United States F-class submarine

The F-class submarines were a group of four submarines designed for the United States Navy by Electric Boat in 1909.

Design
They were similar to the C-class and D-class submarines built by Electric Boat. Slightly longer than the D-class, four boats were built. They were single-hulled boats with circular sections laid along the longitudinal axis. Overall length was 142 ft-6 in (43.4 m) and the beam was 15 ft-5 in (4.7 m). The E-class and the F-class submarines were the first from Electric Boat to have bow planes.

The hull contained three compartments:


 * torpedo room with four 18-inch torpedo tubes,
 * control room with the ballast control valves, hydroplane controls and periscope
 * engine room with two diesel engines

The two diesel engines were connected to a common shaft. The shaft turned motors that could be used as generators for charging the batteries. The battery was an array of cells in rubber-lined, open-topped, steel jars.