View source for USS G-2

{{Short description|G-class submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Tuna}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}

{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=Uss G-2 1915 (2).jpg
 |image_caption= USS ''G-2'', ex-''Tuna'', underway on the surface, prior to [[World War I]], with crewmen on deck "getting a little fresh air"
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=United States
 |flag={{USN flag|1919}}
 |name= ''Tuna''
 |namesake= The [[tuna]]
 |awarded=
 |builder= [[Lake Torpedo Boat Company]],
[[Bridgeport]], Connecticut
 |original_cost= $479,347.46 (hull and machinery){{sfn|Navy List|1921|p=765}}
 |laid_down= 20 October 1909
 |launched= 10 January 1912
 |sponsor= Miss Marjorie F. Miller
 |acquired=
 |commissioned= 28 October 1912
 |decommissioned= 2 April 1919
 |struck= 11 September 1919
 |renamed= ''G-2'' (Submarine No.27), 17 November 1911
 |identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Submarine type|Hull symbol]]: SS-27 (17 July 1920)
                 *[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]]: NUT
                 *{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Uniform}}{{ICS|Tango}}
 |fate= Sunk at her moorings, 30 July 1919
 |notes=
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption= {{sfn|Priolo}}
 |class=[[United States G-class submarine|G-class]] [[submarine]]
 |displacement=* {{cvt|400|LT|lk=in}} surfaced
               * {{cvt|516|LT}} submerged
 |length= {{cvt|161|ft}} 
 |beam= {{cvt|13|ft|1|in}}
 |draft= {{cvt|12|ft|6|in}}
 |power=* {{cvt|1200|bhp|lk=in}} (gasoline)
        *{{cvt|520|hp}} (electric)
 |propulsion=* 4 × [[White & Middleton Gas Engine Company|White & Middleton]] [[gasoline engine]]s
             *2 × [[Diehl Manufacturing Company]] [[electric motor]]s, 
             *2 × 60-[[electrochemical cell|Cell]] [[battery (electricity)|batteries]]
             *2 × [[Propeller]]
 |speed=* {{cvt|14|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
        * {{cvt|10.5|kn}} submerged
 |range= {{cvt|3500|nmi}} at {{cvt|11|kn}} on surface
 |endurance=
 |test_depth= {{cvt|200|ft}}
 |complement=* 1 officer
             * 23 enlisted
 |armament=4 × [[American 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s, (2 internal in the [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]], 1 external in bow, one external [[Stern (ship)|stern]]), 8 torpedoes{{sfn|Hedman|Johnston|2025}}
 |notes=
 }}
}}

'''USS ''Tuna/G-2'' (SS-27)''', also known as "Submarine No. 27", was a [[United States G-class submarine|G-class]] [[submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]] (USN). She was the first ship of the USN to be named for the [[tuna]], a large, vigorous, spiny-finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food, though she was renamed ''G-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.{{sfn|Hedman|Johnston|2025a}} 

==Construction==
''Tuna''{{'}}s keel was laid down on 20 October 1909, by the [[Lake Torpedo Boat Company]], [[Bridgeport]], Connecticut. She was renamed ''G-2'' on 17 November 1911, and [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 10 January 1912, sponsored by Ms. Marjorie F. Miller. ''G-2'' was towed to the [[New York Navy Yard]] after the termination of the Lake contract on 7 November 1913, where she was completed, and [[ship commissioning|commission]] on 1 December 1913.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

==Service history==
Departing [[New York City|New York]] under tow of [[submarine tender]] {{USS|Ozark|BM-7|2}}, ex-[[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] ''Arkansas'', the submersible torpedo boat arrived at the [[Naval Torpedo Station]], [[Newport, Rhode Island|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 with {{USS|G-1|SS-19½|2}} in [[Long Island Sound]] and [[Narragansett Bay]]. During these trials the boat made six submerged runs to a maximum depth of {{cvt|37|ft}}. Her [[White & Middleton Gas Engine Company|White & Middleton]] [[gasoline engine]] proved troublesome and after the [[Port (nautical)|port]] [[Armature (electrical)|armature]] shaft failed on 31 March, the boat was towed to New York for repairs. While there, financial considerations led to ''G-2'' being put in [[reserve fleet|reserve]] commission on 15 June 1914.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

''G-2'' was placed in full commission at New York, on 6 February 1915. Attached to Division Three, Submarine Flotilla, [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]], the boat joined ''G-1'', tender {{USS|Fulton|AS-1|2}} and [[Tugboat|tug]] {{USS|Sonoma|AT-12|2}}, for a cruise to [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia, on 25 March. Arriving there two days later, the submersible conducted maneuvers in [[Hampton Roads]] before proceeding to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], 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.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

