USS Moccasin (SS-5)
.jpg) USS A-4 (ex-Moccasin) in Manila Bay, 1912
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | USS Moccasin |
| Builder | Crescent Shipyard, Elizabeth, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 8 November 1900 |
| Launched | 20 August 1901 |
| Commissioned | 17 January 1903 |
| Decommissioned | 12 December 1919 |
| Fate | Sunk as target |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Plunger-class submarine |
| Displacement | 107 long tons (109 t) |
| Length | 64 ft (20 m) |
| Beam | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Speed | list error: <br /> list (help) 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) surfaced 7 kn (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) submerged |
| Complement | 7 officers and men |
| Armament | 1 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tube |
The second USS Moccasin (SS-5) was a Plunger-class submarine that was later renamed A-4.
She was laid down under the direction of Arthur Leopold Busch on 8 November 1900 in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard, launched on 20 August 1901, and commissioned on 17 January 1903 at the Holland yard at New Suffolk, N.Y. with Ensign Frank L. Pinney in command.
Assigned to duty at the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Moccasin operated locally on principally training and experimental activities until assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk on 15 June 1904, in which unit she remained inactive for the next half decade. On 20 July 1909, the submarine torpedo boat was loaded onto the collier Caesar, which sailed soon thereafter for the Philippines. Moccasin's sister-ship, Adder, was on board as deck cargo as well, lashed to the auxiliary's forward well deck. Arriving at Olongapo on 1 October, Moccasin was launched on 7 October. Recommissioned on 10 February 1910, she was assigned to the First Submarine Division, Asiatic Torpedo Fleet, based in the Manila area.
A new name
Moccasin was renamed A-4 on 17 November 1911. During World War I, like her sister-ships, she patrolled the entrance to Manila Bay and convoyed ships moving out of local waters. Later placed in reserve, A-4 was decommissioned at Cavite on 12 December 1919.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center
- Photo gallery at Navsource.org