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U.S.
Submarines in World War I
Despite
ineffectual attempts by both the Russian and Japanese navies
during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) to employ “submarine
torpedo boats” in Far Eastern waters, modern submarines
received their first real baptism of fire in World War I (1914-1918).
Even with the global proliferation of submarines during the
first few years of the 20th century, it was the Germans and
British who first demonstrated their dangerous potential for
undersea warfare in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during
1914 and 1915. In acquiring John Holland’s pioneering
Holland VI – the progenitor of all “modern”
submarines – in 1900, the U.S. Navy had gained a small
head start on its European counterparts. But by the time the
United States joined the Allied cause in mid-1917, rapid technical
and operational developments in Europe – and particularly
during the early years of the war – had left the U.S.
submarine force significantly outclassed. |
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The
first U.S. submarines to arrive in European waters were USS
K-1, K-2, K-5, and K-6,
which reached the Azores in October 1917. They are shown here
moored alongside their tender, USS Bushnell (AS-2),
at Punta Delgada, Azores late that year. (Bushnell
later transferred to Bantry Bay, Ireland, to tend L-class submarines
there. She was replaced at Punta Delgada by USS Tonapah
(BM-8).) |
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World War I broke out among the European powers in early August
1914, the U.S. Navy had 29 submarines in commission. These ranged
from the immediate successors of Holland VI
– eight A- and B-class boats in the Philippine Islands
– to the first two members of the K class, which had just
entered service. When Germany’s unrestricted submarine
warfare campaign and the infamous Zimmerman telegram1
finally drew the United States into the war in April 1917, the
Navy had 42 submarines in commission, having added the remainder
of the K class (for a total of eight) and seven of the newer
L-class boats (of an eventual 11). But even the best of these
had only been intended for harbor or coastal defense, with surface
displacements of around 450 tons on a length of 165 feet –
and capable of only 3,000-mile endurance at 11 knots, barely
enough to cross the Atlantic. By then, the succeeding N and
O classes were already under construction, with the 27-ship
R class soon to follow, but only the three large “fleet
boats” of the T class – laid down in 1916 and 1917
– offered true ocean-going potential, and they would not
be joining the fleet until well after the Armistice.
First U.S.
Submarines to Europe
Nonetheless, because
the Royal Navy in 1916 had begun assigning submarines to anti-U-boat
patrols in the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Irish
Sea, the U.S. naval high command in June 1917 proposed sending
a contingent of submarines to European waters to assist in
the anti-submarine campaign. Initially, SUBLANT designated
12 submarines for the mission, divided into separate divisions
to be stationed, respectively, in the Azores and on the southern
coast of Ireland. These boats were chosen from the most capable
the Navy had to offer: USS K-1, K-2, K-5,
K-6, and E-1, constituting SUBDIV 4, for
the Azores; and USS L-1 through L-4 and
L-9 through L-11, constituting SUBDIV 5,
for Bantry Bay, Ireland. At first, the Navy intended to steam
the boats across the Atlantic under their own power, but marginal
fuel capacity and the unreliability of their rudimentary two-cycle
diesel engines militated against that approach. In October,
the four K boats left Philadelphia and New York to rendezvous
with the submarine tender USS Bushnell (AS-2) and
the old protected cruiser USS Chicago off Provincetown,
Massachusetts, from whence they were towed to Halifax, Nova
Scotia and then to the Azores, some 1,700 nautical miles to
the southeast. Under the prevailing North Atlantic conditions,
towing two submarines from each surface ship posed a serious
challenge, but when the former attempted to proceed on their
own, recurring engine failures left the expedition no choice.
Fortunately, after arriving in the Azores – where they
were eventually tended by the monitor, USS Tonopah
(BM-8) – they spent an uneventful year, largely because
mechanical problems kept them out of service for much of that
period.
The L-boats of
SUBDIV 5 – plus E-1 – left Newport, Rhode Island
for Europe in early December 1917 under tow by Bushnell
and two ocean-going tugs. Bound for Ponta Delgada in the Azores,
the group ran headlong into a hurricane and was forced to
divert toward Bermuda. Although the flotilla was badly scattered,
with one tug and a submarine actually returning to Boston,
the other tug and four submarines eventually reached their
destination. Then, after several more straggled in, Bushnell,
a tug, and four submarines completed the remaining 1,000 miles
to Bantry Bay on 27 January 1918, with three more boats to
follow. They were promptly re-designated the “AL”
class to avoid confusion with British L-class submarines and
under the tutelage of the Royal Navy, began preparing for
their role in the ASW effort off southern Ireland.2
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The first L-class boats arrived at Berehaven, Ireland in late
January 1918. Under the tutelage of the Royal Navy, they were
soon conducting anti-submarine patrols south and east of Bantry
Bay and served in that capacity until the end of the war in
November. Here, USS L-1 and L-3 are tied up alongside Bushnell.
(right) Late in
World War I, the seven U.S. L-class submarines of SUBDIV 5
were transferred to Bantry Bay, Ireland to carry out anti-submarine
patrols in an area of responsibility that included St. George’s
Channel and the western approaches to the English Channel.
Several American battleships were also stationed at Bantry
Bay, and an entire division of them formed the 6th Battle
Squadron of the British Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow in the Orkney
Islands.
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