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HMS ''M2'' was a Royal Navy submarine monitor completed in 1919, converted in 1927 into the world's first submarine aircraft carrier. She was shipwrecked in Lyme Bay, Dorset, Britain, on 26 January 1932. She was one of three M-class boats completed. ==Design and career== Four M-class submarines replaced the order for the last four K-class submarines, ''K17''-''K21''. Although they were similar in size, the M class was an entirely different design from the K class, although it is possible that some material ordered for the K-boats went into them. In any event, the end of the First World War meant that only three were completed. ''M2'' was laid down at Vickers shipyard at Barrow in Furness in 1916, and launched in 1919. Like the other members of her class, she was armed with a single 12-inch (305mm) gun as well as torpedo tubes. The Mark IX gun was taken from spares held for the ''Formidable''-class battleships. The M-class submarines were very large for the time at long. They were designed to operate as submarine monitors or cruisers. They displaced on the surface and when submerged. Two 12-cylinder diesel engines producing drove them on the surface; underwater, they were driven by electric motors producing . After the accidental sinking of in 1925, ''M2'' and her sister were taken out of service and reassigned for experimental use. Her 12-inch gun was removed, replaced by a small aircraft hangar, the work being completed in 1927. This could carry a small Parnall Peto seaplane, specially designed for the ''M2'', which, once its wings had been unfolded, could be lowered onto the sea alongside by a derrick for take off. On landing, the aircraft was hoisted back onto the deck and replaced into the hangar. In October 1928, a hydraulic aircraft catapult was fitted, to enable the seaplane to take off directly from the deck.〔(Flightglobal Archive - Aviation History - Flight, July 31, 1931 (p. 759) )〕 The submarine was intended to operate ahead of the battle fleet in a reconnaissance role, flying off her unarmed seaplane as a scout.〔(Flight, July 31, 1931 (pp. 762-3) )〕 The concept of a submarine cruiser was pursued with , but was not a success and was later abandoned. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS M2」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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