for scrap in May 1921. Notes References British B-class submarines World War I submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Royal Navy ship names 1904 ships