View source for USS L-8

{{Short description|L-class submarine of the United States}}

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS-L8.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''L-8'' in 1917
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1922}}
|Ship name=USS ''L-8''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]], [[Kittery, Maine]]
|Ship laid down=24 February 1915
|Ship launched=23 April 1917
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=30 August 1917
|Ship decommissioned=15 November 1922
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate= Sunk as target, 26 May 1926.
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[United States L-class submarine|L-class submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|451|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|527|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length= {{convert|165|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|14|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|13|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|1200|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)
*{{convert|800|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (electric)
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[diesel engine]]s
*2 × [[electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|10.5|kn}} submerged
|Ship range=*{{convert|3300|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|11|kn}} on the surface
*{{convert|150|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|5|kn}} submerged
|Ship test depth={{convert|200|ft|1}}
|Ship complement=28 officers and enlisted men
|Ship armament=*4 × bow [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|3"/23 caliber]] [[deck gun]]
}}
|}
'''USS ''L-8'' (SS-48)''' was an [[United States L-class submarine|L-class submarine]] built for the [[United States Navy]] during the 1910s.

==Description==
The L-class boats designed by [[Lake Torpedo Boat]] (''L-5'' through ''L-8'') were built to slightly different specifications from the other L boats, which were designed by [[Electric Boat]], and are sometimes considered a separate ''L-5'' class. The Lake boats had a length of {{convert|165|ft|m|1}} [[length overall|overall]], a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|14|ft|9|in|m|1}} and a mean [[draft (ship)|draft]] of {{convert|13|ft|3|in|m|1}}. They [[displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|451|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|527|LT|t}} submerged. The L-class submarines had a crew of 28 officers and enlisted men. They had a diving depth of {{convert|200|ft|1}}.<ref name=f7>Friedman, p. 307</ref>

For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|600|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} [[diesel engine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]]. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|400|hp|0|adj=on}} [[electric motor]]. They could reach {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|10.5|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the Lake boats had a range of {{convert|5150|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|11|kn}}<ref name=f7/> and {{convert|150|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|5|kn}} submerged.<ref name=gg9>Gardiner & Gray, p. 129</ref>

The boats were armed with four [[American 18 inch torpedo|18-inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The L-class submarines were also armed with a single [[3"/50 caliber gun|3"/50 caliber]] [[deck gun]].<ref name=gg9/>

==Construction and career==
[[File:USS L-8 SAS Imagery.jpg|thumb|[[Synthetic-aperture sonar|Synthetic aperture sonar]] imagery of the wreck of ''USS L-8''.]]
''L-8''{{'}}s keel was laid down on 24 February 1915 by the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] in [[Kittery, Maine]]. ''L-8'' was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 23 April 1917 sponsored by Miss Nancy Gill, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 30 August 1917. Following training operations along the East Coast, ''L-8'' prepared for [[Europe]]an service.  About this time, she teamed up with the decoy ship {{USS|Charles Whittemore|ID-3232|6}} in hopes of luring a German U-boat to the surface.  This effort, however, was not successful.

Departing [[Charleston, South Carolina]], under the command of Lieutenant John N. Bloom,<ref>Burton, p. 378</ref> on 20 October, the submarine steamed for the [[Azores]] to join Submarine Division 6 for patrols against [[U-boat]]s. She arrived in [[Bermuda]] on 13 November, two days after the end of [[World War I]], and was ordered to return to the [[United States]].

After exercises and visits in [[Caribbean Sea]] and [[Central America]]n ports, ''L-8'' crossed the Panama Canal (Burton 374) and arrived [[San Pedro, California]], on 13 February 1919 to join the submarine flotilla on the West Coast.  Remaining there from 1919 to 1922, she experimented with new [[torpedo]]es and undersea detection equipment.  Following a period of commission, in ordinary, early in 1922, ''L-8'' departed San Pedro on 25 July for the Atlantic, arriving [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]], on 28 September.  ''L-8'' was decommissioned on 15 November 1922.

''L-8'' was ultimately destroyed as a target during testing for magnetic influence exploders for torpedoes, off Rhode Island on 26 May 1926 (Miller 117). This was the only test with live torpedoes of magnetic exploders conducted by the Navy in the 19 years before the World War II period.

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Burton|first=Clarence|editor1-last=Burton|editor1-first=Clarence|editor2-last=Stocking|editor2-first=William|editor3-last=Miller|editor3-first=Gordon|title=The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922 Volume 5|year=1922|publisher=The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company|location=Detroit-Chicago}}
* {{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1995|isbn=1-55750-263-3}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/l-8.html}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|08/08048|USS L-8}}

{{United States L class submarine}}
{{1926 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:L-08 (SS-48)}}
[[Category:United States L-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:1917 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1926]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]