United States H Class Submarine

United States H Class Submarine

The United States H class submarines were Holland 602 type submarines used by the United States Navy.

The first three submarines of the class were laid down in March-April 1911 as Seawolf, Nautilus and Garfish, and were renamed H-1, H-2 and H-3 while still under construction. They were commissioned in December 1913/January 1914.

In 1915 the Imperial Russian Navy had ordered 18 H-class submarines from the Electric Boat Company. Eleven were delivered, and served as the American Holland class submarines, but the shipment of the final six was held up pending the outcome of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the boats were stored in knockdown condition at Vancouver, British Columbia. All six were purchased by the United States Navy on 20 May 1918 and assembled at Puget Sound Navy Yard before being commissioned as H-4 to H-9 in late 1918.

H-1 ran aground and was wrecked off the coast of Mexico on 12 March 1920, while the remaining eight submarines were decommissioned in late 1922, and laid up in the Reserve Fleet. Finally struck from the Navy List in 1930, they were sold for scrap in 1931 and 1933.