Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Narwhal / D-1 (SS-17)

D Class Submarine: Laid down, 16 April 1908, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 8 April 1909; Commissioned USS Narwhal, 23 November 1909; Renamed USS D-1, 17 November 1911; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 8 February 1922, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 June 1922.

Specifications: Displacement, surfaced 238 t., submerged 275 t.; Length 105' 4"; Beam 13' 11"; Draft 10' 7"; Speed, surfaced 10.5 kts, submerged 9 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 1 Officer, 14 Enlisted; Armament, two 18" torpedo tubes, four torpedoes; Propulsion, gasoline electric, Craig Shipbuilding Co. gasoline engines, 250 hp, Fuel Capacity 1,880 gal., Electro Dynamic Co, electric motors, 150 hp, Battery Cells 60, single propeller.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
58k	D-1 (SS-17) as she slides into the water, during her launch at the Fore River Shipbuilding Co. Yard, Quincy, MA on 8 April 1909.	Photo from Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, from the Boston News Co. courtesy of Robert Hurst. Photo added 04/21/08.
103k	Narwhal (SS-17) underway circa 1909, probably during builder's trials.	Photograph # NH 45614 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center. Collection of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy.
81k	Contemporary newspaper clipping concerning the launching of the submarines Stingray (SS-13), Tarpon (SS-14) and Narwhal (SS-17) at the Fore River Shipyard on 8 April 1909. The piece also identifies the "boat"'s sponsors, Miss Elizabeth Stevens *(Stingray), Miss Katherine E. Theiss (Tarpon)* and Mrs. G.C. Davison *(Narwhal)*.	Photograph # NH 99000 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center. Collection of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy.
126k	Snapper (SS-16); Narwhal (SS-17); Tarpon (SS-14); and Bonita (SS-17); (listed from left to right) Fitting out at the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, during the summer or fall of 1909.	Photograph # NH 99004 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
121k	Bonita(SS-15); Tarpon (SS-14); Narwhal (SS-17); and Snapper (SS-17); (listed from left to right) Fitting out at the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, during the summer or fall of 1909. North Dakota (BB-29) is in the right background, also fitting out.	Photograph # NH 99005 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
140k	The internal helm stand of a voice tube on a D-class boat (SS-17/18/19). The watertight door to the torpedo room is seen to the right of the helm wheel. The helm wheel motor is attached via gearing to the transmission shaft, which ran aft to the rudder linkage. Directly above the helm wheel is a mirror into which the helmsan looked to obtain a view of the magnetic compass repeater above. Normal steering was by an electric switch that operated the motor.	The photo is on page 42 of "United States Submarines" by the Naval Submarine League. Photo submitted by Darryl Baker.
53k	Navy submarines in port, circa 1909. Possibly photographed at the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, these submarines are (from left to right): Tarpon (SS-14); with either Narwhal (SS-17) or Salmon (SS-19); Snapper (SS-16); Stingray (SS-13); and Bonita (SS-15); Grayling (SS-18).	Photograph # NH 53776 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center.
73k	Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph of Narwhal (SS-17) underway, circa 1909-1911. Copied from "The New Navy of the United States", by N.L. Stebbins, (New York, 1912).	Photograph # NH 99123 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center. Donation of David Shadell, 1987.
45k	Charles Cresswell, crew member of the Narwhal (SS-17), circa 1910.	Courtesy of his grandson, Charles Cresswell.
76k	D-1 (SS-17) operating off shore, possibly near Pensacola, Florida, circa 1914.	Photograph # NH 99124 courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center. Collection of John Lansing Callan.
100k	"U.S. Submarines awaiting Orders" Halftone reproduction, printed on a postal card, of a photograph of five submarines nested together prior to World War I. The three "boats" at right are (from center to right): D-2 (SS-18); D-1 (SS-17); and D-3 (SS-19); The two at left are probably (in no particular order) E-1 (SS-24) and E-2 (SS-25).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 78926. Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN (Medical Service Corps), 1973.
83k	D-1 (SS-17) shown in March 1918, was the first boat to be subdivided for survivability. The compartments defined by the bulkheads had to be small (i.e. bulkheads had to be close together) so that the submarine (surfaced) would survive flooding any one of them. They greatly complicated internal access, and bulkheading was drastically reduced in the last boat of the class D-3 (SS-19).	Drawing by Jim Christley. Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
93k	*D-1 (SS-17), left and G-3 (SS-31)*, inboard. Photographed on 4 May 1920, possibly at the Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut.	US Navy photo # NH 92608 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Collection of Admiral John S. McCain, Jr.
63k	D-1 (SS-17) underway, date and place unknown.	Imperial War Museum photo. Courtesy of Mike Green.
127k	Port side view of the D-1 (SS-17) underway, date and place unknown.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.