USS N-1

USS N-1 (SS-53) was a N-class coastal defense submarine built for the United States Navy during World War I.

Description
The N-class boats designed by Electric Boat (N-1 throughN-3) were built to slightly different specifications from the other N-class submarines, which were designed by Lake Torpedo Boat, and are sometimes considered a separate class. The Electric Boat submarines had a length of 147 ft overall, a beam of 15 ft and a mean draft of 12 ft. They displaced 347 LT on the surface and 414 LT submerged. The N-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 23 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200 ft.

For surface running, the Electric Boat submarines were powered by two 240 bhp diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 280 hp electric motor. They could reach 13 kn on the surface and 11 kn underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of 3500 nmi at 11 kn and 30 nmi at 5 kn submerged.

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.

Construction and career
N-1 was laid down on 26 July 1915 by Seattle Construction and Drydock Company in Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 30 December 1916 sponsored by Mrs. Guy E. Davis, and commissioned on 26 September 1917 with Lieutenant George A. Trever in command. N-1 was fitted out at Puget Sound Navy Yard and then departed on 21 November 1917 for San Francisco, California, in company with her sisters USS N-2 (SS-54) and USS N-3 (SS-55). Reassigned to the East Coast, she departed San Francisco on 13 December for Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, and thence proceeded via Cristobal, Jamaica, Key West, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia, to New London, Connecticut, arriving on 7 February 1918.

Reporting for duty to Commander, First Naval District, the submarine began her first patrol on 23 June by hunting for a U-boat reported in the vicinity of Cape Cod. After an intensive but fruitless search, N-1 continued her patrol off the New England coast. For the remainder of the war and until early 1922, N-1 continued her operations in the area from New London to Bar Harbor.

Placed in reduced commission on 1 May 1922, N-1 became a training submarine for the Submarine School, New London. She continued this duty until ordered to Philadelphia Navy Yard on 9 December 1925. Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 18 December, she was decommissioned on 30 April 1926. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 December 1930, N-1 was scrapped in early 1931.