United States G-class submarine
USS G-1 soon after launching, in 1911
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | G class |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy
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| Preceded by: | F class |
| Succeeded by: | H class |
| Built: | 1909–1913 |
| In commission: | 1912–1921 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Retired: | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 157–161 ft (48–49 m) |
| Beam: | 13–17 ft (4.0–5.2 m) |
| Draft: | 11–12 ft (3.4–3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Test depth: | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Complement: | 24-26 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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The G-class submarines were a class of four United States Navy submarines. While the four G boats were nominally all of a class, they differed enough in significant details that they are sometimes considered to be four unique boats, each in a class by herself. They were the result of agitation (presumably from industry and Congress) for competition in submarine design; all previous US submarines were designed by Electric Boat.G-1, G-2, and G-3 were designed by Simon Lake of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, while G-4 was designed by American Laurenti. G-1 was built by Newport News, G-2 and G-3 by Lake (completed at the New York Navy Yard due to Lake's temporary dissolution), and G-4 by Cramp.
G-1, G-2, and G-4 were the last gasoline-powered submarines in the US Navy. The Lake-designed G-1 was equipped with three sets of diving planes spaced along the midships part of the hull, and no bow planes. This was to facilitate level diving, which Lake thought was safer than the angle diving of the numerous Electric Boat designs. During World War I, G-1 and G-2 were fitted with "chariot" bridge shields for improved surface operation in rough weather, although they were not deployed overseas.
G-1 was essentially a private venture that the Navy did not initially request; a result was that her hull number of SS-19½ was in between D-3 and F-1. By the time the Navy's designation system was overhauled in 1920, F-1 had been lost, so G-1 became SS-20 at that time.G-1 had six 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes: two in the bow, and four in two twin trainable mounts in the superstructure. These mounts could only fire abeam, not dead ahead or dead astern.
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