On 18 May, ''G-2'' joined other warships and passed in review before [[President of the United States|President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]], who looked on from the yacht {{USS|Mayflower|PY-1|2}}. The boat then sailed to [[Nantucket]], Massachusetts, to participate in a war problem off [[Block Island]], before unloading her [[torpedo]]es 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 the [[East River]], on 22 June. While standing down the river with {{USS|G-4|SS-26|2}}, the two boats collided with submarine {{USS|K-2|SS-33|2}},<ref>'''Note''': DANFS contains a typographical error here. The entry for [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/g-2.html ''G-2''] states the boat that she collided with is ''K-22'', yet there was never a boat by this name in the USN. The [[United States K-class submarine|K-class]] ended with the [[USS K-8|''K-8'']], and [[HMS K13|HMS ''K22'']] never visited New York City during its service. ''K-2'' was known to be in the [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/k-2.html New York Navy Yard] during the time of this incident, and it is likely that she is the boat that the other two collided with. The DANFS entries for ''K-2'' and [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/g-4.html ''G-4''] make no mention of the collision.</ref> 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.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

Escorted to [[Provincetown]], Massachusetts, by ''Ozark'' and tug {{USS|Iwana|YT-2|2}}, ''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 to [[New London, Connecticut|New London]], Connecticut, by {{USS|Sunbeam II|SP-42|2}}, on 28 June 1917.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

[[File:USS G-2 underway, circa 1916, with USS Fulton (AS-1) following astern.jpg|left|thumb|''G-2'' {{circa}} 1916, with {{USS|Fulton|AS-1|2}} following astern.]]

On 21 August, ''G-2'' sailed to [[Boston]], Massachusetts, via the [[Cape Cod Canal]], to operate with the [[destroyer]] {{USS|Aylwin|DD-47|2}}, [[submarine chaser]] {{USS|SC-6||2}}, and steam yacht {{USS|Margaret|SP-527|2}}. There the boat helped a Navy Experimental Board, embarked in ''Margaret'', 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.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

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 new [[periscope]]s and other submarine equipment. The boat carried out these tests with [[section patrol boat]]s {{USS|Wacondah|SP-238|2}} and {{USS|Thetis|SP-391|2}}, as well as numerous subchasers. Learning of the possible proximity of German [[U-boat]]s, she conducted four-day patrols off Block Island, in late June 1918, and again in mid-July.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

''G-2'' continued schoolship duty out of New London, through the end of [[World 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, against [[depth charge]] explosions. On 12 September, ''Thetis'' experimented with a magnetic detector while ''G-2'' lay on the bottom in {{cvt|86|ft}} of water, and in November, ''G-2'' even conducted experimental work with patrol [[seaplane]]s. This duty ended in January 1919, when she was scheduled for inactivation.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

==Fate==
Decommissioned on 2 April 1919, the boat was designated as a target for testing depth charges and [[Torpedo net|ordnance net]]s in [[Niantic, Connecticut|Niantic]], 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 {{cvt|13.5|fathom}}, drowning three of the inspection crew. Too deep and too old to salvage, the submarine was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 11 September.{{sfn|DANFS|2004}}

Wreck site: {{Coord|41|17|50|N|72|08|30|W|display=title}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal
  |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mZEqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA762
  |title= Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919
  |journal= Congressional Serial Set
  |publisher= U.S. Government Printing Office
  |year= 1921
  |page= 764
  |ref= {{sfnRef|Navy List|1921}} 
  }}
* {{cite web
  |last= Gary
  |first= Priolo
  |title= Tuna / G-2 (SS-27)
  |url= https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08027.htm
  |website= Navsource.net
  |access-date= 23 September 2025
  |ref= {{sfnRef|Priolo}}
  }}
* {{cite DANFS
  |last= 
  |first= 
  |title= G-2
  |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/g-2.html
  |date= 2 February 2004
  |access-date= 23 September 2025
  |ref= {{sfnRef|DANFS|2004}}
  }}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite book
  |last= Friedman |first= Norman
  |author-link= Norman Friedman
  |title= U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History
  |publisher= [[Naval Institute Press]]
  |location= [[Annapolis]], Maryland
  |year= 1995
  |isbn=1-55750-263-3
  }}
* {{cite web
  |last1= Hedman
  |first1= Ric
  |last2= Johnston
  |first2= David
  |title= G-class
  |url= https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=G-class
  |date= 8 May 2025
  |access-date= 23 September 2025
  }}
* {{cite web
  |last1= Hedman
  |first1= Ric
  |last2= Johnston
  |first2= David
  |title= Submarine Specifications
  |url= https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=Submarine_Specifications
  |date= 8 May 2025a
  |access-date= 23 September 2025
  }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
  |editor1-last= Gardiner
  |editor1-first= Robert
  |editor2-last= Gray
  |editor2-first= Randal
  |title= Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921
  |year= 1985
  |location= Annapolis, Maryland
  |publisher= Naval Institute Press
  |isbn=0-85177-245-5
  |name-list-style= amp
  }}

==External links==
{{commons|category|USS G-2 (SS-27)}}
* {{navsource|08/08027|USS G-2}}
* [http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-g-2-27.htm On Eternal Patrol: USS ''G-2'']

{{United States G class submarine}}
{{1919 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:G-2}}
[[Category:United States G-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Connecticut coast]]
[[Category:Ships built in Bridgeport, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1912 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1919]]