Cape Cod History

1915: Navy tests new "Giant Submarine" at Provincetown

  The M-1 during sea trials off Provincetown in 1915. US Navy photo.

Cape chosen as testing area for new war machine

On this day in 1915, the U.S. Navy began sea tests of a new giant submarine named the M-1. The newspaper accounts began;

TEST GIANT SUBMARINE.;
The M-1 Pleases Navy Men and
Builders on First Trial Trip.

PROVINCETOWN, Mass., - One of the giant submarines being built for the American Navy received a preliminary trial trip in Cape Cod Harbor today.

The submarine, the M-1, which is larger than the famous German U-boats, was built in the yards of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, and came through with flying colors... read the rest on the right.

About the M-1 (US Navy SS-47)

USS M-1 (SS-47) was a unique submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 2 July 1914 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, for Electric Boat Company of New York City. She was launched on 14 September 1915 sponsored by Miss Sara Dean Roberts, and commissioned on 16 February 1918 with Lieutenant Commander M. R. Pierce in command.

M-1 was designed as a test bed for the newest technology in submarine construction and design. As well as being the world's first double-hulled design[1] (in contrast to Simon Lake's single-hulled concept), her battery was of a new design and was to have solved some of the past flaws. While no other M-class submarines were built, the lessons learned were incorporated into the following AA/T-class.

Following commissioning, M-1 was assigned to Submarine Division 2, and was home ported at Newport, Rhode Island. For the next three years, she operated off the East Coast, training submariners. During her last year of active service, she was under the operational control of SubDiv 5 and SubDiv 3.

After six years of testing and training service, M-1 was decommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 15 March 1922, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the following day, and was sold for scrap 25 September 1922 to J. G. Hitner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Specs

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 488 t., Submerged: 676 t..; Length 196' 3"; Beam 14' 9"; Draft 11'; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 2 Officers, 26 Enlisted; Armament, four 18", torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine Co, diesel engines, 840 hp, Fuel Capacity, 28,442 gal., Electro Dynamic Co, electric motors, 680 hp, Battery Cells, 120, single propeller.