USS O-7
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use American English Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsUSS O-7 (SS-68), also known as "Submarine No. 68", was one of 16 O-class submarines of the United States Navy commissioned during World War I. She was recommissioned prior to the United States entry into WWII, for use as a trainer.
Design
The O-1-class submarines were designed to meet a Navy requirement for coastal defense boats.Template:Sfn The submarines 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. The O-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of Template:Cvt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
For surface running, the boats were powered by two Template:Convert NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Template:Convert Electro-Dynamic Company electric motor.Template:Sfn They could reach Template:Convert on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater. On the surface, the O-class had a range of Template:Convert at Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn
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 O-class submarines were also armed with a single [[3"/23 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/23 caliber]] retractable deck gun.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Construction
O-7Template:' keel was laid down on 14 February 1917, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 16 December 1917,Template:Sfn sponsored by Miss Constance Sears,Template:Sfn and commissioned on 4 July 1918 with Lieutenant Commander Frederick C. Sherman, in command.Template:Sfn
Service history
During the final stages of World War I, O-7 operated out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on coastal patrol from Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, to Key West, in Florida. On 2 November 1918, she departed Newport, Rhode Island, with a 20-sub contingent bound for European waters, however, the Armistice with Germany was signed before the ships reached the Azores, and they returned to the United States.Template:Sfn
In 1919, O-7 reported to the newly established Submarine School, at New London, Connecticut, to train there for the next decade.Template:Sfn
When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-68.Template:Sfn
In 1924, she went to Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, for maneuvers and was reclassified a second-line submarine on 25 July 1924. Returning to New London, she reverted to first-line on 6 June 1928. In January 1930, she joined her sister boats in a run to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, thence back to New London, in February. After returning from Washington, DC, in July, she continued operations at New London. She sailed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 23 February 1931, and decommissioned there on 1 July 1931.Template:Sfn
After a decade in mothballs, O-7 was recalled to active duty and recommissioned at Philadelphia, 12 February 1941. She reported to New London, in May, and trained sub crews there until the end of World War II.Template:Sfn
Fate
O-7 was decommissioned on 2 July 1945; was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 July 1945; and sold to North American Smelting Company, of Philadelphia, on 22 January 1946.Template:Sfn
References
Bibliography
- Template:Cite journal
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
External links
Template:Military navigation Template:WWI US ships Template:WWII US ships