The K-class coastal defense submarines were authorized in Fiscal Year 1911. Predictably, they were slightly larger versions of the preceding H-class, about three feet longer, one foot wider, and about 40 tons heavier on the surface. The armament stayed the same at four 18" bow torpedo tubes. These EB design boats were built at three different yards: K-1, K-2, K-5, and K-6 at Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, MA., K-3, K-7, and K-8 at Union Iron Works in San Francisco, and K-4 at Moran Shipbuilding in Seattle. Although considered successful boats, the vastly changed naval environment and the emphasis on fleet submarines after WWI made these boats quickly obsolete. They were all decommissioned and discarded in the early 1920's, after only about nine years of service.
K-1 (Submarine No. 32, later SS-32)
Photo from the Rick Larson Collection.
All 8 K-class submarines moored together, probably November or December, 1918, in a large nest. There is a host of ships in the background, including a destroyer on the right, and a battleship in the middle. With this many ships the location is most likely the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The K-5 is being painted so its numbers aren't shown. Prior to WW I U.S. subs used a temporary pipe and canvas bridge structure that was taken down each time the boat dived. Once the boats reached the WW I operating areas this was proved to be very impracticable and was replaced by a permanent sheet-metal "chariot bridge" favored by the European submarines in the rough North Atlantic waters. Note that none of the K-class was equipped with a deck gun. They were too small for such an installation, even for the diminutive 3"/23 caliber guns used on the L-class.
