USS ''L-6'' (SS-45) was an L-class submarine built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the 1910s.

Description

The L-class boats designed by

Lake Torpedo Boat The Lake Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was an early builder of submarines for the United States Navy in the early 20th century. History Founded by Simon Lake in 1912, the company was located at the east end of Seaview Avenue i ...

(''L-5'' through ''L-8'') were built to slightly different specifications from the other L boats, which were designed by

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power ...

, and are sometimes considered a separate ''L-5'' class. The Lake boats had a length of

overall Overalls or bib-and-brace overalls, also called dungarees in British English, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers ...

, a beam of and a mean

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 28 officers and enlisted men. They had a diving depth of .Friedman, p. 307 For surface running, the boats were powered by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

. When submerged each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Lake boats had a range of at and at submerged.Gardiner & Gray, p. 129 The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The L-class submarines were also armed with a single 3"/50 caliber

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

Construction and career

''L-6''s keel was laid down on 27 May 1914 by

Craig Shipbuilding file:Light Vessel No.57.jpg, ''Light Vessel No.57'' at Toledo, Ohio Craig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military c ...

Company in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. ''L-6'' was launched on 31 August 1916 sponsored by Mrs. William R. Monroe, and commissioned on 7 December 1917.

Service history

After exercises along the West Coast, ''L-6'' departed Pacific waters on 20 April 1918, arriving

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, on 10 June. Following a brief overhaul, the submarine patrolled off Charleston until she sailed on 15 October for the eastern Atlantic. Arriving

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, in early November, ''L-6'' joined Submarine Division 6 just prior to the signing of the

Armistice with Germany {{Short description, none This is a list of armistices signed by the German Empire (1871–1918) or Nazi Germany (1933–1945). An armistice is a temporary agreement to cease hostilities. The period of an armistice may be used to negotiate a peace t ...

on 11 November. After making stops in

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and

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n ports, ''L-6'' arrived

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, on 14 February 1919, completing one of the best long-distance seagoing performances of the

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's youthful submarine force. From 1919 to 1922, she remained on the West Coast, experimenting with new

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es and undersea detection equipment. ''L-6'' was placed in commission, in ordinary, on 24 March 1922; returned to full commission on 1 July; and sailed for the East Coast the same month. Upon arrival

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

, ''L-6'' decommissioned on 25 November 1922, and was sold to M. Samuel and Sons on 21 December 1925 for scrapping.

Notes

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:L-06 (SS-45) United States L-class submarines World War I submarines of the United States Ships built in Los Angeles 1916 ships