V-boat
Ship name and hull no . as ordered Ship name and hull no . in 1931 Builder Laid Down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
V-1 ( SF-4 ) Barracuda ( SS-163 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 20 October 1921 17 July 1924 1 October 1924 3 March 1945 Scrapped 1945
V-2 ( SF-5 ) Bass ( SS-164 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 20 October 1921 27 December 1924 26 September 1925 3 March 1945 Scuttled 1945
V-3 ( SF-6 ) Bonita ( SS-165 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 16 November 1921 9 June 1925 22 May 1926 3 March 1945 Scrapped 1945
V-4 ( SF-7 ) Argonaut ( SM-1 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 1 May 1925 10 November 1927 2 April 1928 10 January 1943 Lost to enemy action 10 January 1943
V-5 ( SF-8/SC-1 ) Narwhal ( SS-167 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 10 May 1927 17 December 1928 15 May 1930 23 April 1945 Scrapped 1945
V-6 ( SF-9/SC-2 ) Nautilus ( SS-168 ) Mare Island Naval Shipyard 2 August 1927 15 March 1930 1 July 1930 30 June 1945 Scrapped 1945
V-7 ( SF-10/SC-3 ) Dolphin ( SS-169 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 14 June 1930 8 March 1932 1 June 1932 2 October 1945 Scrapped 1946
V-8 ( SC-4 ) Cachalot ( SS-170 ) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 21 October 1931 19 October 1933 1 December 1933 17 October 1945 Scrapped 1947
V-9 ( SC-5 ) Cuttlefish ( SS-171 ) Electric Boat Company 7 October 1931 21 November 1933 8 June 1934 24 October 1945 Scrapped 1947
Submarines
In 1920 , the Navy adopted a hull number scheme that distinguished between coastal and general purpose boats , designated `` SS '' ; and fleet boats , designated `` SF . '' Accordingly , T-1 through T-3 were originally designated SF-1 through SF-3 , and V-1 through V-7 were designated SF-4 through SF-10 . The system was changed to designate V-boats as `` SC '' ( cruiser submarines ) before V-8 and V-9 were ordered . In 1931 all received names , and all except V-4 were redesignated in the `` SS '' series . V-4 was also designated SM-1 at one time , as a `` submarine mine-layer '' .
The V-boats were a group of nine United States Navy submarines built between World War I and World War II from 1921 to 1934. These were not a ship class in the usual sense of a series of nearly identical ships built from the same design, but shared authorization under the fleet boat program. The term V-boats as used includes five separate classes of submarines. They broke down into three large, fast fleet submarines (V-1 through V-3), three large long-range submarines (V-4 through V-6), and three medium-sized submarines (V-7 through V-9). The successful fleet submarines of World War II (Tambor class through Tench class) were descended from the last three, especially V-7, though somewhat larger with pure diesel-electric propulsion systems. Originally called USS V-1 through V-9 (SS-163 through SS-171), in 1931 the nine submarines were renamed Barracuda, Bass, Bonita, Argonaut, Narwhal, Nautilus, Dolphin, Cachalot, and Cuttlefish, respectively. All served in World War II, six of them on war patrols in the central Pacific. Argonaut was lost to enemy action.