United States H-class submarine

USS H-1
Class overview
NameH class
Builders
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byG class
Succeeded byK class
Built1911–1918
In commission1913–1922
Completed9
Lost1
Retired8
General characteristics
TypeSubmarine
Displacement
  • 358 long tons (364 t) surfaced
  • 467 long tons (474 t) submerged
Length150 ft 4 in (45.82 m)
Beam15 ft 10 in (4.83 m)
Draft12 ft 5 in (3.78 m)
Installed power
  • 950 hp (710 kW) (diesel engines)
  • 600 hp (450 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
  • 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Range
  • 2,300 nmi (4,300 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced
  • 100 nmi (190 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth200 ft (61 m)
Complement25 officers and men
Armament
The torpedo room of USS H-5 in 1919. The breeches of the four 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes are at center.

The United States H-class submarines were Electric Boat design EB26A and EB26R design coastal patrol submarines used by the United States Navy.[1]

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 on 17 November 1911, as part of a forcewide submarine redesignation. They were commissioned in December 1913/January 1914.

In 1915 the Imperial Russian Navy had ordered 18 H-class submarines built to a modified EB602 design.[2] Ordered from the Electric Boat Company, they were to be built in Canada at a temporary shipyard near Barnet, Vancouver, British Columbia to avoid US neutrality concerns, which had derailed the delivery of ten similar submarines to the British. The shipyard was owned by the British Pacific Construction and Engineering Co. Twelve 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 their construction yard. 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.[3]

H-1 ran aground and was wrecked off the coast of Mexico on 12 March 1920,[4] while the remaining eight submarines were decommissioned in late 1922, and laid up in the Reserve Fleet. Finally stricken from the Navy List in 1930, they were sold for scrap in 1931 and 1933.

  1. ^ Friedman, pp. 336
  2. ^ Friedman, pp. 78
  3. ^ PigBoats.COM H-class page
  4. ^ Hendren, pp. 235