United States O-class submarine

For other ships of the same name, see O class submarine.

Class overview
USS O-1, lead ship of her class in dry dock at Portsmouth Nary Yard in September 1918
Name:	O class
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	N class
Succeeded by:	R class
Built:	1916-1918
In commission:	1918-1931, 1941-1946
Completed:	16
Lost:	2
Retired:	14
General characteristics
Type:	Submarine
Displacement:	Group 1: 520.6 long tons (529 t) surfaced 625 long tons (635 t) submerged Group 2: 491 long tons (499 t) surfaced 565 long tons (574 t) submerged
Length:	Group 1: 173 ft 4 in (52.83 m) Group 2: 175 ft (53 m)
Beam:	Group 1: 18 ft (5.5 m) Group 2: 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m)
Propulsion:	Group 1: 2 × 440 hp (328 kW) NELSECO diesel engines 2 × 370 hp (276 kW) New York Navy Yard (O1-O5) or Electro Dynamic Co. electric motors 2 × 60-cell batteries 2 × shafts Group 2: 2 × 500 hp (373 kW) Busch-Sulzer diesel engines 2 × 400 hp (298 kW) Diehl Manufacture Co. electric motors 2 × 60-cell batteries 2 × shafts
Speed:	Group 1: 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) submerged Group 2: 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 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 depth:	200 ft (61 m)
Complement:	29
Armament:	4 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes 1 × 3 inch (76 mm)/23 caliber gun (retractable deck gun)

The United States Navy's sixteen O-class submarines were created out of the lessons learned from the L class. The O class were about 80 tons larger than the L class, with greater power and endurance for ocean patrols. Due to the American entry into World War I the O class were built much more rapidly than previous classes, and were all commissioned in 1918. O-1 through O-10 were group 1, designed by Electric Boat, O-11 through O-16 were group 2, designed by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company and sometimes considered a separate class. The group 2 boats entered service just before the end of World War I. Eight of the group 1 boats survived to serve in World War II as training boats when they were recommissioned in 1941.

The O class were built by five shipyards: O-1 by Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, O-2 by Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, O-3 through O-10 by Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, O-11 through O-13 by Lake Torpedo Boat Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, and O-14 through O-16 by California Shipbuilding (formerly Craig Shipbuilding), Long Beach, California.^[1]^[2]

Service

The class originally operated in the anti-submarine role off the United States's East Coast. Two of the boats, O-4 and O-6, came under fire from a British merchantman in the Atlantic on 24 July 1918. The steamer scored six hits on O-4's conning tower and pressure hull before her identity was discovered. O-4 suffered minor damage caused by shell splinters. O-3 to O-10 boats formed part of the twenty-strong submarine force that left Newport, Rhode Island on 2 November 1918 for the Azores, but the task force was recalled after the Armistice was signed nine days later.

Nine O type submarines from Submarine Division 8 at Boston, 1921

The second group of boats suffered from electrical problems. O-11 was immediately sent to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a five-month overhaul. In October 1918, O-13 sank the patrol boat Mary Alice in a collision while she (O-13) was submerged.^[3] O-15 also underwent a refit but was sent into reserve soon after before she went into service at Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone. This also involved another overhaul. O-16 also underwent a refit soon after commissioning and later suffered a fire in her conning tower in December 1919. All of the group 2 boats were decommissioned in July 1924 and were scrapped in July 1930 under the terms of the London Naval Treaty. However, O-12 was disarmed, renamed Nautilus, and used in an Arctic expedition by Sir Hubert Wilkins. After being returned to the US Navy, she was scuttled in a Norwegian fjord in November 1931.

The first group served well although O-5 was rammed by a cargo ship and sunk near the Panama Canal on 28 October 1923 with the loss of three crew members. All of the surviving Group 1 boats were decommissioned in 1931, but were recommissioned in 1941 to serve as training boats based at the Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut. These boats were taken out of service following World War II except for O-9 which sank in deep submergence trials in June 1941. Thirty-three of her crew were lost.

At some point between the wars the O class was modified for improved safety in the event of sinking. Two marker buoys were added fore and aft. In the event the submarine was stranded on the bottom the buoys could be released to show the submarine's position. A motor room hatch was also added, the motor room being the aftermost compartment. The tapered after casing became a step as a result of these modifications.^[4]

At least one O-class submarine can be seen briefly in the 1943 movie Crash Dive, filmed at the New London submarine base.

O-3 underway, 1918

Ships in class

The 16 submarines of the O-class were:

Group 1 (Electric Boat design)

