USS F-1

For other ships with the same name, see USS Carp.

USS F-1 (SS-20) was an F-class submarine. She oroginally was named USS Carp, making her the first ship of the United States Navy named for the carp, but was renamed F-1 while under construction. Commissioned in 1912, she operated in the Pacific Ocean until she sank after a collision in 1917, the only U.S. submarine lost during the U.S. participation in World War I.

F-1 in a harbor on the United States West Coast.
History
United States
Name	USS F-1
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Union Iron Works San Francisco, California
Laid down	23 August 1909, as USS Carp
Launched	6 September 1911
Sponsored by	Ms. J. Tynan
Commissioned	19 June 1912
Renamed	USS F-1, 17 November 1911
Fate	Sunk in collision 17 December 1917
General characteristics
Class & type	F-class submarine
Displacement	330 long tons (340 t)
Length	142 ft 7 in (43.46 m)
Beam	15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
Draft	12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
Speed	14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement	22 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes

Construction and commissioning

The submarine's keel was laid down by Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California, on 23 August 1909 with the name USS Carp, making her the first ship of the U.S. Navy named for the carp. She was launched on 6 September 1911, sponsored by Ms. J. Tynan, and renamed USS F-1 on 17 November 1911. She was commissioned on 19 June 1912.

Service history

Assigned to the First Submarine Group, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, F-1 operated in the San Francisco, California area on trials and tests through 11 January 1913, when she joined the flotilla for training at sea between San Diego, California and San Pedro Submarine Base, San Pedro, California, then in San Diego Harbor.

F-1 beached in late 1912 after slipping her mooring

In late 1912, the boat — which then held the world's deep diving record, descending to 283 ft (86 m) — slipped her mooring at Port Watsonville in Monterey Bay, California, and grounded on a nearby beach. While most of the crew of 17 safely evacuated, two men died in the incident.^[1]

From 21 July 1914 to 14 November 1915, the flotilla was based at Honolulu, Hawaii's Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor for development operations in the Hawaiian Islands.

F-1 was in ordinary from 15 March 1916 to 13 June 1917. When she returned to full commission, she served with the Patrol Force, Pacific, making surface and submerged runs to continue her part in the development of submarine tactics. Her base during this time was San Pedro, California. On 17 December 1917, while maneuvering in exercises off Point Loma, San Diego, California, F-1 and F-3 collided, the former sinking in ten seconds, her port side torn forward of the engine room.^[2] Nineteen of her men were lost; the remaining three were rescued by the submarines with which she was operating.^[2]

The F-1 sank to the seafloor over 1300 ft (400 m) below, where it was rediscovered in 2025 by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution lying "remarkably intact" on its starboard side.^[3]

Plans for the F-class submarines of the US Navy