The AA-1 class was a class

Ship class

A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....

 of three experimental submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, built toward the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, between 1916 and 1919. The design was not a success and none of the submarines saw active service. However, the lessons learned were applied to the design of the later V-boat

V-boat

The V-boats were a group of nine United States Navy submarines built between World War I and World War II from 1919-1934. These were not a ship class in the usual sense of a series of nearly identical ships built from the same design, but shared authorization under the "fleet boat" program...

s.

History

In the early 1910s, only a dozen years after Holland

USS Holland (SS-1)

USS Holland was the United States Navy's first commissioned submarine, named for her Irish-American inventor, John Philip Holland, although not the first submarine of the US Navy, which was the 1862...

 inaugurated the Navy's undersea force, naval strategists had already begun to wish for submarines that could operate as long range reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 vessels, in closer collaboration with the surface fleet than the Navy's existing classes, which had been designed primarily for coastal defense. These notional "fleet" submarines would necessarily be larger and better armed, but primarily, they would need a surface speed of some 21 knots (39 km/h) to be able to maneuver with the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s and cruisers of the line.

In the summer of 1913, Electric Boat

Electric boat

While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...

's chief naval architect, former naval constructor Lawrence Y. Spear, proposed two preliminary fleet-boat designs for consideration in the Navy's 1914 program. In the ensuing authorization of eight submarines, Congress specified that one should "be of a seagoing type to have a surface speed of not less than twenty knots." This first fleet boat, laid down in June 1916, was named Schley

USS T-1 (SS-52)

The first USS T-1 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-1 was also known as Schley and AA-1....

 after Spanish-American War

Spanish-American War

The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

 hero Winfield Scott Schley

Winfield Scott Schley

Winfield Scott Schley was a rear admiral in the United States Navy and the hero of the Battle of Santiago Bay during the Spanish-American War.-Civil War:...

. With a displacement of 1,106 tons surfaced, 1,487 tons submerged, on a length of 270 feet (82 m), Schley (later AA-1, and finally T-1) was twice as large as any previous U.S. submarine. To achieve the required surface speed, two tandem 1,000-horsepower (0.75 MW) diesel engines on each shaft drove twin screws, and a separate diesel generator was provided for charging batteries. Although Schley and two sisters authorized in 1915 -- AA-2

USS T-2 (SS-60)

USS T-2 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-2 was also known as AA-2.She was laid down as AA-2 on 31 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts by the Electric Boat Co...

 (later T-2), and AA-3

USS T-3 (SS-61)

USS T-3 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy originally named AA-3.She was laid down as AA-3 on 21 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts by the Electric Boat Co. of New York, launched on 24 May 1919, sponsored by Mrs...

 (later T-3) -- all made their design speed of 20 knots (37 km/h), insoluble torsional vibration problems with their tandem engines made them very troublesome ships.

They were based out of Hampton Roads, Virginia as part of Submarine Division 15 in the Atlantic Fleet

U.S. Atlantic Fleet

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

.
On 17 July 1920, the three boats were reclassified as Fleet Submarines and given the designations SF-1, SF-2, and SF-3. Their names were changed to T-1, T-2, and T-3 on 22 September 1920.

All three boats had been decommissioned by 1923 and placed into storage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

. Between 1925 and 1927, T-3 was restored to service in order to test German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s, then returned to Philadelphia. All three were struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 19 September 1930 and sold for scrap on 20 November 1930.

USS AA-1, T-1

USS T-1 (SS-52)

The first USS T-1 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-1 was also known as Schley and AA-1....

 

• Designation: Submarine No. 52, SS-52, SF-1
• Builders: (Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
  
  )
• Laid down: 21 June 1916
• Launched: 25 July 1918 (List)
• Operator:
• Commissioned: 30 January 1920 (List)
• Decommissioned: 5 December 1922 (List)
• Status: Sold for scrap 20 November 1930
• Operations: Trials and training

USS AA-2, T-2

USS T-2 (SS-60)

USS T-2 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-2 was also known as AA-2.She was laid down as AA-2 on 31 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts by the Electric Boat Co...

 

• Designation: Submarine No. 60, SS-60, SF-2
• Builders: (Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
  
  )
• Laid down: 31 May 1917
• Launched: 6 September 1919 (List)
• Operator:
• Commissioned: 7 January 1922 (List)
• Decommissioned: 16 July 1923 (List)
• Status: Sold for scrap 20 November 1930
• Operations: Training

USS AA-3, T-3

USS T-3 (SS-61)

USS T-3 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy originally named AA-3.She was laid down as AA-3 on 21 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts by the Electric Boat Co. of New York, launched on 24 May 1919, sponsored by Mrs...

 

• Designations: Submarine No. 61, SS-61, SF-3
• Builders: (Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy, Massachusetts
  Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
  
  )
• Laid down: 21 May 1917
• Launched: 24 May 1919 (List)
• Operator:
• Commissioned: 7 December 1920 (List)
• Decommissioned: 14 July 1927 (List)
• Status: Sold for scrap 20 November 1930
• Operations: Training, engine trials

See also

• List of ships of the United States Navy
• List of submarines of the United States Navy
• List of United States submarine classes