USS O-10
USS O-10 , also known as "Submarine No. 71", was one of 16 [United States United States O-class submarine|O-class submarine|O-class] submarines of the United States Navy commissioned during World War I. She was recommissioned prior to the United States entry into WWII, for use as a trainer.
Design
The O-1-class submarines were designed to meet a Navy requirement for coastal defense boats. The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of, and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. The O-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of.For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Electro-Dynamic Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the O-class had a range of at.
The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The O-class submarines were also armed with a single /23 caliber retractable deck gun.
Construction
O-10s keel was laid down on 27 February 1917, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 21 February 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Alice C. Burg, and commissioned on 17 August 1918.Service history
O-10 served during World War I operating out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on coastal patrol against German U-boats, until 2 November 1918, when she departed Newport, Rhode Island, with other submarines, for service in European waters. However, the Armistice with Germany was signed before the ships reached the Azores, and the ships returned to the United States.In 1919, O-10 joined others of her class at New London, Connecticut, to train submarine crews at the Submarine School there.
When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-71.
In 1924, O-10 steamed to Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, where she was reclassified as a second-line submarine on 25 July 1924. Returning to operations at New London, she reverted to first-line duties on 6 June 1928. She continued at New London, until January 1930, when she sailed north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, returning to New London, in February. She continued training duties until February 1931, when she sailed to Philadelphia, and decommissioned there on 25 June.
With the approach World War II, there was a recognized need for numerous training submarines. O-10 recommissioned at Philadelphia, on 10 March 1941, and went to New London, in May. She departed on a trial run to Portsmouth, on 19 June 1941, the day before failed to return. O-10 joined in the search for her sister boat, but found no trace of her. At 16:55 on 22 June,, with Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, on board, fired a 21-gun salute for the crew lost on the ill-fated vessel. Returning to New London, O-10 trained crews there until war's end.