USS E-1 (SS-24) was an E-class submarine of the United States Navy. Originally named Skipjack, the boat was launched on 27 May 1911 by the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Mrs. D. R. Battles; renamed E-1 on 17 November 1911; and commissioned on 14 February 1912, Lieutenant Chester W. Nimitz in command. She was the first American submarine to be powered by diesel engines.
Six days after commissioning, E-1 sailed from Boston for Norfolk via Newport and New York. Off the Virginia Capes, she underwent tests through April. Her engines were overhauled at New London, and she began operations off southern New England. On 28 September, she arrived at New York Navy Yard for alterations, repairs, and installation of a Sperry gyrocompass, for which she became a pioneer underwater test ship. She also experimented with submerged radio transmission.
E-1 conducted tests of these and other important developments under the direction of Commander, Submarine Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet, Lieutenant (and future Fleet Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz. Throughout his career, Nimitz played a progressive and leading role in the incorporation into the Navy of the vast scientific and technological developments of this century, many of them pioneered by the Navy. Nimitz’s appreciation of the capabilities of submarines contributed to them becoming a decisive factor under his command in the War in the Pacific during World War II.
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