S-1
History
United States
Name	USSS-1
Builder	Fore River Shipyard,Quincy, Massachusetts[1]
Laid down	11 December 1917[1]
Launched	26 October 1918[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. Emory S. Land
Commissioned	5 June 1920[1]
Decommissioned	20 October 1937[1]
Commissioned	16 October 1940[1]
Decommissioned	20 April 1942[1]
Stricken	24 June 1942[2]
Fate	Transferred to theRoyal Navy, 20 April 1942, sold, 14 September 1945[1]
United Kingdom
Name	HMSP552'[1]
Acquired	20 April 1942[1]
Fate	Suffered a collision inDurban harbor and declared unseaworthy, January 1944, nominally returned to the United States and sold for scrap locally[3]
General characteristics
Type	S-class direct-drivediesel-electricsubmarine,S-1 type[2]
Displacement	854 long tons (868 t) (surfaced, standard) [4] 1,062 long tons (1,079 t) (submerged)[4]
Length	219 ft 3 in (66.83 m)[4]
Beam	20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)[4]
Draft	15 ft 11 in (4.85 m)[4]
Installed power	1,200 hp (890 kW) (diesel engines) 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion	2 ×NELSECO 8-cylinder4-stroke direct-drivediesel engines[4][5] 120-cellbattery[4] 2 × E.D.electric motors[2][4] 2 × shafts
Speed	14.5 kn (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) surfaced,[4] 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged[4]
Endurance	20 hours @ 5 kn (5.8 mph; 9.3 km/h)[4]
Test depth	200 ft (61 m)[4]
Complement	4 officers, 34 enlisted[4]
Armament	4 × bow21 inch (533 mm)torpedo tubes (12torpedoes) [4] 1 ×3 in (76 mm)/23cal disappearingdeck gun[6]

USSS-1 (SS-105) was the lead boat of theS class ofsubmarines of theUnited States Navy.

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", whileS-2 was a "Lake-type" andS-3 a "Government-type".

S-1's prime contractor, theElectric Boat Company, subcontracted her construction to theFore River Shipbuilding Company ofQuincy,Massachusetts. Herkeel waslaid down on 11 December 1917. She waslaunched on 26 October 1918, sponsored by Mrs.Emory S. Land, andcommissioned on 5 June 1920.

S-1 began her service operations in July 1920 with a cruise toBermuda attached to Submarine Division 2 (SubDiv 2), with subsequent operations out ofNew London, Connecticut, cruising theNew England coast until 1923.

On 2 January 1923, she shifted to SubDiv Zero, a division created for experimental work, and conducted winter maneuvers in theCaribbean Sea. 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 theUnited States Navy afterWorld War I 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 theconning tower; a cylindrical pod which could house a small collapsibleseaplane, theMartin 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 theThames River 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 thePanama Canal Zone in 1928–1930, during the spring months. She visited ports atCristobal, Canal Zone andCoco Solo, Canal Zone;Cartagena, Colombia;Kingston, Jamaica; andGuantánamo Bay, Cuba, 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 atPearl Harbor. 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.

On 16 October 1940,S-1 was recommissioned atPhiladelphia. She then made two cruises toBermuda, training submariners, and returned to Philadelphia from the second cruise on 7 December 1941. There, she prepared for transfer to Britain under theLend-Lease program. She was decommissioned and turned over to the British on 20 April 1942. Her name was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 24 June.

S-1 served theRoyal Navy asHMSP.552 as a training vessel foranti-submarine warfare. In poor condition after arriving inDurban, Natal,South Africa, she was often in repair and she was declared unseaworthy in January 1944.^[7]

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.

• 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

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2021
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships