HMS L52

HMS L52 was a late-model L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Armstrong Whitworth laid her down at its Newcastle upon Tyne shipyard on 16 May 1917, launched her on 18 December 1918 and completed her on 18 January 1921, so she was not finished before the end of the war. L52 and her successors were modified to carry as many 21-inch torpedoes in the bow as possible: six bow tubes and a dozen torpedoes in all. She was about 235 feet long, with two 12-cylinder Vickers diesel engines for surface running and two electric motors submerged, and she could make 17 knots on the surface. She was sold for scrap in September 1935 but was wrecked off Barry, South Wales.