United States D-class submarine

Last updated
USS D-1;H99123.jpg
Narwhal underway, c. 1909-1911
Class overview
NameD class
Builders
OperatorsFlag of the United States.svg  United States Navy
Preceded by C class
Succeeded by E class
BuiltApril 1909–September 1910
In commissionNovember 1909–March 1922
Completed3
Retired3
General characteristics
Type Submarine
Displacement
  • 288 long tons (293 t) surfaced
  • 337 long tons (342 t) submerged
Length134 ft 10 in (41.10 m)
Beam13 ft 11 in (4.24 m)
Draft12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Installed power
  • 600  bhp (450 kW) (gasoline)
  • 330 hp (250 kW) (electric)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 13  kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) surfaced
  • 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged
Range
  • 1,179  nmi (2,184 km; 1,357 mi) at 9.3 knots (17.2 km/h; 10.7 mph) surfaced
  • 24 nmi (44 km; 28 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Test depth200 feet (61.0 m)
Complement
  • 1 officer
  • 14 enlisted
Armament4 × 18 inch (450 mm) bow torpedo tubes (4 torpedoes)

The United States D-class submarines were a trio of submarines built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. All three ships served during World War I providing training for crews and officers on the US East Coast, before the class was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1922.

Contents

Description

The D-class submarines were enlarged and iterative improvements over the preceding C class. They were built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, of Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company, of Groton, Connecticut. [1]

The D-class had a length of 134 ft 10 in (41.10 m) overall, a beam of 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m) and a mean draft of 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m). They displaced 288 long tons (293 t) on the surface and 337 long tons (342 t) submerged. They had a diving depth of 200 ft (61 m). The D-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men. [1]

For surface running, they were powered by two 300  bhp (224 kW) Electric Boat/Craig [2] gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft. [3] When submerged each shaft was driven by a 130-horsepower (97 kW) electric motor. Two 60-cell batteries provided power when submerged. They could reach 13  kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) on the surface and 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of 1,179  nmi (2,184 km; 1,357 mi) at 9.6 kn (17.8 km/h; 11.0 mph) and 24 nmi (44 km; 28 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged. [1]

The boats were armed with four 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They did not carry reloads for them. [3] They were the first US submarines to have four forward torpedo tubes, which became the norm until the Tambor-class, which joined the fleet in 1940.

These vessels included some features intended to increase underwater speed that were standard on United States Navy (USN) submarines of this era, including a small sail and a rotating cap over the torpedo tube muzzles. For extended surface runs, the small sail was augmented with a temporary piping-and-canvas structure. This structure would be disassembled and taken below before diving. USN tactical doctrine of the time did not emphasize quick dives so this was not seen as a liability. [4]

These were the first USN submarines internally subdivided into compartments. Narwhal and Grayling had four compartments (torpedo room, forward battery/berthing & control room, after battery/messing, and engine/motor room). Salmon was fitted with only two bulkheads leaving one large compartment in the middle that consisted of both battery wells and the control room. [5] On Narwhal and Grayling the helm wheel was actually in the after battery compartment, as the placement of the aft control room bulkhead dictated this arrangement. [6]

By 1918, the US involvement in World War I, and the perceived need to have submarines to support the war effort, prompted the USN to refit the rapidly obsolescing D-class submarines with diesel engines. New London Ship and Engine Company (NELSECO), Electric Boat's engine subsidiary, was fully committed in other submarine work and did not have the capacity. The Lyons-Atlas Engine Company was chosen as a sub-contractor and they built six copies of the NELSECO 120-V4FS engines at their Indianapolis, Indiana, plant. The re-engining took place at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, but was not completed in full until 1919. The D-class boats became the earliest USN submarines to be equipped with diesel engines, although the E-class were the first to be built with them. [7]

Distinguished Commanding Officers

Many distinguished naval officers commanded a D-class submarine early in their careers including Chester William Nimitz, Irving Reynolds Chambers, Owen Hill, Robert Henry English, and Donald Cameron Bingham.

Boats in class

The following ships of the class were constructed. [8] [9] [10]

Construction data
Ship nameHull class and no.BuilderLaid downLaunchedComm.Decomm.RenamedRename dateReclass. hull no.Reclass. hull no. dateFate
NarwhalSubmarine No. 17 Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts16 April 19088 April 190923 November 19095 June 1922 D-1 17 November 1911SS-1715 July 1920Sold for scrapping
GraylingSubmarine No. 1816 June 190918 January 1922 D-2 SS-18
SalmonSubmarine No. 1912 March 19108 September 191031 July 1922 D-3 SS-19

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Friedman, p. 306
  2. PigBoats.COM Submarine Specifications page
  3. 1 2 Gardiner and Gray, p. 127
  4. Friedman, pp. 43 & 149
  5. PigBoats.COM D-class Notes section
  6. PigBoats.COM D-1 page
  7. PigBoats.COM D-class Notes section
  8. Priolo, Gary. "Narwhal / D-1 (SS-17)". NavSource. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  9. Priolo, Gary. "Grayling / D-2 (SS-18)". NavSource. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  10. Priolo, Gary. "Salmon / D-3 (SS-19)". NavSource. Retrieved 17 September 2025.

References