USS O-1

USS O-1 underway, probably in 1918
History
United States
NameO-1
Ordered3 March 1916
BuilderPortsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
Cost$779,722.32 (hull and machinery)
Laid down26 March 1917
Launched9 July 1918
Sponsored byMrs. Cora Isabel Adams
Commissioned5 November 1918
Decommissioned11 June 1931
Stricken18 May 1938
Identification
FateSold for scrap
General characteristics
Class & typeO-1-class submarine
Displacement
  • 520 long tons (528 t) surfaced
  • 629 long tons (639 t) submerged
Length172 ft 4 in (52.53 m)
Beam18 ft (5.5 m)
Draft14 ft 5 in (4.39 m)
Installed power
  • 880 bhp (656 kW) diesel
  • 740 hp (552 kW) electric
Propulsion
Speed
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
  • 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Range
  • 5,500 nmi (10,200 km) at 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) surfaced
  • 250 nmi (460 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth200 ft (61 m)
Capacity21,897 US gal (82,890 L; 18,233 imp gal) fuel
Complement
  • 2 officers
  • 27 enlisted
Armament

USS O-1 (SS-62), also known as "Submarine No. 62", was the lead ship of her class of submarines of the United States Navy commissioned during World War I.

Design

The O-1-class submarines were designed to meet a Navy requirement for coastal defense boats. The submarines had a length of 172 ft 4 in (52.5 m) overall, a beam of 18 ft 1 in (5.5 m), and a mean draft of 14 ft 5 in (4.4 m). They displaced 520 long tons (530 t) on the surface and 629 long tons (639 t) submerged. The O-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200 ft (61.0 m).

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 440-brake-horsepower (328 kW) NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 370-horsepower (276 kW) New York Navy Yard electric motor. They could reach 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 10.5 kn (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) underwater. On the surface, the O-class had a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph).

The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The O-class submarines were also armed with a single 3 in (76 mm)/23 caliber retractable deck gun.

Construction

The christening of O-1, 9 July 1918

O-1's keel was laid down on 26 March 1917, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 9 July 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Cora Isabel Adams, and commissioned on 5 November 1918.

Service history

Commissioned just before the Armistice with Germany, O-1 operated in the East Coast waters from Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, to Key West, in Florida, after World War I.

When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-62.

Reclassified a second-line submarine, on 25 July 1924, and first-line, on 6 June 1928, O-1 was converted to an experimental vessel on 28 December 1930, and operated in this capacity out of the submarine base at New London, Connecticut, until decommissioning on 11 June 1931.

Fate

She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 May 1938, and sold for scrap.

References

  1. ↑ Navy List 1921, p. 768.
  2. 1 2 3 Friedman 1995, p. 307.
  3. 1 2 3 Priolo & O-1.
  4. ↑ Friedman 1995, pp. 86–87.
  5. 1 2 3 Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 129.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 DANFS & O-1.
  7. ↑ Hall 1925, p. 158.

Bibliography