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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 78921:  USS L-1 with crew members on deck, prior to World War I

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS L-1 (Submarine # 40, later SS-40), 1916-1922

USS L-1, first of a class of eight 450-ton L-1 class submarines built at Quincy, Massachusetts, to an Electric Boat Company design, was commissioned in April 1916. She served in East Coast waters until after the United States entered the First World War a year later, then was readied for overseas duty. In February 1918, following a trans-Atlantic voyage by way of the Azores, L-1 began anti-submarine patrols out of Bantry Bay, Ireland. She fired torpedoes at at least one German U-Boat, but made no hits. Her service in the war zone lasted after the 11 November 1918 Armistice ended the fighting, and in early 1919 she returned to the U.S. Employed thereafter for experimental work, USS L-1 was decommissioned in April 1922 and, since her engines were worn out, she was sold for scrapping in July of that year.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS L-1 (Submarine # 40, later SS-40).

For other images related to this submarine, see:

  • USS L-1 (Submarine # 40, later SS-40) -- Part II.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 51152

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    Running at 14 knots during trials off Provincetown, Massachusetts.
    Though the original print bears a date of March 1915, this is probably an error. The actual date may be March 1916.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 43KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 78921

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    Underway at low speed, with crew members posed on deck, prior to World War I.
    Note the two-masted schooner in the right background.

    Courtesy of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1972.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51154

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    At anchor in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 13 December 1916.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51155

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    In Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 13 December 1916.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51156

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    In Bantry Bay, Ireland, with crew members standing in formation on her foredeck, 1918.
    Note identification code painted on her fairwater, with "AL-1" standing for "American submarine L-1" to distinguish her from the British submarine L-1.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51163

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    Comes to the surface after submerged runs at Berehaven, Ireland, 1918.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 465 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51159

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    Alongside USS Bushnell (Submarine Tender # 2) at Portland, England, 1918.
    Note L-1's 3"/23 retracting deck gun trained out to starboard, and "Y-tube" hydrophone immediately behind her open foredeck hatch. Also note the boat boom attached to Bushnell's side, with pivoting mechanism at its end and walkway board on its upper surface.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 114KB; 570 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51164

    USS L-1
    (SS-40)

    Tied up alongside USS Kalmia (AT-23) off Lewes, Delaware, on 5 February 1921.
    L-1's after ballast tanks have been partially filled, raising her bow.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 51162

    USS L-1
    (Submarine # 40)

    Crew member posing atop her starboard diving plane, at Berehaven, Ireland, 1918.
    Note line coiled on the submarine's deck.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 122KB; 740 x 480 pixels

     


    USS K-1 is seen in the immediate background of the following photograph of another vessel:

    Photo #: NH 65071

    Scoter
    (American Motor Boat, 1916)

    Passing USS L-1 (Submarine # 40) while underway, probably in 1916.
    USS L-3 (Submarine # 42) and USS Monaghan (Destroyer # 32) are in the background.
    This pleasure craft, built by George Lawley & Son of Neponset, Massachusetts, became USS Scoter (SP-20) in 1917.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 480 pixels

     


    For other images related to this submarine, see:

  • USS L-1 (Submarine # 40, later SS-40) -- Part II.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 31 January 2005
    Photo caption corrected 9 March 2005