USS ''S-1'' (SS-105) was the lead boat of the S class of submarines 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 ...

Construction and commissioning

The U.S. Navy had awarded contracts for the first three S-boats under the same general specifications but of different design types. ''S-1'' was what was known as a "Holland-type", while was a "Lake-type" and a "Government-type". ''S-1''s prime contractor, the Electric Boat Company, subcontracted her construction to the Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy,

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. Her

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was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 11 December 1917. She was launched on 26 October 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Emory S. Land, and commissioned on 5 June 1920.

Service history

United States Navy

Inter-war period

''S-1'' began her service operations in July 1920 with a cruise to

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attached to Submarine Division 2 (SubDiv 2), with subsequent operations out of

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, cruising the

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coast until 1923. USS S-1 (SS-105)

On 2 January 1923, she shifted to SubDiv Zero, a division created for experimental work, and conducted winter maneuvers in the

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. As a single-ship division, SubDiv Zero, she returned to New London in the spring to continue experimental duty. As part of a series of studies conducted by the

after

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into the possibility of submarine-borne observation and scouting aircraft, ''S-1'' became the experimental platform for this project late in 1923. She was altered by having a steel capsule mounted abaft the conning tower; a cylindrical pod which could house a small collapsible

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

, the Martin MS-1. After surfacing, this plane could be rolled out, quickly assembled, and launched by ballasting the sub until the deck was awash. These experiments were carried out into 1926 using the Martin-built plane, constructed of wood and fabric, and the all-metal Cox-Klemin versions, XS-1 and XS-2. The first full cycle of surfacing, assembly, launching, retrieving, disassembly, and submergence took place on 28 July 1926, on the

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at New London. Following the aircraft experiments, ''S-1'' served as flagship for SubDiv 2 until July 1927, when she was transferred to SubDiv 4. While attached to this division, she made operational cruises to the Panama Canal Zone in 1928–1930, during the spring months. She visited ports at Cristobal, Canal Zone and

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; Cartagena, Colombia; Kingston, Jamaica; and

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, during these cruises, and spent the remaining months of those years operating along the New England coast, out of New London. January 1931 found her at

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. She remained there into 1937; first, attached to SubDiv 7, SubRon 4, then, from July 1932 – July 1933, attached to Rotating Reserve SubDiv 14. She was returned to SubDiv 7 in August, and remained with that division until departing in May 1937 for Philadelphia. ''S-1'' arrived at Philadelphia on 22 July and commenced overhaul for deactivation. She was decommissioned on 20 October.

World War II

On 16 October 1940, ''S-1'' was recommissioned at

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. She then made two cruises to

, training submariners, and returned to Philadelphia from the second cruise on 7 December 1941. There, she prepared for transfer to Britain under the Lend-Lease program. She was decommissioned and turned over to the British on 20 April 1942. Her name was struck from the

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on 24 June.

Royal Navy

''S-1'' served the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

as ''HMS P.552'' as a training vessel for

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

. In poor condition after arriving in

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, Natal,

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, she was often in repair and she was declared unseaworthy in January 1944.uboat.net – Allied Warships – Submarine HMS P 552 of the S-1 class
/ref> She was returned to the U.S. Navy at Durban on 16 October 1944, where she was stripped of vital parts and machinery, and her hull was sold for local scrapping on 20 July 1945 and she was scrapped there on 14 September of that year.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:S-01 (Ss-105) United States S-class submarines Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1918 ships World War II submarines of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Navy United States S-class submarines of the Royal Navy World War II submarines of the United Kingdom