USS Moccasin (SS-5)
USS "Moccasin" (SS-5) (later renamed "A-4") was one of seven s built for the United States Navy (USN) in the first decade of the 20th century. Description. The "Plunger"-class submarines were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding , the first submarine in the USN. They had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The "Plunger"-class boats had a crew of one officer and six enlisted men. They had a diving depth of . For surface running, they were powered by one gasoline engine that drove the  single propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. The boats could reach on the surface and underwater. The "Plunger"-class boats were armed with one 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tube in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of three torpedoes. Construction and career. "Moccasin" was laid down under the direction of Arthur Leopold Busch on 8 November 1900 in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard, launched on 20 August 1901, and commissioned on 17 January 1903 at the Holland yard at New Suffolk, N.Y. with Ensign Frank L. Pinney in command . Assigned to duty at the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, "Moccasin" operated locally on principally training and experimental activities until assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla at Norfolk on 15 June 1904, in which unit she remained inactive for the next half decade. On 20 July 1909, the submarine torpedo boat was loaded onto the collier , which sailed soon thereafter for the Philippines. "Moccasin"s sister-ship, , was on board as deck cargo as well, lashed to the auxiliary's forward well deck. Arriving at Olongapo on 1 October, "Moccasin" was launched on 7 October. Recommissioned on 10 February 1910, she  was assigned to the First Submarine Division, Asiatic Torpedo Fleet, based in the Manila area. A new name. "Moccasin" was renamed "A-4" on 17 November 1911. During World War I, like her sister-ships, she patrolled the entrance to Manila Bay and convoyed ships moving out of local waters. Later placed in reserve, "A-4" was decommissioned at Cavite on 12 December 1919.