United States C-class submarine

USS Tarpon (later C-3), 1909
Class overview
Builders	Electric Boat (design) Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	B class
Succeeded by	D class
Built	1906–1909
In commission	1908–1919
Completed	5
Retired	5
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	238 long tons (242 t) surfaced 275 long tons (279 t) submerged
Length	105 ft 4 in (32.11 m)
Beam	13 ft 11 in (4.24 m)
Draft	10 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	2 × Craig Shipbuilding Co. gasoline engines, 500 hp (370 kW) total[1] 2 × Electro Dynamic electric motors, 300 hp (220 kW) total 2 × 60-cell batteries 2 shafts[2]
Speed	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range	800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi) (surfaced), 80 nautical miles (150 km; 92 mi) (submerged)
Test depth	200 ft (61 m)
Complement	15 (1 officer and 14 enlisted)
Armament	2 × 18 in (457 mm) bow torpedo tubes, (4 torpedoes)

The C-class submarines were five United States Navy submarines built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company. Built between 1906 and 1909, and in commission from 1908 to 1919, all five were subsequently sold for scrap in 1920. They were considerably larger than the preceding B-class at 275 tons submerged vs. 173 tons submerged, and were the first United States submarines with two-shaft propulsion, doubling the machinery of the B class.

The C-class boats were the first to be designed solely by Electric Boat's new chief designer Lawrence Spear.^[3] They were the first USN submarines to have two propellers, a design trend that would last until 1953.^[4] Electric Boat made the design available for export, and two boats (with rights for a third) were sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy and commissioned as the U-5 class.

These vessels had features intended to increase underwater speed, including a small sail and a rotating cap over the torpedo tube muzzles. The streamlined, rotating torpedo tube muzzle cap eliminated the drag that muzzle holes would otherwise cause. In the stowed position, the submarine appears to have no torpedo tubes, as the holes in the cap are covered by the bow stem. With the exception of the L-class and the one-off M-1, this feature remained standard for submarines designed by the Electric Boat Company through the O-class, after which it was replaced with individual muzzle doors faired with shutters that remain standard through the modern day.^[5]

For extended surface runs, the small sail was augmented with a temporary piping-and-canvas structure. Tactical doctrine for harbor defense submarines dictated that quick "crash dives" would not be necessary, thus the considerable time it took to dismantle this structure and stow it below was not considered a liability.^[6] Experience in World War I showed that this was inadequate in the North Atlantic weather, and earlier submarines serving overseas in that war (E, K, and L-classes) had their bridge structures augmented with a "chariot" shield on the front of the bridge. Starting with the N-class, built with lessons learned from overseas experience, U.S. submarines had bridges more suited to surfaced operations in rough weather.

C-1, originally named Octopus, was built as a prototype by Electric Boat for demonstration in a 1906 competition with Simon Lake's submarine Simon Lake XV. Octopus won the trials,^[7] and the Navy ordered four additional boats of the design. This accounts for the non-sequential hull numbers for the C-class.

The C-class submarines served in the Atlantic Fleet. On 20 May 1913, the five C-class boats of the First Group, Submarine Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, departed Norfolk, Virginia for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They exercised in Cuban waters, principally conducting torpedo exercises, until 7 December 1913. On that date the C-class boats, now of the redesignated First Division, escorted by four surface ships, sailed for Cristóbal in the Panama Canal Zone. Five days later the ships completed the 700-mile (1,100 km) passage, at that time the longest cruise made by United States submarines under their own power. The submarines remained at the Coco Solo submarine base until they were decommissioned in 1919 and scrapped in 1920.^[8]

• C-1 (SS-9) was laid down on 3 August 1905, launched on 4 October 1906 as Octopus and commissioned on 30 June 1908. Renamed C-1 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 4 August 1919, and sold for scrap on 13 April 1920.^[9]
• C-2 (SS-13) was laid down on 4 March 1908, launched on 8 April 1909 as Stingray and commissioned on 23 November 1909. Renamed C-2 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 23 December 1919, and sold for scrap on 13 April 1920.^[10]
• C-3 (SS-14) was laid down on 17 March 1908, launched on 8 April 1909 as Tarpon and commissioned on 23 November 1909. Renamed C-3 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 23 December 1919, and sold for scrap on 12 April 1920.^[11]
• C-4 (SS-15) was laid down on 17 March 1908, launched on 17 June 1909 as Bonita and commissioned on 23 November 1909. Renamed C-4 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 15 August 1919, and sold for scrap on 13 April 1920.^[12]
• C-5 (SS-16) was laid down on 17 March 1908, launched on 16 June 1909 as Snapper and commissioned on 2 February 1910. Renamed C-5 on 17 November 1911, the submarine was decommissioned on 23 December 1919, and sold for scrap on 13 April 1920.^[13]

• U-5-class submarine (Austria-Hungary) — three built to same design

• Friedman, Norman US Submarines through 1945: An Illustrated Design History, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
• Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921, Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships of World War I (Ian Allan, 1970), ISBN 0-71100-095-6.
• Navsource.org early submarines page
• Pigboats.com C-boats page
•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Media related to C class submarines of the United States at Wikimedia Commons

• PigBoats.COM