United States G-class submarine

Last updated
Uss G-1 1912.jpg
Seal afloat after launching, off the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Newport News, Virginia, 8 February 1911
Class overview
NameG class
Builders
OperatorsFlag of the United States.svg  United States Navy
Preceded by F class
Succeeded by H class
Built1909–1913
In commission1912–1921
Completed4
Retired4
General characteristics
Type Submarine
Displacement
  • 360–400 long tons (366–406 t) surfaced
  • 457–516 long tons (464–524 t) submerged
Length157–161 ft (48–49 m)
Beam13–17 ft (4.0–5.2 m)
Draft11–12 ft (3.4–3.7 m)
Installed power
  • 1,000–1,200  hp (750–890 kW) gasoline/diesel
  • 440–600 hp (330–450 kW) electric
Propulsion
Speed
  • 14  kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
  • 9.5–10 kn (17.6–18.5 km/h; 10.9–11.5 mph) submerged
Range
  • 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced
  • 70 nmi (130 km; 81 mi) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth200 ft (61 m)
Complement
  • 1-2 officers
  • 23 enlisted
Armament

The G-class submarines were a class of four United States Navy submarines. While the four G boats were nominally all of a class, they differed enough in significant details that they are sometimes considered to be four unique boats, each in a class by herself. [1] They were the result of agitation (presumably from industry and Congress) for competition in submarine design; all previous US submarines were designed by Electric Boat. [2] G-1, G-2, and G-3, were designed by Simon Lake, of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, while G-4 was designed by American Laurenti. G-1 and G-2 were built by Newport News, G-3 by Lake, completed at the New York Navy Yard due to Lake's temporary dissolution, [3] and G-4 by Cramp. [2]

Contents

Design

G-1, G-2, and G-4 were the last gasoline engine powered submarines in the US Navy. The Lake-designed G-1 was equipped with three sets of diving planes spaced along the midships part of the hull, and no bow planes. This was to facilitate level diving, which Lake thought was safer than the angle diving of the numerous Electric Boat designs. During World War I, G-1, G-2, and G-3 were fitted with "chariot" bridge shields for improved surface operation in rough weather, [4] although they were not deployed overseas.

G-1 was built under a contract with such high performance specifications that the Navy expected Lake to fail, so as a result the boat was not initially assigned a hull number. When Lake did eventually complete the boat, the awkwardness of the situation caused the Navy to assign the boat hull number 19½, an unprecedented move. [5] By the time the Navy's designation system was overhauled in 1920, F-1 had been lost, so G-1 became SS-20 at that time. [2] G-1 had four 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes: two in the bow, and two in two trainable mounts in the superstructure. These mounts could only fire at angles abeam, not directly ahead or astern. [6]

G-2 had four 18-inch torpedo tubes: two bow internal, one bow external, and one stern external, with 8 torpedoes. She had four engines installed, in tandem, two on each shaft with a clutch between them. This would create severe vibrations in operation, as it was impossible to perfectly synchronize the engines, a problem the later AA-1-class submarines experienced. [7] [8]

G-3 had six 18-inch torpedo tubes: two bow internal, two bow external, and two stern external, with 10 torpedoes. She was the only one of the class with diesel engines. While being completed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, she was fitted with sponsons to improve stability. [4] [9]

G-4 had two bow and two stern 18-inch internal torpedo tubes, with 8 torpedoes. By commissioning date she was the first US submarine with a stern tube. [10] Four engines were installed, in tandem as in G-2, except there was no clutch between them. This created severe vibrations in operation, as it was impossible to perfectly synchronize the engines, a problem the later AA-1 class experienced. [11]

Boats in class

The following ships of the class were constructed. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Construction data
Ship nameHull class and no.BuilderLaid downLaunchedComm.Decomm.RenamedRename dateReclass. hull no.Reclass. hull no. dateFate
SealSubmarine No. 19 1/2 Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia2 February 19098 February 191128 October 19126 March 1920 G-1 17 November 1911SS-19 1/215 July 1920Sunk as a target, 21 June 1921
TunaSubmarine No. 27 Lake Torpedo Boat Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut20 October 190910 January 19126 February 19152 April 1919 G-2 SS-27Sunk at her moorings
TurbotSubmarine No. 3130 March 191127 December 191322 March 19155 May 1921 G-3 SS-31Sold for scrapping, 19 April 1922
ThrasherSubmarine No. 26 William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania9 July 191015 August 191222 January 19145 September 1919 G-4 SS-26sold for scrapping, 15 April 1920

References

  1. Hedman & Johnson 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Gardiner 1985, p. 128.
  3. Friedman 1995, pp. 286–287.
  4. 1 2 Hedman & Johnson 2025a.
  5. Hedman & Johnson 2025b.
  6. Friedman 1995, p. 306.
  7. Friedman 1995, pp. 61–64.
  8. Johnston 2023, p. 2.
  9. Friedman 1995, pp. 63–64.
  10. Friedman 1995, p. 287.
  11. Friedman 1995, pp. 64–68.
  12. Priolo, Gary. "Seal / G-1 (SS-19½)". NavSource. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  13. Priolo, Gary. "Tuna / G-2 (SS-27)". NavSource. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  14. Priolo, Gary. "Turbot / G-3 (SS-31)". NavSource. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  15. Priolo, Gary. "Thrasher / G-4 (SS-26)". NavSource. Retrieved 22 September 2025.

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to G class submarines at Wikimedia Commons