United States H-class submarine

United States H-class submarine
USS H-1
Class overview
Builders:	Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California (H-1 & H-2) Moran Brothers Co., Seattle, Washington (H-3) Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut / Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington (H-4 to H-9)
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	G class
Succeeded by:	K class
Built:	1911–1918
In commission:	1913–1922
Completed:	9
Lost:	1
Retired:	8
General characteristics
Type:	Submarine
Displacement:	358 long tons (364 t) surfaced 467 long tons (474 t) submerged
Length:	150 ft 4 in (45.82 m)
Beam:	15 ft 10 in (4.83 m)
Draft:	12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)
Installed power:	950 hp (710 kW) (diesel engines) 600 hp (450 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion:	Diesel/electric New London Ship & Engine Co. diesel engines Electro Dynamic Co. electric motors 2 × shafts
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Test depth:	200 ft (61 m)
Complement:	25 officers and men
Armament:	4 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes (8 × torpedoes)

The torpedo room of USS H-5 (SS-148) in 1919. The breeches of the four 18-inch (457-mm) torpedo tubes are at center.

The United States H class submarines were Holland 602 type submarines used by the United States Navy.

The first three submarines of the class were laid down in March–April 1911 as Seawolf, Nautilus and Garfish, and were renamed H-1, H-2 and H-3 while still under construction. They were commissioned in December 1913/January 1914.

In 1915 the Imperial Russian Navy had ordered 18 H-class submarines from the Electric Boat Company. Eleven were delivered, and served as the American Holland class submarines, but the shipment of the final six was held up pending the outcome of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the boats were stored in knockdown condition at Vancouver, British Columbia. All six were purchased by the United States Navy on 20 May 1918 and assembled at Puget Sound Navy Yard before being commissioned as H-4 to H-9 in late 1918.

H-1 ran aground and was wrecked off the coast of Mexico on 12 March 1920, while the remaining eight submarines were decommissioned in late 1922, and laid up in the Reserve Fleet. Finally struck from the Navy List in 1930, they were sold for scrap in 1931 and 1933.

Ships

• H-1 (SS-28), launched 6 May 1913, commissioned 1 December 1913. Wrecked, 12 March 1920.
• H-2 (SS-29), launched 4 June 1913, commissioned 1 December 1913. Decommissioned, 23 October 1922, sold for scrap September 1931.
• H-3 (SS-30), launched 3 July 1913, commissioned 16 January 1914. Decommissioned, 23 October 1922, sold for scrap 14 September 1931.
• H-4 (SS-147), launched 9 October 1918, commissioned 24 October 1918. Decommissioned, 25 October 1922, sold for scrap 14 September 1931.
• H-5 (SS-148), launched 24 September 1918, commissioned 30 September 1918. Decommissioned, 20 October 1922, sold for scrap 28 November 1933.
• H-6 (SS-149), launched 26 August 1918, commissioned 26 August 1918. Decommissioned, 23 October 1922, sold for scrap 28 November 1933.
• H-7 (SS-150), launched 17 October 1918, commissioned 17 October 1918. Decommissioned, 23 October 1922, sold for scrap 28 November 1933.
• H-8 (SS-151), launched 14 November 1918, commissioned 18 November 1918. Decommissioned, 17 November 1922, sold for scrap 28 November 1933.
• H-9 (SS-152), launched 23 November 1918, commissioned 25 November 1918. Decommissioned, 3 November 1922, sold for scrap 28 November 1933.

See also

• American Holland class submarine