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{{Short description|M-class submarine of the United States}}
{{Redirect|United States M-class submarine|other submarine classes with the same name|M-class submarine (disambiguation){{!}}M-class submarine}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS M-1 (SS-47).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''M-1'' underway during acceptance [[sea trial|trial]]s, off [[Provincetown]], Massachusetts, 26 June 1916
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=M class
|Builders=*[[Electric Boat Company]] (design)
*[[Fore River Shipbuilding]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], Massachusetts
|Operators= {{naval|United States|1918}}
|Class before= [[United States L-class submarine|L class]]
|Class after= {{sclass|AA-1|submarine|4}}
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range= 1914–1918
|In service range=
|In commission range= 1918–1922
|Total ships planned= 1
|Total ships completed= 1
|Total ships scrapped= 1
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[United States]]
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1922}}
|Ship name= ''M-1''
|Ship builder=* [[Electric Boat Company]] (design)
* [[Fore River Shipbuilding]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], Massachusetts
|Ship original cost= $618,899.30 (hull and machinery){{sfn|Navy List|1921|p=767}}
|Ship laid down= 2 July 1914
|Ship launched= 14 September 1915
|Ship sponsor= Miss Sara Dean Roberts
|Ship commissioned= 16 February 1918
|Ship decommissioned= 15 March 1922
|Ship struck= 16 March 1922
|Ship identification=* [[Hull classification symbol#Submarine type|Hull symbol]]: SS-47 (17 July 1920)
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]]: NYY
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Yankee}}{{ICS|Yankee}}
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, 25 September 1922
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= {{sfn|Friedman|1995|p=307}}{{sfn|Priolo|M-1}}
|Ship type= [[Submarine]]
|Ship displacement=* {{cvt|488|LT|lk=in}} surfaced
* {{cvt|676|LT}} submerged
|Ship length= {{cvt|197|ft}}
|Ship beam= {{cvt|19|ft}}
|Ship draft= {{cvt|11|ft}}
|Ship power= * {{cvt|840|bhp|lk=in}} diesel
* {{cvt|340|hp}} electric
|Ship propulsion=
* [[New London Ship and Engine Company|NELSECO]] [[diesel engine]]s
* 2 × [[Electro Dynamic]] Company [[electric motor]]s
* 2 × 60-[[electrochemical cell|Cell]] [[storage battery|batteries]]
* 2 × [[Propeller]]s
|Ship speed=* {{cvt|14|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
* {{cvt|10.5|kn}} submerged
|Ship range= {{cvt|2750|nmi}} at {{cvt|11|kn}} surfaced
|Ship test depth= {{cvt|150|ft}}
|Ship capacity= {{cvt|28422|USgal}} fuel
|Ship complement=* 2 officers
* 26 enlisted
|Ship armament=* 4 × [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] [[torpedo tube]]s (8 [[torpedo]]es)
*1 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{cvt|3|in}}/23 caliber]] [[deck gun]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''M-1'' (SS-47)''', also known as "Submarine No. 46", was a unique submarine of the [[United States Navy]]. Although built as a fully operational boat, ''M-1'' was built with a radically different [[Submarine hull|double-hulled]] design. This was in marked contrast to [[Simon Lake]]'s and [[Electric Boat]]'s single-hulled concepts. Ultimately shown to be unsuccessful, no other submarines of this class were ever built, although future advances in construction, and metallurgy science, made the double hull design a standard for the USN.

==Design==
A [[Submarine hull|double hull]] design moves most of the fuel and [[ballast tank]]s out of the [[pressure hull]] and into the spaces between the outer and inner hulls. [[Electric Boat]] had built only one other double hull design, [[Russian Narval-class submarine|EB31A]] for [[Imperial Russia]],{{sfn|Friedman|1995|p=88}} and thus lacked experience in this hull type. Due to the boat's still fairly small size the tankage space was very tight and difficult to maintain. It also resulted in a complicated venting and flooding arrangement that at times led to an uneven distribution of ballast water. This led to serious problems in stability when making the transition from submerged to surface.{{sfn|Alden|1979|p=5}} To save weight in the pressure hull, the structural strength was reduced, making her test depth only {{cvt|150|ft}}.{{sfn|Friedman|1995|p=83}} ''M-1'' was built with the same armament and speed as the preceding [[United States L-class submarine|L-class]], but she was larger, due to the double hull design. Her [[storage battery|batteries]] were also in one large compartment, forward of the control room, as opposed to two compartments, fore and aft of control room, as in other Electric boat designs. She also had heaters to keep the crew warm in northern waters and an [[icebox]] for food storage.{{sfn|Friedman|1995|p=88}} The partially retractable [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{cvt|3|in}}/23 caliber]] [[deck gun]], designed for submarines, and intended for incorporation in the L-class, was installed on ''M-1'' prior to installation on any of the L-class.

==Construction==
''M-1''{{'}}s [[keel]] was [[laid down]] on 2 July 1914, by the [[Fore River Shipbuilding Company]], in [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], Massachusetts, a [[subcontractor]] to the Electric Boat Company, of [[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]], Connecticut. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 14 September 1915, sponsored by Miss Sara Dean Roberts, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 16 February 1918.{{sfn|Cressman|2021}}

==Service history==
Following commissioning, ''M-1'' was assigned to Submarine Division 2 ([[SubDiv]]2), and was [[home port]]ed at [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], Rhode Island. Unlike most other US submarines, she was not deployed overseas in [[World War I]]. For the next three years, she operated off the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]], training submariners. During her last year of active service, she was under the operational control of SubDiv 5 and SubDiv 3.{{sfn|Cressman|2021}}

==Fate==
After four years of testing and training service, ''M-1'' was decommissioned at [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]], on 15 March 1922, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] the following day, and was sold for scrap on 25 September 1922, to [[Joseph G. Hitner]], of [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Cressman|2021}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mZEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA762
|title= Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919
|journal= Congressional Serial Set
|publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office
|year= 1921
|page= 767
|ref= {{sfnRef|Navy List|1921}}
}}
* {{cite web
|last= Priolo
|first= Gary
|title= M-1 (SS-47)
|url= https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08047.htm
|website= Navsource.net
|access-date= 22 October 2025
|ref= {{sfnRef|Priolo|M-1}}
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Friedman
|first= Norman
|author-link= Norman Friedman
|title= U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
|publisher= [[Naval Institute Press]]
|location= [[Annapolis]], Maryland
|year= 1995
|isbn= 1-55750-263-3
}}
* {{cite DANFS
|last= Cressman
|first= Robert J.
|title= M-1 (Submarine No. 47)
|url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/m-1.html
|date= 12 January 2021
|access-date= 22 October 2025
|ref=
}}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite book
|last= Alden
|first= John D.
|title= The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History
|location= Annapolis, Maryland
|publisher= Naval Institute Press
|year= 1979
|ISBN= 0-87021-187-0
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS M-1 (SS-47)}}
* {{navsource|08/08047|USS M-1}}

{{WWI US ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:M-1 (SS-47)}}
[[Category:Submarines of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1915 ships]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States]]

USS M-1 - Revision history

imported>Pennsy22 at 11:46, 28 October 2025