USS C-4

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USS Bonita/C-4 (SS-15), also known as "Submarine No. 15", one of five C-class submarines built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. A misspelling of bonito, she was the first boat in the USN named for the bonito fish.

Design

The C-class submarines were enlarged versions of the preceding B class; they were the first American submarines with two propeller shafts. They had a length of Template:Cvt overall, a beam of Template:Cvt and a mean draft of Template:Cvt. They displaced Template:Cvt on the surface and Template:Cvt submerged. They had a diving depth of Template:Cvt. The C-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men.Template:Sfn

For surface running, they were powered by two Template:Convert Craig gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Template:Convert electric motor. They could reach Template:Cvt on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt and Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt submerged.Template:Sfn

The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of four torpedoes.Template:Sfn

Construction

Bonita was laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company. She was launched on 17 June 1909, sponsored by Mrs. J. C. Townsend, and commissioned on 23 November 1909.Template:Sfn

Service history

On 11 July 1910, Bonita collided with the Submarine tender Template:USS while practicing attack maneuvers, Castine was beached near North Truro, Massachusetts. Castine was later refloated, repaired and returned to service.Template:Sfn

She was renamed C-4, on 17 November 1911. Assigned first to the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, and later to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, C-4 plied East Coast waters until May 1913, when she cleared Norfolk, Virginia, for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Her tactical exercises and development operations continued here and from Cristóbal, Colón, Panama Canal Zone, where she reported on 12 December 1913. In August 1917, sailing with two other submarines, she explored the suitability of Panamanian ports as advance submarine bases.Template:Sfn

Fate

Laid up at Coco Solo, Canal Zone, from 12 November 1918, C-4 was decommissioned there on 15 August 1919, and sold on 13 April 1920.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

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External links

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