A Brief History of U.S. Submarines
A Condensed History of U.S. Submarines From 1775 to Present
The First U.S. Submarine
In 1775, George Washington funded construction of the Turtle, America’s first submarine, which was designed and built for the Continental Army by David Bushnell. In the fall of 1776, Sergeant Ezra Lee piloted the Turtle in two unsuccessful attempts to sink British ships blockading New York Harbor. The plan was to maneuver the submersible into the harbor under the cover of darkness, drill a screw connected to a detachable mine into the hull of a ship, and get away before the explosives ignited. Unfortunately, swift currents and poor visibility foiled the effort.
The U.S. Navy’s First Submarine
In May 1862, the Union Navy launched the Alligator, a 47-foot long submarine manned by a crew of 18 and propelled at 4 knots by a hand-cranked propeller. Unfortunately, the boat was lost in April 1863 off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, while being towed from to South Carolina in support of efforts to retake Charleston from Confederate forces.
The Confederate Navy’s Submarine
In July 1863, the Confederate Navy launched the H. L. Hunley, a 40-foot long submarine manned by crew of 8, and propelled at 4 knots by a hand-cranked propeller. The boat was sunk and raised twice during testing with the loss of 13 men, including its designer Horace Lawson Hunley, and was sunk a third time in Charleston harbor with the loss of 8 men while sinking the Union sloop Housatanic with a torpedo attached to wooden spar sticking out from the bow of boat. The Hunley was raised in 2002, and is now on display in Charleston, SC.
The U.S. Navy’s First Commissioned Submarine
In October 1900, the U.S. Navy commissioned the USS Holland (SS-1), a 54-foot submarine with a test depth of 75 feet and propelled at 6 knots by a gasoline engine while on the surface and an electric motor powered by a 60-cell battery while submerged. The Holland was the first submarine to carry self-propelled torpedos and served as a test platform for follow-on submarine design.
The First Class of Submarines
The A-Class submarine was designed for the Navy by John Holland’s new company, Electric Boat, which still designs and builds submarines today. The USS Plunger (SS-2) was the lead boat of the class of seven submarines commissioned between 1900 and 1903. With a test depth of 150 feet, the boats were manned by a crew of six, and made speeds of 8 knots on the surface with a gasoline engine and 7 knots submerged with an electric motor driven by a 60-cell battery.
Conventional Submarines
The 450 or so conventionally-powered submarines commissioned by the U.S. Navy between 1900 and 1959 spent most of their time on the surface, submerging only to evade detection while attacking enemy ships or escaping from attack.
Diesel-electric propulsion became the standard in 1913, and speeds increased up to 20 knots.
Submarines were limited in depth to 200 feet until riveted carbon steel construction was replaced by welded high-tensile steel in the 1940s, after which test depth increased steadily to 700 feet.
314 U.S. submarines served during WWII, 260 of which were deployed to the Pacific. And, although constituting only 2% of Navy vessels in service at the time, they destroyed more than 30% of the Japanese navy, including eight aircraft carriers, one battleship, and eleven cruisers as well as more than 60% of the Japanese merchant fleet. Altogether, they sank 1,560 enemy vessels (55% of the total sunk during the war).
Unfortunately, 52 submarines were lost at sea during the war along with 374 officers and 3,131 enlisted men.
Crew comfort was not much of a consideration until 1949 when the Gato class was commissioned with air-conditioning, showers, refrigeration, and a bunk for every crew member on board.
Nuclear Submarines
Hyman G. Rickover established the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program in 1949 and led the effort to design and build the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), which was launched in 1954.
The Navy has two types of submarines: fast attack and missile submarines. Fast attacks carry the designation “SSN”, [(e.g., USS Bergall (SSN-667)]. From my experience, “SSN” stood for “Saturdays, Sundays, and Nights”. Missile submarines (a.k.a. “boomers”) are designated “SSBN” if carrying ballistic missiles or “SSGN” if carrying guided missiles.
The typical crew size is about 130 on attack boats, and 140 on boomers, which have two crews (a blue crew and gold crew) that alternate on board every 90 days or so.
At last count, there were 50 SSNs (25 Los Angeles, 3 Seawolf, and 22 Virginia class submarines), 14 SSBNs and 4 SSGNs still in active service.
Unlike conventional submarines that must surface every couple of days to run their diesel-generators and recharge their batteries, nuclear submarines are limited only by how much food they can carry.
Breathable air is provided by the use of oxygen generators using electrolysis to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water. The oxygen produced is stored in tanks and “bled” into the boat’s atmosphere as needed and the hydrogen is pumped overboard.
Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by CO2 scrubbers.
Fresh water is produced by an evaporators that boils seawater, condenses the steam into pure water, and then pumps the salty brine overboard.
A few major milestones:
21 January 1954 – The first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is launched
17 March 1959 – The USS Skate (SSN-578) is the first submarine to surface at the North Pole.
25 April 1960 – The USS Triton (SSN-586) completes 61-day submerged circumnavigation covering 26,723 nautical miles.
10 April 1963 – The USS Thresher (SSN-593) is lost with all hands during sea trials following a maintenance availability in New Hampshire. Cause undetermined.
1963 – The SUBSAFE program is initiated to improve the Quality Assurance program for system components designed to keep seawater out of the people tank.
27 May 1968 – The USS Scorpion (SSN-589) is lost with all hands in the North Atlantic. Cause undetermined.
2010 - First female officer assigned to submarine duty.
1 January 2011 - Smoking is banned on submarines.
2014 - First enlisted female assigned to submarine duty.