Like all post-E8 British E-class submarines, E32 had a displacement of 662LT at the surface and 807LT while submerged. She had a total length of 180feet[1] and a beam of 22feet. She was powered by two Vickers eight-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines and two electric motors.[2] [3] The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 16kn and a submerged speed of 10kn. British E-class submarines had fuel capacities of 50LT of diesel and ranges of 3255miles when travelling at 10kn.[1] E32 was capable of operating submerged for five hours when travelling at 5kn.
E32 was armed with a 12-pounder 76mm QF gun mounted forward of the conning tower. She had five 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow, one either side amidships, and one in the stern; a total of 10 torpedoes were carried.[2]
E-Class submarines had wireless systems with power ratings; in some submarines, these were later upgraded to systems by removing a midship torpedo tube. Their maximum design depth was although in service some reached depths of below . Some submarines contained Fessenden oscillator systems.[1]
Her complement was three officers and 28 men.[1]
E32 was built by J. Samuel White at their Cowes, Isle of Wight shipyard. She was launched on 16 August 1916 and completed in October 1916.[4]
In November 1916, E32 was listed as a member of the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, part of the Harwich Force.[5] In February 1917, E32 was one of for submarines that deployed with the depot ship for anti-U-boat patrols off Eagle Island. Patrols in the Irish Sea continued, with E32 spotting a German submarine on 8 March, but the German submarine escaped on the surface, outpacing E32. On 5 April 1917, E32 was operating with the decoy ship Q.13 (the sloop), when the merchant ship Benheather was torpedoed by the German submarine, but did not immediately sink. E32 waited by the still floating wreck of Benheather for U-46 to approach, and when the German submarine closed, fired three torpedoes, which missed.