View source for USS Porpoise (SS-7)

{{Short description|Plunger-class submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Porpoise}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:Porpoise (SS-7) and Shark (SS-8);H98835k.jpg|300px|USS Porpoise (right) and sister ship USS Shark at New York, 1905]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Porpoise'' (right) and sister-ship USS ''Shark'' at New York, 1905
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1922}}
|Ship name=USS ''Porpoise''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=*[[Crescent Shipyard]]
*[[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
|Ship laid down=13 December 1900
|Ship launched=23 September 1901
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=19 September 1903
|Ship decommissioned=12 December 1919
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=16 January 1922
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk as a target
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Plunger|submarine}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|107|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|64|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|11|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=*{{convert|8|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|7|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship test depth={{convert|33|-|66|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=7
|Ship armament=1 × [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The third '''USS ''Porpoise'' (SS-7)''' was an early {{sclass|Plunger|submarine}} in the service of the [[United States Navy]], later renamed as '''''A-6'''''.
She was laid down on 13 December 1900 in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]] at the [[Crescent Shipyard]] under the direction of shipyard superintendent, [[Arthur Leopold Busch]]. This craft was launched on 23 September 1901, and commissioned at the [[Holland Torpedo Boatyard]] at [[New Suffolk, New York]] on 19 September 1903.
==Early service==
Assigned initially to the [[Naval Torpedo Station]] at Newport for experimental torpedo firing work, ''Porpoise'' entered the [[New York Navy Yard]] in September 1904 for repairs and alterations, remaining there until February 1906. Assigned then to the [[First Torpedo Flotilla]] on 7 March 1907, she operated at [[Annapolis, Maryland]] — temporarily assigned to the [[United States Naval Academy]] for instruction of future naval officers — until June. Taken subsequently to the New York Navy Yard, she was decommissioned on 21 April 1908. Partially disassembled, she was then loaded onto the after well deck of the [[Collier (ship type)|collier]] {{USS|Caesar|AC-16|2}} for a voyage to the [[Philippines]] as deck cargo along with her sister ship {{USS|Shark|SS-8|2}} via the [[Suez Canal]].
Arriving at the Naval Station at [[Cavite]], ''Porpoise'' was launched on 8 July 1908, and recommissioned on 20 November. Due to the small size of ''Plunger''-class boats, officers and men lived on board the [[gunboat]] {{USS|Elcano|PG-38|2}}.
==Whiting's experiment==
In April 1909, [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] [[Kenneth Whiting]], a future naval aviation pioneer, became the commanding officer of ''Porpoise''. On 15 April, Whiting and his crew of six took the submarine out for what was to be a routine run. ''Porpoise'' got underway, cleared the dock and moved out into [[Manila Bay]]. She dove soon thereafter, and leveled off at a depth of {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}}. Only then did Whiting reveal the purpose of the dive.
Convinced that a man could escape from a submarine through the [[torpedo tube]], Whiting determined that he was going to try and test his theory with himself as a guinea pig. Squeezing into the [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] diameter tube, he clung to the crossbar which stiffened the outer torpedo tube door, as the crew closed the inner door. When the outer door was opened and water rushed in, Whiting hung onto the crossbar that drew his elbows out of the tube's mouth, and then muscled his way out using his hands and arms, the entire evolution consuming 77 seconds. He then swam to the surface, ''Porpoise'' surfacing soon thereafter. Reluctant to speak about the incident in public, he nevertheless informed his flotilla commander, Lt. [[Guy W.S. Castle]], who submitted a report on how the feat had been accomplished. In ''Porpoise's'' log that day, Whiting had simply commented: "Whiting went through the torpedo tube, boat lying in (the) water in (a) normal condition, as an experiment..."
==Asiatic fleet and later service==
Subsequently, becoming a unit of the [[First Submarine Division]], [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Torpedo Fleet]], on 9 December 1909, ''Porpoise'' continued her routine of local operations out of Cavite for the next decade. Renamed '''''A-6''''' on 17 November 1911, she patrolled the entrance to Manila Bay and convoyed vessels out of port during [[World War I]], under the command of Lt. [[A.H. Bailey]]. Placed in ordinary on 1 December 1918, she spent a little over a year in that status, until decommissioned on 12 December 1919 and turned over to the Commandant of the Naval Station at Cavite for disposal. Given the alphanumeric hull number '''SS-7''' on 17 July 1920, ''A-6'' was authorized for use as a target in July 1921 and as of 16 January 1922 was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]].
==References==
*{{cite journal|last1=Wright|first1=C. C.|title=Question 40/02: Submarines Expended as Targets 1922 |journal=Warship International |date=2003|volume=XL|issue=4|pages=286–298 |issn=0043-0374}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/a-6.html}}
{{Plunger class submarine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porpoise 007}}
[[Category:Plunger-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1901 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]