.jpg) USSG-2, ex-Tuna, underway on the surface, prior toWorld War I, with crewmen on deck "getting a little fresh air" | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Tuna |
| Namesake | Thetuna |
| Builder | Lake Torpedo Boat Company,Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| Cost | $479,347.46 (hull and machinery)[1] |
| Laid down | 20 October 1909 |
| Launched | 10 January 1912 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Marjorie F. Miller |
| Commissioned | 28 October 1912 |
| Decommissioned | 2 April 1919 |
| Renamed | G-2 (Submarine No.27), 17 November 1911 |
| Stricken | 11 September 1919 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk at her moorings, 30 July 1919 |
| General characteristics[2] | |
| Class & type | G-classsubmarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 161 ft (49 m) |
| Beam | 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) on surface |
| Test depth | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 4 ×18-inch (450 mm)torpedo tubes, (2 internal in thebow, 1 external in bow, one externalstern), 8 torpedoes[3] |
USSTuna/G-2 (SS-27), also known as "Submarine No. 27", was aG-classsubmarine of theUnited States Navy (USN). She was the first ship of the USN to be named for thetuna, a large, vigorous, spiny-finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food, though she was renamedG-2 prior to launching.
While the four G-boats were nominally all of a class, they differed enough in significant details that they are sometimes considered to be four unique boats, each in a class by herself.[4]
Tuna's keel was laid down on 20 October 1909, by theLake Torpedo Boat Company,Bridgeport, Connecticut. She was renamedG-2 on 17 November 1911, andlaunched on 10 January 1912, sponsored by Ms. Marjorie F. Miller.G-2 was towed to theNew York Navy Yard after the termination of the Lake contract on 7 November 1913, where she was completed, andcommission on 1 December 1913.[5]
DepartingNew York under tow ofsubmarine tenderOzark, ex-monitorArkansas, the submersible torpedo boat arrived at theNaval Torpedo Station,Newport, Rhode Island, on 28 February 1914. Attached to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla,G-2 spent the next five months conducting dive training and engineering exercises withG-1 inLong Island Sound andNarragansett Bay. During these trials the boat made six submerged runs to a maximum depth of 37 ft (11 m). HerWhite & Middletongasoline engine proved troublesome and after theportarmature shaft failed on 31 March, the boat was towed to New York for repairs. While there, financial considerations led toG-2 being put inreserve commission on 15 June 1914.[5]
G-2 was placed in full commission at New York, on 6 February 1915. Attached to Division Three, Submarine Flotilla,Atlantic Fleet, the boat joinedG-1, tenderFulton andtugSonoma, for a cruise toNorfolk, Virginia, on 25 March. Arriving there two days later, the submersible conducted maneuvers inHampton Roads before proceeding toCharleston, South Carolina, in April, arriving there on 17 April. Following a short yard period for repairs, the division proceeded back to New York, mooring alongside the 135th Street pier on 9 May.[5]
On 18 May,G-2 joined other warships and passed in review beforePresidentWoodrow Wilson, who looked on from the yachtMayflower. The boat then sailed toNantucket, Massachusetts, to participate in a war problem offBlock Island, before unloading hertorpedoes at Newport, on 25 May. Ordered back to New York for an overhaul, the submersible again transited the familiar waters of Long Island Sound, before arriving at the mouth of theEast River, on 22 June. While standing down the river withG-4, the two boats collided with submarineK-2,[6] in an unusual three-boat accident. Fortunately, none of the boats suffered any damage.G-2 entered the Navy Yard there for an extended overhaul later that day.[5]
Escorted toProvincetown, Massachusetts, byOzark and tugIwana,G-2 commenced final acceptance trials from 1–10 December. Following those successful evolutions, during which the Trial Board noted numerous items requiring modernization, the boat moved back to New York for an overhaul, on 14 January 1916. Six months later,G-2 shifted to the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yard for completion, receiving new diving rudder gear, hydroplanes, electrical wiring, and a new crankshaft. This yard work required extensive alterations and the boat did not return to service until convoyed toNew London, Connecticut, bySunbeam II, on 28 June 1917.[5]
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On 21 August,G-2 sailed toBoston, Massachusetts, via theCape Cod Canal, to operate with thedestroyerAylwin,submarine chaserSC-6, and steam yachtMargaret. There the boat helped a Navy Experimental Board, embarked inMargaret, to carry out various sound detector tests in nearby waters. The submarine also conducted practice approaches and served as an instruction platform for officer and enlisted submarine students.[5]
Shifting back to New London, on 20 October,G-2 combined work on sound detection devices with training for the newly established Submarine School off Block Island and in Long Island Sound. During seven months of operations, she experimented with magnetic detectors and dragging devices and tried out newperiscopes and other submarine equipment. The boat carried out these tests withsection patrol boatsWacondah andThetis, as well as numerous subchasers. Learning of the possible proximity of GermanU-boats, she conducted four-day patrols off Block Island, in late June 1918, and again in mid-July.[5]
G-2 continued schoolship duty out of New London, through the end ofWorld War I, testing listening and flare signaling devices, among other pieces of equipment. On 30 August, for example, her crew tested the strength of the pressure hull, and the reliability of electric equipment, againstdepth charge explosions. On 12 September,Thetis experimented with a magnetic detector whileG-2 lay on the bottom in 86 ft (26 m) of water, and in November,G-2 even conducted experimental work with patrolseaplanes. This duty ended in January 1919, when she was scheduled for inactivation.[5]
Decommissioned on 2 April 1919, the boat was designated as a target for testing depth charges andordnance nets inNiantic, Connecticut. During inspection by a six-man maintenance crew on 30 July, the boat suddenly flooded and sank at her moorings in Two Tree Channel, near Niantic. She went down in 13.5 fathoms (81 ft; 24.7 m), drowning three of the inspection crew. Too deep and too old to salvage, the submarine was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 11 September.[5]
Wreck site:41°17′50″N72°08′30″W / 41.29722°N 72.14167°W /41.29722; -72.14167
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
