United States K-class submarine

USS K-1 (SS-32) underway in 1916
Class overview
Name	K class
Builders	Electric Boat (design) Fore River Shipyard Union Iron Works The Moran Company
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	H class
Succeeded by	L class
Built	1912–1914
In commission	1914–1923
Completed	8
Retired	8
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	392 long tons (398 t) surfaced 521 long tons (529 t) submerged
Length	153 ft 7 in (46.81 m)
Beam	16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
Draft	13 ft 1 in (3.99 m)
Installed power	950 hp (710 kW) (diesel engines) 680 hp (510 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion	Diesel/electric 2 × NELSECO diesel engines 2 × Electro Dynamic electric motors 2 × 60-cell batteries 2 × shafts
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 120 nmi (220 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth	200 ft (61 m)
Complement	28 officers and men
Armament	4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (bow) 8 × torpedoes

The K-class submarines were a class of eight submarines of the United States Navy, serving between 1914 and 1923, including World War I. They were designed by Electric Boat and were built by other yards under subcontracts. K-1, K-2, K-5, and K-6 were built by Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, K-3, K-7, and K-8 by Union Iron Works in San Francisco, and K-4 by The Moran Company in Seattle, Washington. All were decommissioned in 1923 and scrapped in 1931 to comply with the limits of the London Naval Treaty.

The K-class, although similar to the preceding H-class, were slightly larger. This followed a design trend by Electric Boat of simply scaling up a previous design to meet new performance requirements.^[1] In this design EB eliminated the watertight bulkheads that made the control room a separate space. The forward battery, control room, and after battery were one large space.^[2] The small conning tower was surrounded by a streamlined fairwater, there was no enclosed bridge for surface operations. Later, a pipe-frame and canvas bridge structure would be erected atop of the fairwater to serve as a makeshift bridge. Since USN tactical doctrine of the time did not emphasize "crash dives", the considerable time it took to deploy or dismantle was not seen as a liability.^[3] Experience in World War I showed that this removable bridge was inadequate in the North Atlantic weather, and other submarines serving overseas in that war (E-class, the K-class, and the L-class) had their bridge structures augmented with a "chariot" shield on the front of the bridge.

The K-class retained the rotating torpedo tube muzzle cap which was standard on previous classes. The cap was rotated so that two holes would line up with alternate torpedo tubes so that the weapons could be fired.^[4]

K-1, K-2, K-5, and K-6 began their careers on the US East Coast and were forward deployed to the Azores in World War I as convoy escorts, where their experience proved valuable in adapting future submarines for surfaced operations in rough weather. The remaining four were stationed on the West Coast early in their careers, but were reassigned to Key West, Florida for training and coastal security patrols in early 1918. All remained on the East Coast following the war for the rest of their careers.

Although considered to be successful submarines, The K-class coastal defence design was quickly overtaken by rapid advances in technology following World War I and were of little use to the USN of the 1920's with its new emphasis on global fleet operations. They were all discarded after only about nine years of service.^[5]

The first four were renamed K-1 through K-4 on 17 November 1911 as part of a forcewide redesignation of US submarines.

• USS K-1 (SS-32) (formerly USS Haddock) was laid down on 20 February 1912, launched on 3 September 1913 and commissioned on 17 March 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 7 March 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[6]
• USS K-2 (SS-33) (formerly USS Cachalot) was laid down on 20 February 1912, launched on 4 October 1913 and commissioned on 31 January 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 9 March 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[7]
• USS K-3 (SS-34) (formerly USS Orca) was laid down on 15 January 1912, launched on 14 March 1914 and commissioned on 30 October 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 20 February 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[8]
• USS K-4 (SS-35) (formerly USS Walrus) was laid down on 27 January 1912, launched on 19 March 1914 and commissioned on 24 October 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 10 May 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[9]
• USS K-5 (SS-36) was laid down on 10 June 1912, launched on 17 March 1914 and commissioned on 22 August 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 20 February 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[10]
• USS K-6 (SS-37) was laid down on 19 June 1912, launched on 26 March 1914 and commissioned on 9 September 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 21 May 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[11]
• USS K-7 (SS-38) was laid down on 10 May 1912, launched on 20 June 1914 and commissioned on 1 December 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 12 February 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[12]
• USS K-8 (SS-39) was laid down on 10 May 1912, launched on 11 July 1914 and commissioned on 1 December 1914. The submarine was decommissioned on 24 February 1923 and scrapped in 1931.^[13]

• Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• Friedman, Norman "US Submarines through 1945: An Illustrated Design History", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
• Navsource.org early diesel submarines page
• PigBoats.COM K-class page

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Media related to K class submarines of the United States at Wikimedia Commons