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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

N-1 (SS-53)

Radio Call Sign: November - Zulu - Echo

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Click On Image For Full Size	Size	Image Description		Source
0805309	148k	Sponsor: Mrs. Guy Erwin. Davis (no photo) (Mabel Matheson), wife of Lieutenant G. E. Davis, U. S. Navy, supervising construction for the Government. “In the name of the United States I name thee. May you bring peace,” were the words of the sponsor. N-1 (SS-53).		Photo courtesy of findagrave.com Partial text via Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, 1913—1923, by Anne Martin Hall (Editor), Edith Wallace Benham (Editor), pg. 152.
	183k	N-1 (SS-53) was intended for harbor defense: she was very nearly a modernized H-boat. Experience with N-boats (SS-53/59) was cited when the U.S. Navy rejected E.B.'s proposal to mass produce H-boats to fill a 1918 goal in submarine production. After WW I, these boats were used for training at New London, CT.		Drawing by Jim Christley. Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
	220k	Starboard side view of the N-1 (SS-53), underway at Puget Sound, Seattle, Washington, possibly circa 1917.		Text courtesy of Harry Hoffman via John Parker. USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
	890k	Proposed Installation of 1/2 K.W. 500, E.J. Simon Set for submarines N-1 (SS-53), N-2 (SS-54) & N-3 (SS-55), 9 August 1917.		National Archives Identifier: 83833147 Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
	99k	The crew of N-1 (SS-53) "horsing" a 2,000-pound torpedo through the loading hatch, 1918, probably at New London CT. The stowable davit with head sheave and hand winch is a necessary part of this exercise unless a shore side crane can be used. Note: There are other submarines that can be seen moored in the background. The submarine G-2 (SS-27) is the only boat readily identifiable.		Photo & text courtesy of Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver by Bill Lightfoot. Photo courtesy of John Parker.
	46k	N-1 (SS-53), alongside H-1 (SS-28), off of Cristobal, C.Z., circa December 1917.		USN photo courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
	367k	N-1's (SS-53) crew of the taken about 1918-19. My Great Uncle Earl Thomas Webb was the CMM on the vessel and is pictured in the middle just below Commander Fuller. Earl Webb served on the N-1 during 1918-1922.		Photo courtesy of William J Webb.
	221k	N-1's (SS-53) Earl Webb and other crew members.		Photo courtesy of William J Webb.
	686k	Following sea trials in Puget Sound, N-3 (SS-55), with sister ships N-1 (SS-53), and N-2 (SS-54), departed the Navy Yard 21 November 1917. The three submarines arrived at New London 7 February 1918. Fighting ice. The tender Savannah (AS-8) plows alead through the ice of Long Island Sound for the three N-boats as they near the end of their 7,000 mile journey from the more temperate waters of Puget Sound. A canvas dodger remains as the protection for the bridge watch.		Text courtesy of DANFS. Photo courtesy of Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, Caldwell Collection from Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver by Bill Lightfoot.
	1.46k	N-1 (SS-53) traveling down the Thames River circa spring of 1918. She is yet to get her steel chariot bridge surround installed. The man forward of the periscope sheers, standing on the bridge access hatch, is the helmsman. Behind, on the shore, can be seen the Fort Griswold Monument and Fort Griswold itself, to the left of the large smoke stack. Fort Griswold is a revolutionary war fort that was the scene of a bloody massacre by the British on American forces. Survivors were taken from the fort and placed on prison ships moored in the Thames River.		Photo & text from the private collection of Ric Hedman.
	244k	Photo entitled "Hen and Chicks" shows the Minelayer Shawmut (Id.No. 1255 / CM-4) is seen in Dry Dock 2 of the Boston Navy Yard on 17 April 1918, outward of submarines N-1 (SS-53), N-2 (SS-54), and N-3 (SS-55).		Boston Navy Yard photo # 3734, from the National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, cat.no. BOSTS-13838, courtesy of Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard.
	168k	Commander Edward C. Fuller sits on the deck of the U.S. Navy submarine N-1 (SS-53), in 1918 during World War I.		USN photo submitted by Bill Gonyo.
	549k	U.S. submarine going to sea for practice, circa 1918: From right to left, two subs in the photo to the right, You can just see the sterns and a flag. Class/s unknown. D-boat in mid-river. She is ballasted down aft so that her props, rudder, and aft diving planes clear the ice in the river. Next to pier is the G-3 (SS-31), the other two boats alongside the pier are actually EB design N-class boats, ( N-1, 2 & 3). The arrangement of the towing fairlead bullnose, the towing shackle, and the bow plane arrangement all match EB design N-boats. You can see Conn College on the hill in the background.		Photo & text i.d. courtesy of David Johnston & Ric Hednan. Photographer: Western Newspaper Union. National Archives Identifier: 45512000 Local Identifier: 165-WW-331E-7. Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
	599k	N-3 (SS-55), showing ship's crew at the New London submarine base Connecticut circa 1919. N-1 (SS-53), and N-2 (SS-54) are in the background.		Source: US Naval History Heritage and Command, Photo No. NH 45627 via Mike Green.
	112k	Bow view of N-1 (SS-53), operating near the New London Submarine Base, Connecticut in 1919.		USN photo. Photo i.d. courtesy of Robert Hurst.
	82k	Radio shack of the N-1 (SS-53), date unknown.		USN photo courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
0805310	NR	COAST GUARDSHIP HIT BY SUBMARINE N-1 (SS-53). The submarine N-1 (SS-53) collided with the United States Coast Guard Jouett (CG-13) in the harbor at New London. Conn., shortly before noon today, according to advices received here. The submarine was cruising out of the harbor at New London when she struck the Jouett, which was at anchor. It was indicated that the submarine was not damaged, but the bow of the Jouett was stove in, causing a serious leak in her fuel oil tank. It is possible that a board of investigation will be appointed immediately to fix responsibility for the collision. The Navy Department refused to give any information on the collision.		Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo & text by Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 24 March  1925, Image 11, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
	1.72k	Control Force Employment Schedule, 4 January to 1 March 1926. US Fleet Problem Number VI.		Photo courtesy of Steve Ireland.

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View the N-1 (SS-53)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.

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Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable to this Vessel

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Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
PigBoats.COM TM, a Historic Look at Submarines

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