Submarines in 1920s Hong Kong and Submarine Depot Ship Titania

Posted: January 14th, 2026 | No Comments »

In 2024 I wrote a long read for the South China Morning Post on submarines in 1920s Hong Kong waters. In the 1920s, the pirates of the South China coast faced a new threat to their livelihood of smuggling, kidnapping and hijacking, one that gave them significant pause for thought – anti-piracy submarines. Britain’s Royal Navy, overstuffed with ships, crews and submarines after World War I, wondered what it might do with its new sleek, silent, torpedo-laden vessels. The whole article is here. I mentioned in that article that the six L-class submarines of the 4th Submarine Flotilla – L1, L3, L4, L7, L9 (which famously sunk in 1923 in Victoria Harbour during a typhoon) and L15 – were largely towed from Portsmouth to Hong Kong by Royal Navy Submarine Depot Ships.

So, my thanks to Kitty Lam for sending me photos of HMS Titania which was a Submarine Depot Ship that escorted the L-class subs to Hong Kong from Gibraltar in February 1920, arriving in April via Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, Aden, Colombo, Penang and Singapore. Titania‘s ship’s log records that she weighed anchor and secured to Storm Signal Buoy at Gap Rock Light at 10.17 a.m. on 14 April 1920. Here, courtesy of Kitty, are some photos of Titania with the submarines…

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