USS ''M-1'' (SS-47) was a unique submarine of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''M-1'' was designed as a test bed for the newest technology in submarine construction and design. As well as being the world's first double-hulled design (in contrast to

Simon Lake Simon Lake (September 4, 1866 – June 23, 1945) was a Quaker American mechanical engineer and naval architect who obtained over two hundred patents for advances in naval design and competed with John Philip Holland to build the first submarines f ...

's and

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

's single-hulled concepts), her

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

was of a new design and was to have solved some of the past flaws. While no other M-class submarines were built, the lessons learned were incorporated into the following .

Design

''M-1'' was built with the same armament and range as the preceding L class, but larger due to the double hull design. This was to reduce the risk of battle damage puncturing the pressure hull, and to provide additional reserve buoyancy in the event of flooding.Gardiner, p. 129 The partially retractable /23 caliber

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

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.

Service history

Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down on 2 July 1914 by

Fore River Shipbuilding Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, as a

subcontractor A subcontractor is an individual or (in many cases) a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract. Put simply the role of a subcontractor is to execute the job they are hired by the contractor f ...

to the Electric Boat Company of

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London i ...

, the designer. She was launched on 14 September 1915 sponsored by Ms. Sara Dean Roberts, and commissioned on 16 February 1918. Following commissioning, ''M-1'' was assigned to Submarine Division 2 (

SubDiv A submarine squadron (SUBRON) is a naval formation or unit in such states such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia/Soviet Union. In France the equivalent unit is the ' (ESNA), part of the French submarine forces (and before the Second ...

2), and was homeported at

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. Unlike most other US submarines, she was not deployed overseas in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. For the next three years, she operated off the East Coast, training submariners. During her last year of active service, she was under the operational control of SubDiv 5 and SubDiv 3. After four years of testing and training service, ''M-1'' was decommissioned at

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...

on 15 March 1922, struck from the

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the following day, and was sold for scrap on 25 September to Joseph G. Hitner in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

References

Notes

Sources

* Gardiner, Robert and Gray, Randal, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921'' Conway Maritime Press, 1985. . * Friedman, Norman, ''US Submarines through 1945: An Illustrated Design History'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1995, .
Navsource.org early diesel submarines page

*

External links

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