Ship name and Hull no.	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
USS O-1 (SS-62)	Portsmouth Navy Yard	26 March 1917	9 October 1918	5 November 1918	11 June 1931	Scrapped 1938
USS O-2 (SS-63)	Puget Sound Navy Yard	27 July 1917	24 May 1918	19 October 1918	26 July 1945	Scrapped 1945
USS O-3 (SS-64)	Fore River Shipbuilding	2 December 1916	27 September 1917	13 June 1918	11 September 1945	Scrapped 1946
USS O-4 (SS-65)	Fore River Shipbuilding	4 December 1916	20 October 1917	29 May 1918	20 September 1945	Scrapped 1946
USS O-5 (SS-66)	Fore River Shipbuilding	8 December 1916	11 November 1917	8 June 1918		Lost in a collision 28 October 1923; raised and scrapped 1924
USS O-6 (SS-67)	Fore River Shipbuilding	6 December 1916	25 November 1917	12 June 1918	11 September 1945	Scrapped 1946
USS O-7 (SS-68)	Fore River Shipbuilding	14 February 1917	16 December 1917	4 July 1918	2 July 1945	Scrapped 1946
USS O-8 (SS-69)	Fore River Shipbuilding	27 February 1917	31 December 1917	11 July 1918	11 September 1945	Scrapped 1946
USS O-9 (SS-70)	Fore River Shipbuilding	15 February 1917	27 January 1918	27 July 1918		Lost on a test dive 20 June 1941
USS O-10 (SS-71)	Fore River Shipbuilding	27 February 1917	21 February 1918	17 August 1918	10 September 1945	Scrapped 1946

Group 2 (Lake Torpedo Boat Company design)

Ship name and Hull no.	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Fate
USS O-11 (SS-72)	Lake Torpedo Boat Company	6 March 1916	29 October 1917	19 October 1918	21 June 1924	Scrapped 1930
USS O-12 (SS-73)	Lake Torpedo Boat Company	6 March 1916	29 September 1917	18 October 1918	17 June 1924	Civilian Arctic expedition vessel; scuttled 1931
USS O-13 (SS-74)	Lake Torpedo Boat Company	6 March 1916	27 December 1917	27 November 1918	11 June 1924	Scrapped 1930
USS O-14 (SS-75)	California Shpbldg, Long Beach, CA	6 July 1916	6 May 1918	1 October 1918	17 June 1924	Scrapped 1930
USS O-15 (SS-76)	California Shpbldg, Long Beach, CA	21 September 1916	12 February 1918	27 August 1918	11 June 1924	Scrapped 1930
USS O-16 (SS-77)	California Shpbldg, Long Beach, CA	7 October 1916	9 February 1918	1 August 1918	21 June 1924	Scrapped 1930

References

Notes

Sources

Submarines, War Beneath the Waves, from 1776 to the Present Day, By Robert Hutchinson.
Gardiner, Robert, Conway's all the world's fighting ships 1906-1921 Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
Friedman, Norman "US Submarines through 1945: An Illustrated Design History", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
Navsource.org early diesel submarines page
Pigboats.com O-boats page
DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 3"/23 caliber gun
ShipbuildingHistory.com Craig Shipbuilding page
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to O class submarines of the United States.

O-class submarines

Designed by Electric Boat	O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10

Designed by Lake Torpedo Boat	O-11 O-12 O-13 O-14 O-15 O-16

Preceded by: N class Followed by: R class

List of submarines of the United States Navy List of submarine classes of the United States Navy

United States naval ship classes of World War I

Dreadnought battleships	South Carolina Delaware Florida Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee^C Colorado^C South Dakota^X

Pre-dreadnought battleships	Indiana Iowa^S Kearsarge Illinois Maine Virginia Connecticut

Battlecruisers	Lexington^X

Armored cruisers	New York^S Brooklyn^S Pennsylvania Tennessee

Protected cruisers	Chicago^S Baltimore^S San Francisco^S Olympia^S Cincinnati Columbia New Orleans Denver St. Louis

Scout cruisers	Chester

Unprotected cruisers	Montgomery

Destroyers	Bainbridge Truxtun Smith Paulding Cassin Aylwin O'Brien Tucker Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson^C

Submarines	Plunger B C D E F G H K L M-1^S AA-1 N O R

Auxiliaries	Boston^S Recruit^S

S Single ship of class C Completed after the war X Cancelled

United States naval ship classes of World War II

Aircraft carriers	Lexington Ranger^S Yorktown Wasp^S Essex Midway

Light aircraft carriers	Independence Saipan^C

Escort carriers	Long Island Charger Bogue Sangamon Casablanca Commencement Bay

Battleships	Wyoming New York Nevada Pennsylvania New Mexico Tennessee Colorado North Carolina South Dakota Iowa Montana^X

Large cruisers	Alaska

Heavy cruisers	Pensacola Northampton Portland New Orleans Wichita^S Baltimore Oregon City^C Des Moines^C

Light cruisers	Omaha Brooklyn St. Louis Atlanta Cleveland Fargo^C Juneau^C Worcester^C

Gunboats	Asheville Tulsa Dubuque Plymouth^S Williamsburg^S St. Augustine^S Vixen^S Erie

Destroyers	Sampson Caldwell Wickes Clemson Farragut Porter Mahan Gridley Bagley Somers Benham Sims Benson Gleaves Fletcher Allen M. Sumner Robert H. Smith Gearing

Destroyer escorts	Evarts Buckley Cannon Edsall Rudderow John C. Butler

Patrol frigates	Asheville Tacoma

Patrol boats	Action

Minesweepers	Lapwing Raven Auk Eagle^S Hawk Admirable

Submarines	O R S Barracuda Argonaut^S Narwhal Dolphin^S Cachalot Porpoise Salmon Sargo Tambor Mackerel Gato Balao Tench

S Single ship of class C Completed after the war X Cancelled

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