USS Carp/F-1 (SS-20), also known as "Submarine No. 20", was an F-classsubmarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy named for the carp, though she was renamed F-1 prior to commissioning. Commissioned in 1912, she operated in the Pacific Ocean until she sank after a collision in 1917, the only US submarine lost during the US participation in World War I.
Design
The F-class boats had an overall length of 142ft 7in (43.5m), a beam of 15ft 5in (4.7m), and a mean draft of 12ft 2in (3.7m). They displaced330 long tons (340t) on the surface and 400 long tons (410t) submerged with a diving depth of 200ft (61.0m). The F-class submarines had a crew of 1 officer and 21 enlisted men.[2]
Plans for the F-class submarines of the US Navy
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 390-brake-horsepower (291kW)NELSECOdiesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 310-horsepower (231kW)electric motor. They could reach 14kn (26km/h; 16mph) on the surface and 11.25kn (20.84km/h; 12.95mph) underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of 2,500nmi (4,600km; 2,900mi) at 11kn (20km/h; 13mph)[2] and 100nmi (190km; 120mi) at 5kn (9.3km/h; 5.8mph) submerged.[3]
Assigned to the First Submarine Group, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, F-1 operated in the San Francisco, area on trials and tests through 11 January 1913, when she joined the flotilla for training at sea between San Diego, California, and San Pedro Submarine Base, San Pedro, then in San Diego Harbor.[4]
F-1grounded in late 1912 after slipping her mooring
In late 1912, the boat, which then held the world's deep diving record, descending to 283ft (86m), slipped her mooring at Port Watsonville, in Monterey Bay, and grounded on a nearby beach. While most of the crew of 17 safely evacuated, two men died in the incident.[5]
From 21 July 1914 to 14 November 1915, the Flotilla, towed to their destination by armored cruisers, was based at Honolulu, for development operations in the Hawaiian Islands.[4]
F-1 lay in ordinary from 15 March 1916 to 13 June 1917. When she returned to full commission, she served with the Patrol Force, Pacific, making surface and submerged runs to continue her part in the development of submarine tactics. Her base during this time was San Pedro.[4] On 17 December 1917, while maneuvering in exercises off Point Loma,[6]F-1 and F-3 collided, the former sinking in ten seconds, her port side torn forward of the engine room. Nineteen of her men were lost; the remaining three were rescued by F-3.[4][7]
F-1 sank to the seafloor over 1,300ft (400m) below where it was rediscovered in 2025 by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, lying "remarkably intact" on its starboard side.[7]
Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN0-85177-245-5.
