USS O-11 (SS-72)

USS O-11 (SS-72) was an O-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 6 March 1916 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The later O-boats (O-11 through O-16) were designed by Lake Torpedo Boat to different specifications from the earlier ones designed by Electric Boat. They did not perform as well, and are sometimes considered a separate class.

O-11 was launched on 29 October 1917 sponsored by Mrs. Bernard M. Baruch, and commissioned at New York City on 19 October 1918 with Lieutenant Commander F. W. Scanland in command.

Service history
Commissioned too late for World War I combat service, O-11 joined other boats of her class at Cape May, New Jersey, in 1919. On 20 September 1919, she was placed in commission, in reserve, at Cape May and steamed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October; workmen at Philadelphia spent months working on the boat before she departed for Coco Solo.

The arrival of a submarine squadron at Coco Solo in 1913 had demonstrated the usefulness of the boats, the base continued as a distant submarine overhaul and testing area into the 1920s. O-11 reported there in 1922; after deck crews had brought her up to prime efficiency, she took several test dives off Panama in spring 1923. In October, she sailed to Philadelphia.

O-11 decommissioned at Philadelphia 21 June 1924 after just five and a half years of service, and was turned over to the Commandant, Navy Yard, Philadelphia. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 May 1930, the boat was sold in July 1930.