O-class: Difference between revisions
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=== <big>O-3 (SS-64)</big> === | === <big>O-3 (SS-64)</big> === | ||
[[File:O-3 on surface.jpg|left|500px|Photo 19-N-599 courtesy of | [[File:O-3 on surface.jpg|left|500px|Photo 19-N-599 courtesy of NARA.]] | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B">O-3 is seen here during her builder's trials in | <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B">O-3 is seen here during her builder's trials off Provincetown in Cape Cod Bay, March 24, 1918. While essentially complete at this point, O-3 has yet to receive her full bridge and conning tower fairwater. The Fore River Shipbuilding Company had painted her hull number on the side of the fairwater. This would be replaced with the boat's name when she was commissioned into the Navy a few months later.</span> | ||
[[O-3|See more O-3 photos]] | [[O-3|See more O-3 photos]] | ||
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=== <big>O-4 (SS-65)</big> === | === <big>O-4 (SS-65)</big> === | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B"> | [[File:O-4 on trials.jpg|left|500px|Photo 80-G-466173 courtesy of NARA.]] | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B">O-4 is seen running trials in Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown, MA., March 23, 1918. O-4 and O-3 were running mates, completed at almost the same time. They ran trials together on the measured mile off Provincetown. Curiously, it seems that O-4 received a much more complete bridge fairwater than O-3 did. The vertical pipe sticking up from the deck forward of the fairwater is actually the barrel of the 3"/23 caliber gun. The gun is retracted into its watertight tub that extended down into the hull in the forward battery compartment. It can also be seen in the O-3 photo above. This gun was never well liked by the crews because it lacked hitting power and it had the tendency to suddenly self-retract when it was fired, posing a substantial safety threat to its own crew. </span> | |||
[[O-4|See more O-4 photos]] | [[O-4|See more O-4 photos]] | ||
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=== <big>O-5 (SS-66)</big> === | === <big>O-5 (SS-66)</big> === | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B"> | [[File:O-5 on trials.jpg|left|500px|Photo NH 44551 courtesy of NHHC.]] | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B">O-5 at rest in the calm waters of Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown, MA., April 14, 1918. This was during her builder's trials period and she had not yet been commissioned into the USN. A visual characteristic of the EB design for the O-class was the large, rounded towing fairlead at the very tip of the bow, easily seen in this photo.</span> | |||
[[O-5|See more O-5 photos]] | [[O-5|See more O-5 photos]] | ||
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=== <big>O-6 (SS-67)</big> === | === <big>O-6 (SS-67)</big> === | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B"> | [[File:O-6 from the air.jpg|left|500px|Photo NH 103176 courtesy NHHC.]] | ||
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#00008B">O-6 photographed from an airplane, mid, 1920's. The location is not known, but the O-boats were stationed in the Panama Canal Zone during this period, so this is likely taken somewhere near Coco Solo, Panama on the Atlantic side. An awning has been rigged over the bridge to shield the watchstanders from the oppressive equatorial sun. Two sailors on the forward deck are waving to the photographer.</span> | |||
[[O-6|See more O-6 photos]] | [[O-6|See more O-6 photos]] |
Revision as of 13:22, 2 October 2023
Design, Construction, and Naming Notes
USS O-5 (SS-66) was sunk in a collision with a steamer near the entrance to the Panama Canal. Three men died, 16 successfully escaped before the boat went down, and two, Henry Breault and Lawrence Brown were trapped alive in the torpedo room. The bow was lifted from the mud and the two men were rescued. O-5 was a total loss and even though she was salvaged the boat was not returned to service. She was sold as scrap in Balboa, C.Z.,Panama.
These were the first U.S. submarines with really satisfactory diesel engines from the start. In addition, they were the last USN submarines built with 18-inch torpedo tubes. All subsequent USN designs used 21-inch diameter tubes. In general they were well liked and quite useful, although once again the Lake variant was rated inferior to the EB boats. They spent a lot of time in Panama guarding the approaches to the canal. The Lake boats were discarded in the mid 1920's, and the EB boats were laid up in mothballs In Philadelphia between 1931 and 1941. They were hurriedly returned to service as war clouds loomed in 1941 and served in a useful capacity as training boats in New London. Unfortunately, USS O-9 (SS-70) was lost with all hands in a tragic accident in June 1941. Her crew is "On Eternal Patrol".
The decommissioned O-12 was pulled out of mothballs and sold back to Lake. He had the boat heavily modified for Sir Hubert Wilkins' polar expedition of 1930 and renamed it Nautilus. It was intended to run the boat under the ice all the way to the Pole. It was not successful in this role and it sank in a deep Norwegian fjord in 1931.O-1 (SS-62)
O-2 (SS-63)
O-3 (SS-64)
O-4 (SS-65)
O-5 (SS-66)
O-6 (SS-67)
O-7 (SS-68)
O-8 (SS-69)
O-9 (SS-70)
O-10 (SS-71)
O-11 (SS-72)
O-12 (SS-73)
O-13 (SS-74)
O-14 (SS-75)
O-15 (SS-76)
O-16 (SS-77)
General O-class Photos
See more General O-class photos
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