USS O-16
USS O-16 , also known as "Submarine No. 77", 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.
Design
The later O-boats, O-11 through O-16, were designed by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, to different specifications from the earlier boats designed by Electric Boat. They did not perform as well, and are sometimes considered a separate class. 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 Busch-Sulzer diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Diehl Manufacture 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-16s keel was laid down on 7 October 1916, at the Craig Shipbuilding Company, in Long Beach, California, by the California Shipbuilding Company. She was launched on 9 February 1918, sponsored by Mrs. James J. Murphy, and completed at the Mare Island Navy Yard. O-16 was commissioned on 1 August 1918.Service history
Commissioning during the final months of World War I, O-16 had little wartime duty.After the war, she reported to Cape May, New Jersey, where she went into dry dock on 20 September 1919. In October, the boat sailed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where a dangerous fire in her superstructure on 29 December, was brought under control before it did major damage.
When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-77.
In 1922, O-16 was stationed at Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, for diving tests and maneuvers. She cruised in formation with her sister boats,,, and the submarine tender, to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, on 26 January, and continued maneuvers in and around the Virgin Islands. In April, she returned to Coco Solo, where electricians and engineers put her in prime condition.