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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Sturgeon / E-2 (SS-25)

E Class Submarine: Laid down, as Sturgeon, 22 December 1909, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 16 June 1911; Renamed E-2, 17 November 1911; Commissioned USS E-2, 14 February 1912; Decommissioned, 13 March 1916, at New York Navy Yard, New York, NY; Recommissioned, 25 March 1918; Redesignated SS-25, 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 20 October 1921, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 19 April 1922.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 287 t., Submerged 342 t.; Length 135' 3"; Beam 14' 7"; Draft 11' 8"; Speed, Surfaced 13.5 kts, Submerged 11.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 1 Officer 19 Enlisted; Armament, four 18" torpedo tubes, four torpedoes; Propulsion, diesel electric, New London Ship & Engine Co., diesel engines, 700 hp, Fuel Capacity 8,486 gals., Electro Dynamic Co. electric motors, 600 hp, Battery Cells 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
179k	E-2 (SS-25), was in effect, a diesel powered *D-boat* incorporating the changes ordered in 1908.	Drawing by Jim Christley. Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
105k	E-2 (SS-25) underway, probably during trials, circa late summer or fall 1911.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org. Text courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 99186.
71k	Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph of the E-2 (SS-25) underway prior to World War I.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph, # NH 99185, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
58k	E-2 (SS-25) underway, starboard side view, at the Naval Review at New York City, 4 October 1912.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13572, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
58k	E-2 (SS-25) underway, starboard side view, at the Naval Review at New York City, 4 October 1912.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13650, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
52k	E-1 (SS-24) underway, starboard side view, at the Naval Review at New York City, 4 October 1912. The E-2 (SS-25) is underway to the stern of the E-1 (SS-24).	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13649, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
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.
35k	N-3 (SS-55) & N-7 (SS-59) are outboard abd closest to the camera in this Winter 1918 photo at New London, CT. Other boats are H-1 (SS-28), G-2 (SS-27), & E-2 (SS-25).	Courtesy of John Hummel.
96k	Crewmembers atop the E-2's (SS-25) conning tower, after returning from a patrol during World War I.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 78919. Courtesy of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1972.
81k	Helvetia (SP-3096) under sail, as seen from the submarine E-2 (SS-25), during an anti-submarine patrol in 1918. *Helvetia*, a former civilian schooner, was intended to serve as decoy ship to entice German submarines to surface and attack her with gunfire, hereupon the U.S. Navy submarine, following submerged, would torpedo the enemy U-Boat.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 78920. Courtesy of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1972.
361k	E-2 (SS-25), accompanied by a tug as she passes a buoy marker while entering or leaving a harbor, possibly after her recommissioning, 25 March 1918.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-7076, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
76k	Thomas A. Edison, Chairman of the Naval Advisory Board, at the First Meeting of the Board in New York. Making an Inspection of E-2 (SS-25).	Photo by American Press Association, courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Partial text from "The War of the Nations" (New York), December 31, 1919.
83k	A midship cross section of the E-2 (SS-25),(left) illustrates Holland's patented U-shaped tank, in this case surrounding the boat's safetty (adjusting) tank. A similar cross section of Lake's G-1(SS-19½) is shown at right. Because Holland had patented the U-shaped ballast tank, Simon Lake had to use inefficent flat-topped tanks. For example, he had to place his batteries on top of his tanks (limiting overhead space), where Holland could surround batteries with tankage. In both drawings, shading indicates ballast water. Note that *E-2's* hull is not perfectly circular, it has a flat bottom where the pressure hull joins the duct keel.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
109k	A view looking aft through the operating compartment of E-2 (SS-25) shows the dual eyepeices of her two periscopes, each with a handwheel nearby. The wheels controlling the planes, each with its own depth gauge, are to the right. Note the belt connecting the stern plane wheel to the control rod running along the overhead. In the background is the boat's wheel, in a yoke suspended from the overhead. The ladder abaft the foreground periscope leads up to the conning tower.	Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.