The United States Navy became the first nation in the world to operate submarines as warships when they commissioned USS Holland (SS-1), on October 12, 1900. Submarines had previously been viewed as experiment oddities, largely because, before the late 1800's, no suitable power source existed that could propel an underwater craft for an extended period of time.
Other nations quickly followed America's example. Even while designing their own submarines, Great Britain, Japan and Imperial Russia, among others, either bought submarines from American builders, built submarines under American license, or both.
As with any other maritime endeavour, operating submarines involved risk. These risks became evident very quickly when HMS A-1, the first submarine designed and built in England (and only the sixth submarine to enter British service), was lost with all hands in 1904 following a collision with a merchant ship, the liner Berwick Castle, just eleven months after she was commissioned.
In the past 109 years, the U.S. Navy has built and operated nearly 800 submarines. Other nations have fielded larger numbers, notibly Germany, due to her large U-Boat programs during both World Wars, and the Soviet Union, which built hundreds of submarines during the Cold War era.
These submarines have performed their duties faithfully during both peacetime and wartime. The "Silent Service", as the submarine branch of the U.S. Navy is known, has compiled an admirable safety record, one that is the envy of every other navy that operates submarines. The U.S. Navy's methods are often duplicated, and many nations even send their own officers and sailors to train under U.S. Navy submarine instructors.
This study has identified numerous separate peacetime submarine accidents. For the purpose of this study, an accident was defined as a single incident in which the submarine was lost to active service for at least 6 months, on an incident in which at least one person was killed. Submarine accidents which occurred during World War I and World War II, but were unconnected with the actual conduct of the war were included.
This website is dedicated to the memories the submarines lost with all hands, their crews on "eternal patrol", as well as to their countless shipmates in submarines around the world.
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