The Navy sustained a grievous loss on Thursday, January 20th,
when the large submarine K5' was sunk with all hands about 120 miles south-west of Scilly. A flotilla of the K' class was exercising with the Atlantic Fleet. The five sub- marines made a quick dive, but the K5 ' did not return to the surface. It is supposed that she was wrecked by an internal explosion, but as the boat sank in deep water the true cause of the accident may never be known. The K' class are the largest slid fastest of submarines. They have steam turbines, and have a speed of twenty-four knots on the surface. Three were lost in the war, and twelve are now in the service. The K5' was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Gaimes, D.S.O., a submarine officer of great experience. With him were drowned five officers and fifty-one men. It is a great misfortune and a national sorrow, but we should not be too quick to infer from it that the K' class are unsafe, though all submarines are necessarily more vulnerable than surface vessels.
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