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The United States D-class submarines were a trio of submarines built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. All three ships served during World War I providing training for crews and officers on the U.S. East Coast, before the class was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1922.

Description

The D-class submarines were enlarged and iterative improvements over the preceding C class, and were the first American submarines armed with four torpedo tubes. They were built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. They had a length of 134 feet 10 inches (41.1 m) overall, a beam of 13 feet 10 inches (4.2 m) and a mean draft of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). They displaced 288 long tons (293 t) on the surface and 337 long tons (342 t) submerged. The D-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200 feet (61.0 m).[1]

For surface running, they were powered by two 300-brake-horsepower (224 kW) NELSECO gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft.[2] When submerged each shaft was driven by a 130-horsepower (97 kW) electric motor. Two 60-cell batteries provided power when submerged. They could reach 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) on the surface and 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of 1,179 nautical miles (2,184 km; 1,357 mi) at 9.6 knots (17.8 km/h; 11.0 mph) and 24 nmi (44 km; 28 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged.[1]

The boats were armed with four 18-inch (45.7 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They did not carry reloads for them.[2] They were the first U.S. submarines to have four forward torpedo tubes which became the norm until the Tambor class which joined the fleet in 1940.

These vessels included some features intended to increase underwater speed that were standard on U.S. submarines of this era, including a small sail and a rotating cap over the torpedo tube muzzles. For extended surface runs, the small sail was augmented with a temporary piping-and-canvas structure. This structure would be disassembled and taken below before diving. USN tactical doctrine of the time did not emphasize quick dives so this was not seen as a liability.[3]

These were the first USN submarines internally subdivided into compartments. D-1 and D-2 had four compartments (torpedo room, forward battery/berthing & control room, after battery/messing, and engine/motor room). D-3 was fitted with only two bulkheads leaving one large compartment in the middle that consisted of both battery wells and the control room.[4] On D-1 and D-2 the helm wheel was actually in the after battery compartment, as the placement of the aft control room bulkhead dictated this arrangement.[5]

Distinguished Commanding Officers

Many future Admirals commanded a D-class submarine early in their careers including Chester William Nimitz[6]

Ships

  • USS D-1 (SS-17) was laid down on 16 April 1908, launched on 8 April 1909 and was commissioned on 23 November 1909 as Narwhal. Renamed D-1 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 8 February 1922 and sold afterwards.[7]
  • USS D-2 (SS-18) was laid down on 16 April 1908, launched on 16 June 1909 and was commissioned on 23 November 1909 as Grayling. Renamed D-2 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 18 January 1922 and sold afterwards.[8]
  • USS D-3 (SS-19) was laid down on 16 April 1908, launched on 12 March 1910 and was commissioned on 8 September 1910 as Salmon. Renamed D-3 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 20 March 1922 and sold afterwards.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Friedman, p. 306
  2. ^ a b Gardiner and Gray, p. 127
  3. ^ Friedman, pp. 43 & 149
  4. ^ PigBoats.COM D-class Notes section
  5. ^ PigBoats.COM D-1 page
  6. ^ PigBoats.COM Commanding Officer Database
  7. ^ "D-1". Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  8. ^ "D-2". Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. ^ "D-3". Retrieved 15 March 2013.

References

  • Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships of World War I (Ian Allan, 1970), ISBN 0-71100-095-6.
  • Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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