View source for USS S-1

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:S-1(SS-105).jpg|300px|S-1 (SS-105)]]
|Ship caption=''S-1''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=USS ''S-1''
|Ship identification=
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates">{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History|publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]]|year=1995|location=Annapolis, Maryland|pages=285–304|isbn=1-55750-263-3}}</ref>
|Ship laid down=11 December 1917<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship launched=26 October 1918<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Emory S. Land
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=5 June 1920<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=20 October 1937<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship commissioned=16 October 1940<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship decommissioned=20 April 1942<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=24 June 1942<ref name="Register">{{cite book|last=Bauer|first=K. Jack|author2=Roberts, Stephen S. |title=Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1991|location=Westport, Connecticut|pages=266–267|isbn=0-313-26202-0}}</ref>
|Ship fate=Transferred to the [[Royal Navy]], 20 April 1942, sold, 14 September 1945<ref name= "FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''P552'''<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship acquired=20 April 1942<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-dates"/>
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate=Suffered a collision in [[Durban]] harbor and declared unseaworthy, January 1944, nominally returned to the United States and sold for scrap locally<ref>{{cite web|last=Chalcraft| first=Geoff|title=British Submarines of World War II| url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/page7.html|access-date=2007-01-01|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070101000214/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/page7.html |archive-date=1 January 2007}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=[[United States S-class submarine|S-class]] direct-drive [[diesel-electric]] [[submarine]], ''S-1'' type<ref name="Register"/>
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|854|LT|t|abbr=on}} (surfaced, standard)
*<ref name= "FriedmanSubs1-specs">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' pp. 305–311</ref> {{convert|1062|LT|t|abbr=on}} (submerged)<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship length={{convert|219|ft|3|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship beam={{convert|20|ft|8|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|11|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship power=*{{convert|1200|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (diesel engines)
*{{convert|1500|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (electric motors)
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[New London Ship and Engine Company|NELSECO]] 8-[[Cylinder (engine)|cylinder]] [[Four-stroke engine|4-stroke]] direct-drive [[diesel engine]]s<ref name= "FriedmanSubs1-specs"/><ref name="FriedmanSubs1-p258">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' p. 258</ref> <!-- According to Friedman, this is not the same 8-cylinder NELSECO engine that went into the rest of the S-1 type boats; this one was an 8-cylinder version of the 6-cylinder 6-EB-14 that went into the O and R class. It may have been designated the 8-EB-14, but Friedman's a little unclear. According to Lyle Cummins in his 2007 book "Diesels for the First Stealth Weapon" the S-1 engines were 8-EB-15s, just of a early development type. The rest of the S-1 type submarines received a modified 8-cylinder NELSECO 8-EB-15.-->
*120-[[Electrochemical cell|cell]] [[Electric battery|battery]]<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*2 × E.D. [[electric motor]]s<ref name="Register"/><ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
*2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|14.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced,<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/> {{convert|11|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} submerged<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=20 hours @ {{convert|5|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship test depth={{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship complement=4 officers, 34 enlisted<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/>
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament=*4 × bow [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s (12 [[torpedo]]es)
*<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-specs"/> 1 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/23 [[Caliber (artillery)|cal]] Mk 9 disappearing [[deck gun]] mount<ref name="FriedmanSubs1-p124">''U.S. Submarines Through 1945'' p. 124. Note that "disappearing" means that the gun can be retracted into the deck to reduce drag and increase underwater speed.</ref> Changed in 1923 to a 1 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/50 [[Caliber (artillery)|cal]] Mk 12 Mod 6 gun mount.<ref>[https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=S-1#Aircraft_operations_conversion PigBoats.COM S-1 page, Aircraft operations conversion section.]</ref>
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''S-1'' (SS-105)''' was the lead boat of the [[United States S-class submarine|S-class]] of [[submarine]]s of the [[United States Navy]].

==Construction and commissioning==
In the summer of 1916 The U.S. Navy's [[Bureau of Construction and Repair]] (BuC&R) and [[Bureau of Steam Engineering]] developed specifications for an 800 ton submarine that would be capable of crossing the Atlantic and fight while there. In Fiscal Year 1917 appropriations they awarded contracts for the first three of these new boats, to be called the S-class. All were to have the same general specifications and tactical capabilities but were to be built by different manufacturers to different design types. The intent was to study the three FY-17 boats in order to eventually consolidate the best features of each into one type. However, all were intended for series production from the start, with the consolidation to come later in follow-on appropriations.<ref>Johnston, pp. 2</ref> ''S-1'' was built to a axially oriented single hull design by the [[General Dynamics Electric Boat|Electric Boat Company]], while {{USS|S-2|SS-106|2}} was a double hull design with ventrally mounted control surfaces by the [[Lake Torpedo Boat|Lake Torpedo Boat Company]] and {{USS|S-3|SS-107|2}} a double hull design by BuC&R and built at the government owned [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard|Portsmouth Navy Yard]].<ref>Johnston, pp. 2-10</ref>

''S-1''{{'}}s prime contractor, the [[Electric Boat]] Company, subcontracted her construction to the [[Fore River Shipbuilding Company|Bethlehem Quincy]] shipyard of [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref>Johnston, pp. 3</ref> Her [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 11 December 1917. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 26 October 1918, sponsored by Mrs. [[Emory S. Land]], and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 5 June 1920.

