USS L-10 (SS-50) was an L-class submarine

United States L class submarine

The United States L class submarine was the United States Navy's first attempt at designing and building ocean-going submarines, which at the time was a yawning gap in capability compared with other major navies...

 of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Her keel was laid down on 17 February 1915 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 16 March 1916 sponsored by Miss Catherine Rush, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 2 August 1916 with Lieutenant (junior grade) J. C. Van de Carr in command.

Service history

Assigned to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla, L-10 operated along the United States East Coast until April 1917 developing new techniques or undersea warfare.

Following the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

's entry into World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, submarines were needed to protect Allied shipping lanes to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. After an extensive overhaul, preparing her for the task ahead, L-10 departed Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, on 4 December, reaching the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

 on 19 December. She patrolled waters off the Azores for the next month before joining Submarine Division 5 in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

 in January 1918. Based in Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 throughout the rest of the war, L-10 and the other ships of her division conducted anti-U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 patrols.

After the Armistice with Germany

Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)

The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...

 on 11 November, L-10 remained in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 until sailing for the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on 3 January 1919. Arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, on 1 February, the submarine operated along the Atlantic coast for the next four years, developing submarine warfare tactics. L-10 decommissioned at Philadelphia on 5 May 1922, and was sold on 31 July 1922 to Joseph G. Hitner

Joseph G. Hitner

Joseph G. Hitner owned an iron works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.He purchased many United States Navy ships in the early 1900s, converting some of them to merchant ships and scrapping others.-References:...

of Philadelphia.