USS B-1

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USS Viper/B-1 (SS-10), also known as "Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 10", was the lead ship of her class of submarines built for the United States Navy (USN) in the first decade of the 20th century. She was the third boat of the USN to be named for the viper. Used primarily for training, she was transported to the Philippines, in 1915. During WWI she patrolled the waters around the Philippines.

Design

The B-class submarines, also known as the Viper-class, were enlarged versions of the preceding . They had a length of Template:Cvt overall, a beam of Template:Cvt, and a mean draft of Template:Cvt. They displaced Template:Cvt on the surface and Template:Cvt submerged. The B-class boats had a crew of one officer and nine enlisted men. They had a diving depth of .Template:Sfn

For surface running, they were powered by one gasoline engine that drove the single propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor.Template:Sfn The boats could reach Template:Cvt on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater. On the surface, they had a range of Template:Cvt at 9 kn and Template:Cvt at Template:Cvt submerged.Template:Sfn

The B-class boats were armed with two 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of four torpedoes.Template:Sfn

Construction

Viper was laid down 5 September 1905, in Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company, of New Suffolk, Long Island. Viper was launched on 30 March 1907, sponsored by Mrs. Lillian Spear, wife of Lawrence York Spear, Vice President of the Holland Torpedo Boat Company. The boat was commissioned on 18 October 1907.Template:Sfn

Service history

Viper was assigned to the Second Submarine Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. She cruised along the Atlantic coast on training and experimental exercises until going into reserve at Charleston Navy Yard, on 30 November 1909. Recommissioned on 15 April 1910, she served with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet, until assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Group, at Charleston Navy Yard, on 9 May 1911. On 17 November, her name was changed to B-1.Template:Sfn

In April 1914, B-1 was towed to the Norfolk Navy Yard, to be overhauled. In 1915, she was loaded aboard the collier , for transport to the Philippine Islands. Arriving at Olongapo, Luzon, on 24 March 1915, B-1 was launched sidewise from the deck of Hector, into Canacao Bay, on 15 April, and recommissioned two days later.Template:Sfn

B-1 was assigned to the First Submarine Division, Torpedo Flotilla, Asiatic Fleet on 19 May 1915. Up to that time, the division had consisted solely of somewhat older, smaller and slower, Plunger-class, or A-boats, so the division commander, took command of B-1 as his flagship. Since these early submarines possessed no galleys or berthing accommodations, their officers and men ate and slept in the old monitor , which usually rode at anchor off Sangley Point, when not towing targets for the submarines or recovering their torpedoes with her boats.Template:Sfn

World War I had broken out in Europe during the previous summer, so B-1 and her division mates carried out patrols to assure that no belligerent warships violated the neutrality of Philippine territorial waters. In addition to such duty, she also joined them in diving tests and torpedo-firing exercises during which they helped to develop the techniques and tactics of submarine warfare.Template:Sfn

These operations, even before the United States entered the war, entailed considerable peril. Tremendous pressure could crush B-1Template:'s hull like an eggshell if she should dive too deep while operating submerged. Hydrogen gas from her electric batteries or gasoline fumes from her internal-combustion engines could turn a submarine into a giant bomb awaiting a spark. Moreover, the fumes were poisonous, and by intoxicating those who inhale them, could deprive both crew and commander of the sound judgement needed for safe operations. This happened to B-1 in the autumn of 1916, during an attempt to make a submerged, five-hour run in Manila Bay. Lieutenant (jg) Charles A. Lockwood, who had recently relieved the previous commander of the submarine, and who would go on to direct the deadly effective American submarine campaign against the Empire of Japan during World War II, and his crew were deeply affected by gasoline fumes, caused by a leaking fuel line, and were saved from disaster only by B-1Template:'s surfacing ahead of schedule.Template:Sfn

America's entry into the war in April 1917, had little effect upon B-1Template:'s routine. While she never was involved in combat, her operations in the Philippines, by adding to the Navy experience in submerged navigation, helped to develop the submarine force into the highly effective weapon that contributed so greatly to American victory in World War II.Template:Sfn

Fate

Following the Armistice, B-1, by then a member of the 2d Submarine Division, continued operations in Philippine waters until decommissioned at Cavite, on 1 December 1921. She was subsequently destroyed as a target during destroyer gunnery practice. Her name was struck from the Navy list, on 16 January 1922.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

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