USS Plunger (SS-2)

109 ts

20 m

3.7 m

3.4 meters

7 sailors

Four-stroke engine

8 knots (15 km / h) on water 7 knots (13 km / h) submerged

1 × 460 -mm torpedo tube

The USS Plunger SS-2 was one of the first submarines of the United States Navy. It was the first submarine of the plunger class. The submarine is also known by its class name A-1.

History

The plunger was laid on 21 May 1901 in Port Elizabeth in the State of New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard in Kiel. The boat was lowered into the water on February 1, 1902, put into service on September 19, 1903. For two years, the plunger of the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Iceland was assigned for extensive torpedo and machine tests. The training of officers and men was driven at this time. The experiments were interrupted only by an overhaul from March to November 1904 in the Dutch shipyard. In August 1905, she was taken after two weeks of maintenance on August 22 with the tug USS Apache to New York. There she was prepared beside the tractor lying on the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt.

The following morning the batteries were charged and the plunger five dives performed. Later in the afternoon President Roosevelt went for two hours on board the plunger, which carried out several dives again. After applying beside the tractor Roosevelt stayed another hour on board.