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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by
Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Octopus / C-1 (SS-9)

C Class Submarine: Laid down, 3 August 1905, at Fore River Shipbuilding, Quincy, MA,; Launched, 4 October 1906; Commissioned USS Octopus, 30 June 1908; Renamed USS C-1, 17 November 1911; Decommissioned, 14 February 1910, at Charleston, SC; Recommissioned, there, 15 April 1910; Decommissioned, 4 August 1919, at Coco Solo, C.Z.; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping 13 April 1920.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 238 t., Submerged 275 t.; Length 105' 4"; Beam 13' 11"; Draft 10'; Speed, surfaced 10.5 kts, submerged 9 kts; Dept Limit 200'; Complement 1 Officer 14 Enlisted; Armament, one 18" torpedo tube forward. five torpedoes; Propulsion, gasoline electric, mfg. unknown gasoline engines, 500 hp, Fuel Capacity, 3,900 gal., Electro Dynamic Co. electric motors, single propeller.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
95k	The *Octopus* class was the first designed entirely by L.Y. Spear (Holland had left Electric Boat). As in the *Viper* design, the periscope was a fixed-eyepiece type let into the conning tower. Note the scope directly under the engine to collect colling water; until the 1930s, U.S. submarines engines used seawater as a coolant. The high speed diesels introduced at that time used closed circut cooling, in which fresh water circulated around the cylinders and surrendered its heat to a heat exchanger (radiator) in contact with the sea. This design introduced E.B.'s characteristic stern, with two propeller shafts nearly parallel to the axis of the hull, rudders and stern planes arranged symmetrically around that axis, and heavy skegs protecting and supporting planes and rudders. This was also the first class of U.S. subs completed with a bell for underwater signalling (it was later fitted to earlier boats). Air-operated signal bells were superseded in later designs by electrically operated Fessenden oscillators, which could put out stronger signals.	Drawing by Jim Christley. Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
95k	Octopus (SS-09) being prepared for launching, at the Fore River Ship Building Company shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, 4 October 1906.	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 44578.
95k	Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken during launching of the Octopus (SS-09) at the Fore River Ship Building Company shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, 4 October 1906.	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 44579.
78k	Octopus (SS-09) surfacing after a submerged run, during her preliminary trials, off Newport, Rhode Island, July 1907.	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 44576.
57k	Octopus (SS-09) photographed during trials, circa 1907.	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 44577.
81k	Photograph taken circa 1907, when Octopus (SS-09) was first completed. It was published on a color-tinted postal card by Thomson & Thomson, Boston, Massachusetts, prior to World War I.	Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN (Retired), 1978. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 88481.
74k	Octopus (SS-09) in port, probably when first completed, circa 1907.	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 98945.
136k	The Salmon (SS-19),Grayling (SS-18), Tarpon (SS-14), Octopus (SS-09), Bonita (SS-15) with the battleship Nebraska (BB-14) in the background on 28 October 1911.	Digital ID # 2162989549_03ac37e6c6_o, LC-B2-2335-13. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, from the George Grantham Bain Collection, courtesy of Tom Kermen.
136k	Bow of the tender *Severn* and her charges: Salmon (SS-19),Grayling (SS-18), Tarpon (SS-14), Octopus (SS-09), Bonita (SS-15) with the battleship Nebraska (BB-14) in the background on 28 October 1911.	Digital ID # 2163790702_9293e5e616_o. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, from the George Grantham Bain Collection, courtesy of Tom Kermen.
340k	C-1 (SS-09), during the Naval Review week in New York City, 4th October 1912. The battleship Kearsarge (BB-05) is in the background.	NARA (National Archives and Record Administration) photo # 19-N-13646, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
53k	C-1 (SS-09); C-2 (SS-13) & C-3 (SS-14) operating at Gatun Locks. *C-Class* submarines and tender *(Severn)*. Attaching cables from towing locomotives and moving into position to enter upper locks, 14 April 1914.	NARA (National Archives and Record Administration) photo # 19-N-502, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
92k	*C-Class* submarines in the Gatun Locks, Panama Canal, circa 1914. Photograph printed on a color-tinted postal card, prior to World War I. The submarine present include (in no particular order): C-1 (SS-09); C-2 (SS-13) C-3 (SS-14); C-4 (SS-15); and C-5 (SS-16).	Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center, Photograph # NH 85276.
105k	The Octopus (SS-09) in dock, location unknown. Note the rotating bow cap, which has exposed the muzzle of her port torpedo tube.	Photo Submarine Force Museum and Library & submitted by Robert Hurst. Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman.Naval Institute Press. Photo added 06/11/09/

View the Octopus / C-1 (SS-9)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable to this Vessel

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Through the Looking Glass, a Historic Look at Submarines

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