USS B-2 (SS-11)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Cuttlefish.
USS B-2 off Cavite Navy Yard, the Philippines, circa 1913-1917.
Career (United States)
Name: USS B-2
Builder: Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts
Cost: $187,982.32
Launched: 1 September 1906
Commissioned: 18 October 1907
Decommissioned: 12 December 1919
Fate: Sunk as a target
General characteristics
Class and type:B-class submarine
Displacement:145 long tons (147 t)
Length:82 ft 5 in (25.12 m)
Beam:12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Draft:10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
Speed:9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h)
Complement:10 officers and men
Armament:2 × 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes

USS B-2 (SS-11) was a B-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts, under subcontract from Electric Boat Company of New Suffolk, L. I., as Cuttlefish, making her the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the cuttlefish, a 10-armed marine mollusk similar to the squid. Cuttlefish was launched on 1 September 1906 sponsored by Ms. Eleanor Gow, daughter of Commander J. L. Gow, and commissioned on 18 October 1907 with Lieutenant E. J. Marquart in command. She reported to the Second Submarine Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet.

Cuttlefish operated along the Atlantic coast, running experiments, testing machinery and equipment, and conducting extensive training exercises until going into reserve at Charleston Navy Yard on 30 November 1909. Recommissioned on 15 April 1910, she served with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet until joining the Reserve Torpedo Group at Charleston Navy Yard on 9 May 1911. The boat was renamed B-2 on 17 November. B-2 remained in reserve until placed out of commission on 4 December 1912. On 6 December, she was towed to Norfolk, Virginia, and loaded onto Ajax for transfer to the Asiatic Station. Sailing via the Suez Canal, Ajax arrived at Cavite, Philippine Islands on 30 April 1913, and B-2 was launched on 12 May. She was recommissioned on 2 August and assigned to the Torpedo Flotilla, Asiatic Fleet. She remained on duty in the Philippines until decommissioned at Cavite on 12 December 1919. B-2 was subsequently used as a target.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links