Item ST 40695 Postcard - Navy Servicemen on Holland-Class H.M. Submarine Boat No.1, Private Albert Peile to Sister Flo, circa Dec 1914

Summary

Postcard with black and white photograph depicting a group of navy servicemen standing on top of Holland-Class H.M. Submarine Boat No.1 - the first British Submarine. The postcard was sent by Albert Victor Peile to his sister, identified on the postcard as 'Flo.' This is possibly his older sister Florence Mary Peile. Albert enlisted on 27 August 1914 with the 3rd Battalion, D Company, when he was 22 years old. He served in Gallipoli and later France, and was eventually promoted to the rank of corporal. He died in Bullecourt, France on 4 May 1917 and is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

The Holland-1 Submarine was the fist of the Holland-class of submarines built by the Royal Navy in 1901. Officially designated HM Submarine Torpedo Boats, the Holland-class were petrol-driven with a crew complement of eight and very little in the way of amenities. The Holland-1, although the first to be built, was the last to enter service in 1903. The Holland-1 was decommissioned in 1913 and sank that same year on her way to be scrapped. The wreck was later discovered in the 1980s and is now on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, Hampshire, UK.

Description of Content

Group of men standing on a partially-submerged submarine.

Physical Description

Black and white photographic postcard.