USS Grampus (SS-4)

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

USS Grampus/A-3 (SS-4), also known as "Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 4", was a Plunger-class submarine, and the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for a member of the dolphin family, Grampus griseus. She was stationed on the West Coast, assisting in the relief efforts after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and was later transported to the Philippines, serving as harbor defense during WWI.

USS Grampus in dry dock at Mare Island, 1906
History
United States
Name	Grampus
Namesake	Grampus griseus
Builder	Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California
Laid down	10 December 1900
Launched	31 July 1902
Sponsored by	Mrs. Marley F. Hay
Commissioned	28 May 1903
Decommissioned	28 November 1906
Recommissioned	13 June 1908
Decommissioned	28 June 1912
Recommissioned	17 April 1915
Decommissioned	25 July 1921
Renamed	A-3 (Submarine Torpedo Boat No.3), 17 November 1911
Stricken	16 January 1922
Identification	Hull symbol: SS-4 (17 July 1920) Call sign: NGL
Fate	Dismantled and designated a target
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Plunger-class submarine
Displacement	107 long tons (109 t) surfaced 123 long tons (125 t) submerged
Length	63 ft 10 in (19.46 m)
Beam	11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)
Draft	10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
Installed power	160 bhp (120 kW) surfaced 150 bhp (110 kW) submerged
Propulsion	1 × Otto Gas Engine Works gas engine 1 × Electro Dynamic electric motor 60-cell battery 1 × shaft
Speed	8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged
Test depth	150 ft (46 m)
Complement	1 officer 6 enlisted
Armament	1 × 17.7 in (450 mm) "18-in" torpedo tube (5 torpedoes)

Design

Plan of Plunger-class. A, storage batteries; B, gas-engine; C, dynamo and motor; D, water-tight compartments; E, main ballast tanks; F, air-flasks; G, gasolene tank; H, expulsion tube.

The Plunger-class submarines were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Holland, the first submarine in the USN. They had a length of 63 ft 10 in (19.5 m) overall, a beam of 11 ft 11 in (3.6 m) and a mean draft of 10 ft 7 in (3.2 m). They displaced 107 long tons (109 t) on the surface and 123 long tons (125 t) submerged. The Plunger-class boats had a crew of one officer and six enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 150 feet (45.7 m).^[2]

For surface running, they were powered by one 180-brake-horsepower (134 kW) gasoline engine that drove the single propeller. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 70-horsepower (52 kW) electric motor.^[2] The boats could reach 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) on the surface and 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) underwater.^[3]

The Plunger-class boats were armed with one 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tube in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of five torpedoes.^[2]

Construction

Bow view of Grampus, in San Diego, 1910

Grampus' keel was laid down on 10 December 1900, in San Francisco, California, by the Union Iron Works, a subcontractor for the Holland Torpedo Boat Company, of New York City. She was launched on 31 July 1902; sponsored by Mrs. Marley F. Hay, the wife of the Superintendent of Construction at Union Iron Works; commissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 28 May 1903.^[4]

Her christening was marred by a failure of the ribbon from which the champagne was hung, leading some sailors to believe she was cursed.^[5]

Service history

Over the next three and a half years, Grampus operated out of the San Francisco area, principally in training and experimental work. On 18 April 1906, men from her crew participated in relief efforts after the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Decommissioned, for the first time, at Mare Island, on 28 November 1906, Grampus remained inactive until recommissioned on 13 June 1908. Subsequently assigned to the First Submarine Division, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla, in January 1910, and to the Pacific Fleet, in March 1911, the submarine torpedo boat operated locally off the California coast until assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 28 June 1912. Toward the end of that period of active service, on 17 November 1911, Grampus was renamed A-3.^[4]

A-3 remained inactive, at the Puget Sound Navy Yard into 1915. On 16 February 1915, she was hoisted onto the collier Hector, which sailed soon thereafter for the Philippines with A-3 and her sister ship, A-5, ex-Pike, as deck cargo. Hector arrived at Olongapo, site of the Subic Bay Naval Base, on 26 March, and returned A-3 to the water 10 April 1915.^[4]

Recommissioned at Olongapo, a week later, on 17 April 1915, A-3 was assigned to the First Submarine Division, Torpedo Flotilla, Asiatic Fleet, and remained in active service with that unit until decommissioned at Cavite, on 25 July 1921. During World War I, A-3 patrolled the waters off the entrance to Manila Bay. On 17 July 1920, A-3 was given the hull number SS-4.^[4]

Fate

A-3 was dismantled and used as a target by ships of the Asiatic Fleet, she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 January 1922.^[4]