By 1933 the Navy had learned a lot from the largely experimental V-class fleet submarines. That experience led the Navy to design the Porpoise class of fleet submarines, a refinement of the earlier Dolphin and Cachalot. The National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 provided needed money to spur shipbuilding in the U.S. and the Navy took advantage by ordering four submarines for Fiscal Year 1934. Now with firm reins on the submarine acquisition process, the Navy ordered two of these boats (Porpoise & Pike) to be built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, ME., and two (Shark & Tarpon) from the revitalized Electric Boat Company (EB) of Groton, CT. The Navy allowed EB to build its two boats to a divergent, but similar design that used a welded partial double hull. Portsmouth, still not convinced of the efficacy of welding, built its two boats to a traditional riveted full double hull design. All four boats had the same armament, engineering plants, and performance so they were considered to be in the same class despite the different hull form. FY-35 appropriations approved funds for six more boats, so the Navy decided to standardize on the EB style partial double hull for all six.
The Perch group consisted of two boats built at Portsmouth, one at Mare Island, and three built by EB. The three Navy yard boats were the last riveted submarines for the Navy, while the EB boats were fully welded. The ten boats of the Porpoise class also set a new precedent: they were the first USN submarines to have all-electric drive. All previous submarines were equipped with direct drive diesel engines. For the Porpoise class the engines drove only generators and were not connected directly to the propeller shafts. The electricity they generated drove motors attached to the shafts or recharged the massive storage batteries.
These boats were in the thick of the fight against the Japanese from the first day of the war. Four of them (marked by a *) and their brave crews were lost in action and are considered to be "on eternal patrol".
Note... many early photos of these boats will show them with large "P" identifiers painted on their bows and fairwaters. These were used to identify the boats visually while on the surface. They were NOT their names or designations. The use of these identifiers was common on the fleet boats, but faded out in favor of hull numbers in 1938 because their use became confusing.
There were a lot of variations in the external appearance of these boats over the years. For a thorough explanation of these changes, please take a few minutes to read this article.
Porpoise (SS-172)
Photo NH 42645 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command.
Commissioning Day, August 15, 1935. The crew and a detachment of Marines are on deck. What could possibly be the Chief of the Boat (COB) is aft at the flag staff waiting for the order to raise the American Flag. The Marine Corps bugler is standing at the ready to play the appropriate call as the Submarine is officially placed in commission. The boat is sitting high in the water as she is not yet 100% complete with no weapons, fuel, or food on board. Just visible at the stern, under the hull is one of two stern torpedo tubes.
Just before noon (11:50AM) on September 12, 1935 the submarine Pike slides down the ways at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. A crowd of onlookers line the piers and shore to watch the 301 foot long vessel take to the water for the first time. A contingent of shipyard personnel and small handful of Navy sailors ride the submarine down the ways.
Prior to WW II it was the norm for the shipyard to launch and test the new ships with only minimum Navy oversight. Once the war began it was imperative to have crews as familiar as possible, as quickly as possible. Pre-commissioning crews manned the ships and followed construction and trials closely to learn the ships as intimately as possible.
Photo provided by SN Alan A Palmer, USN, whose uncle was aboard when Shark was lost
An interesting photo of the Shark's bow as she sat on the building slip at Electric Boat, May 20, 1935. She would be launched the next day. All four of the forward torpedo tube shutter doors can be seen. This photo gives a good impression of how fine a form the bow was.
NHHC photo NH 41921 courtesy of the Naval History & Heritage Command.
Tarpon shown underway circa 1937. Location is most likely San Diego with the Point Loma headlands in the background. On the forward deck is the round ball of the JK sonar. Immediately aft of that is the mount for a M2 .50 caliber water-cooled machine gun. The gun has been dismounted and taken below, a common procedure. On the aft deck is the 3"/50 caliber Mk 6 deck gun. The topside is festooned with lifelines, radio aerial wires, and masts. This was a typical appearance for a fleet boat of this era.
Photo courtesy of Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum via Darryl L. Baker and Navsource.org
Left to right: Perch (P5), Pollack (P9), and Plunger (P8) moored together in San Francisco, circa 1938. Of interesting note in this picture is the raised radio mast with the masthead light atop, the searchlights mounted on top of the conning tower fairwater, and the ship's bell mounted to the front of the fairwater. The bell and the searchlights would be taken below before diving.
Launching Pickerel, July 7, 1936 at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. The destroyer USS Fox (DD-234) is in the background. The boat's sponsor was Miss Evelyn Standley, daughter of Rear Admiral William Standley, acting Secretary of the Navy, who, along with his wife, attended the launching along with 4000 other guests.
This is a nice photo of Plunger with a portion of her crew on deck, circa 1937. The location was originally thought to be in the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge, but the details don't match the bridge's structure. She is most likely entering port, as this number of crew lined up on deck would not be common if she was leaving port. Any help with the location would be appreciated.
