Plunger class submarine

The Plunger-class was an early class of United States Navy submarines, used primarily during World War I.

General Characteristics

• Lead Boat: USS Plunger (SS-2)
• Builders: Crescent Shipyard (SS 2, 3, 5, 7, 8), Union Iron Works (SS 4, 6)
• Number of boats: 7 boats
• Displacement: 107 tons
• Length: 63' 10"
• Beam: 11' 11"
• Draft:' 10' 7"
• Speed: 8 knots (surfaced); 7 knots (submerged)
• Diving Depth:
• Range:
• Endurance (submerged):
• Fuel Capacity:
• Patrol Endurance:
• Propulsion:'
• Complement: 7
• Deck Gun:
• Torpedoes: 1 18-inch torpedo tube

History

The Plunger-class submarines were built at the beginning of the twentieth century largely as experimental vessels. All seven boats were renamed to A-type designations (A-1 through A-7) on 17 November 1911. They were given corresponding alphanumeric hull numbers on 17 July 1920, after all but Grampus (SS-4) and Pike (SS-6) had been decommissioned. All of the Plunger-class ships were decommissioned by 1921 and used as targets.

Boats

• (SS-2) USS Plunger (A-1)
• (SS-3) USS Adder (A-2)
• (SS-4) USS Grampus (A-3)
• (SS-5) USS Moccasin (A-4)
• (SS-6) USS Pike (A-5)
• (SS-7) USS Porpoise (A-6)
• (SS-8) USS Shark (A-7)

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