==Service history==

===United States Navy===

====Inter-war period====
[[File:USS S-1 (SS-105).jpg|thumb|left|''S-1'' in the late 1920s, after the removal of the aircraft hangar.]]
[[File:Martin MS-1 being assembled on SS-105 1923.jpg|thumb|left|A {{nowrap|[[Martin MS]]-1}} being assembled on {{nowrap|''S-1''}} in&nbsp;1923.]]
''S-1'' began her service operations in July 1920 with a cruise to [[Bermuda]] attached to Submarine Division 2 (SubDiv&nbsp;2), with subsequent operations out of [[New London, Connecticut]], cruising the [[New England]] coast until 1923. On 2&nbsp;January 1923, she shifted to SubDiv&nbsp;Zero, a division created for experimental work, and conducted winter maneuvers in the [[Caribbean Sea]]. As a single-ship division, SubDiv Zero, she returned to New London in the spring to continue experimental duty.

As part of a series of studies conducted by the [[United States Navy]] after [[World War I]] into the possibility of submarine-borne observation and scouting aircraft, ''S-1'' became the experimental platform for this project late in 1923. She was altered by having a steel capsule mounted abaft the [[conning tower]]; a cylindrical pod which could house a small collapsible [[seaplane]], the {{nowrap|[[Martin MS]]-1.}} After surfacing, this plane could be rolled out, quickly assembled, and launched by ballasting the sub until the deck was awash. These experiments were carried out into 1926 using the Martin-built plane, constructed of wood and fabric, and the all-metal Cox-Klemin versions, [[Cox-Klemin XS-2|XS-1 and XS-2]]. The first full cycle of surfacing, assembly, launching, retrieving, disassembly, and submergence took place on 28 July 1926, on the [[Thames River (Connecticut)|Thames River]] at New London.

Following the aircraft experiments, ''S-1'' served as flagship for SubDiv&nbsp;2 until July 1927, when she was transferred to SubDiv&nbsp;4. While attached to this division, she made operational cruises to the [[Panama Canal Zone]] in 1928–1930, during the spring months. She visited ports at [[Cristobal, Canal Zone]] and [[Coco Solo, Canal Zone]]; [[Cartagena, Colombia]]; [[Kingston, Jamaica]]; and [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba]], during these cruises, and spent the remaining months of those years operating along the New England coast, out of New London.

January 1931 found her at [[Pearl Harbor]]. She remained there into 1937; first, attached to SubDiv&nbsp;7, SubRon&nbsp;4, then, from July 1932 – July 1933, attached to Rotating Reserve SubDiv&nbsp;14. She was returned to SubDiv&nbsp;7 in August, and remained with that division until departing in May 1937 for Philadelphia. ''S-1'' arrived at Philadelphia on 22 July and commenced overhaul for deactivation. She was decommissioned on 20 October.

====World War II====
On 16 October 1940, ''S-1'' was recommissioned at [[Philadelphia]]. She then made two cruises to [[Bermuda]], training submariners, and returned to Philadelphia from the second cruise on 7 December 1941. There, she prepared for transfer to Britain under the [[Lend-Lease]] program. She was decommissioned and turned over to the British on 20 April 1942. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 24 June.

===Royal Navy===
''S-1'' served the [[Royal Navy]] as ''HMS '''P.552''''' as a training vessel for [[anti-submarine warfare]]. In poor condition after arriving in [[Durban]], Natal, [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]], she was often in repair and she was declared unseaworthy in January 1944.<ref>[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3659.html uboat.net – Allied Warships – Submarine HMS P 552 of the S-1 class]</ref>

She was returned to the U.S. Navy at Durban on 16 October 1944, where she was stripped of vital parts and machinery, and her hull was sold for local scrapping on 20 July 1945 and she was scrapped there on 14 September of that year.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/s-1.html}}
{{refend}}

==Bibliography==
*Johnston, David L. [https://pigboats.com/images/7/74/A_VISUAL_GUIDE_TO_THE_S-CLASS_SUBMARINES_PART_1_Fourth_Edition.pdf ''A Visual Guide to the S-class Submarines, Part 1''], Fourth Edition, 2023, [https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=Main_Page PigBoats.COM]
*[https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=S-1 PigBoats.COM S-1 page]

{{United States S class submarine|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:S-01 (Ss-105)}}
[[Category:United States S-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:United States S-class submarines of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]