USS L-6 (SS-45), also known as "Submarine No. 45", was an L-classsubmarine of the United States Navy. She worked on exercises off the West Coast, prior to sailing to the Azores, during WWI. After the war she transferred back to the Pacific, where she worked with experimental torpedoes and underwater detection equipment.
The L-class boats designed by Lake Torpedo Boat (L-5 through L-8) were built to slightly different specifications from the other L boats, which were designed by Electric Boat, and are sometimes considered a separate L-5 class. The Lake boats had a length of 165ft (50.3m)overall, a beam of 14ft 9in (4.5m), and a mean draft of 13feet 3inches (4.0m). They displaced451 long tons (458t) on the surface and 527 long tons (535t) submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of two officers and 28 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200ft (61.0m).[2]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 600-brake-horsepower (447kW)Busch-Sulzerdiesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 400-horsepower (298kW)electric motor. They could reach 14kn (26km/h; 16mph) on the surface and 10.5kn (19.4km/h; 12.1mph) underwater. On the surface, the Lake boats had a range of 5,150nmi (9,540km; 5,930mi), at 11kn (20km/h; 13mph),[2] and 150nmi (280km; 170mi), at 5kn (9.3km/h; 5.8mph), submerged.[4]
The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm)torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The L-class submarines were also armed with a single 3in (76mm)/23 caliber on a disappearing mount.[4]
L-6, L-8, and L-7, possibly at Ponta Delgada, in the Azores, with Submarine Division 6, in early November 1918
After exercises along the West Coast, L-6 departed Pacific waters on 20 April 1918. She reached Charleston, South Carolina, on 10 June. Following a brief overhaul, the submarine patrolled off Charleston, until she sailed on 15 October, for the eastern Atlantic. Arriving Ponta Delgada, Azores, in early November, L-6 joined Submarine Division 6, just prior to the signing of the Armistice with Germany on 11 November.[5]
After making stops in Caribbean Sea, and Central American ports, L-6 arrived San Pedro, California, on 14 February 1919, completing one of the best long-distance seagoing performances of the United States's youthful submarine force. From 1919 to 1922, she remained on the West Coast, experimenting with new torpedoes and undersea detection equipment, during which time she was redesignated from "Submarine No. 45", to SS-45, on 17 July 1920.[5]
Fate
L-6 was placed in commission, in ordinary, on 24 March 1922; returned to full commission on 1 July; and sailed for the East Coast the same month. Upon arrival Hampton Roads, L-6 decommissioned on 25 November 1922, and was sold to M. Samuel and Sons, on 21 December 1925, for scrapping.[5]
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
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