USS H-2

USS H-2, possibly while running sea trials off California in 1913.
History
United States
Name	USS H-2
Builder	Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California
Laid down	23 March 1911, as Nautilus
Launched	4 June 1913
Commissioned	1 December 1913
Decommissioned	23 October 1922
Renamed	H-2, 17 November 1911
Stricken	18 December 1930
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1 September 1931
General characteristics
Type	H-class 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	2 × New London Ship & Engine Co. diesel engines 2 × Electro Dynamic Co. electric motors 2 × shafts
Speed	14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) surfaced 10.5 kn (12.1 mph; 19.4 km/h) submerged
Test depth	200 ft (61 m)
Complement	25 officers and men
Armament	4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (8 × torpedoes)

USS H-2 (SS-29) was a H-class submarine. She was originally named Nautilus, the third ship and first submarine of the United States Navy to bear the name, which was derived from a Greek word meaning "sailor" or "ship." The nautilus is also a tropical mollusk having a many-chambered, spiral shell with a pearly interior. It was also the name of the fictional submarine in Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea which was prophetic of submarine technology.

Nautilus was laid down by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California. She was renamed H-2 on 17 November 1911, launched on 4 June 1913 sponsored by Mrs. William Ranney Sands, and commissioned on 1 December 1913, Lieutenant, junior grade Howard H. J. Benson in command.