Featured Exhibit
Submarines
From the U.S. Navy’s first submarine “Alligator” - purchased in 1862 - through today’s fleet of nuclear-powered boats, America’s “Silent Service” has contributed significantly toward keeping the seas open and free. Today's attack submarine is considered one of the most lethal weapons in the nation's military arsenal, and the ballistic missile submarine constitutes an integral component of the country's strategic deterrent. The original stealth weapon, nuclear-powered submarines cruise the world's oceans unseen, carrying out a variety of missions.
U.S. Navy ships are built in “classes” using a single design for several boats. A CLASS of warships is regarded as “forming a group by reason of common attributes, characteristics, or qualities.” Minor changes and technical improvements may be incorporated into a design allowing later boats of the same class to be more capable than earlier. When major alterations are required, the resulting craft will likely be a new “class.”
The model on display is an S-Class Submarine. The first submarine class built to a U.S. Navy design they were often simply called “S-boats” or “Sugar-boats” (after the contemporary Navy phonetic alphabet for the letter “s”).
Designed during World War I - but too late to see action - the S-class of boats were the U.S. Navy’s first true ocean-going attack submarines. All previous classes had been designed for harbor defense and/or coastal patrols and were not suited for blue (deep) water operations. S-class submarines were substantially larger than the previous O-class and R-class allowing for greater range, larger engines, higher speeds, more armament and better habitability than any previous class.
It may be surprising to learn the 51 S-class submarines commissioned between 1920 and 1925 included no less than six distinct groups built by four different manufacturers. The Navy considered them all a single class because they were all designed to meet the same set of performance and military specifications.
This class constituted the bulk of the Navy’s submarine force during the 1920s and 1930’s and many saw service in the Pacific and Atlantic during World War II. However, at 20 years of age - longevity unheard of at the time - they were smaller and slower than most submarines produced for war service and lacked the range necessary for Pacific Ocean patrols. They were primarily used in reconnaissance, supply and coastal defense roles. By 1943 they were withdrawn from service and most were scrapped in 1946.