USS Octopus/C-1 (SS-9), also known as "Submarine No. 9", was the lead ship of her class of submarines built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. , she has been the only boat in the USN named for the octopus.
Design
The C-class submarines were enlarged versions of the preceding B class; they were the first American submarines with two propeller shafts. They had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. They had a diving depth of . The C-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men.
For surface running, they were powered by two Craig gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of at and at submerged.
The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of four torpedoes.
Construction
Octopus was laid down, on 3 August 1905, by Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company. Octopus was launched on 4 October 1906, sponsored by Miss F. Webster, and commissioned on 30 June 1908.
Service history
Assigned to Submarine Flotilla 2 (SubFlot 2), Octopus operated out of Newport, Rhode Island, and New York City, until 9 October 1908. Tests and experiments, of both submarine design and the tactical use of her type, continued from Norfolk, Virginia, and Newport, until she was placed in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina, on 14 February 1910.
Octopus was recommissioned on 15 April 1910, the submarine conducted experiments and served as training vessel at Newport, until 10 May 1913. She was renamed C-1, on 17 November 1911. C-1 was reassigned to Submarine Group 1, Torpedo Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, and from 29 May – 7 December 1913, she operated out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. She served in Panamanian waters in training, and later, on patrol during World War I until August 1919.
Fate
C-1 was decommissioned on 4 August 1919, at Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone. Here, she was sold on 13 April 1920.