View source for USS Pike (SS-6)

{{Short description|Plunger-class submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Pike}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Pike (SS-6).jpg|290px|USS Pike being launched at San Francisco, 1903]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Pike'' being launched at San Francisco, 1903
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1921}}
|Ship name=USS ''Pike''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=*[[Union Iron Works]]
*[[San Francisco, California]]
|Ship laid down=10 December 1900
|Ship launched=14 January 1903
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=28 May 1903
|Ship decommissioned=25 July 1921
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=16 January 1922
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk as target
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Plunger|submarine}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|107|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|64|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|11|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=*{{convert|8|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|7|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship range= 
|Ship test depth= 
|Ship complement=7 officers and men
|Ship armament=1 × [[American 18 inch torpedo|18 inch (450 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The first '''USS ''Pike'' (SS-6)''' was a {{sclass|Plunger|submarine}} in the service of the [[United States Navy]], later renamed as ''A-5''.

She was laid down on 10 December 1900 at [[San Francisco, California]] by [[Union Iron Works]], launched on 14 January 1903, and commissioned on 28 May 1903 at the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] with [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] [[Arthur MacArthur III]] in command.<ref>[http://pigboats.com/subs/a-boats.html Pigboats] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926174452/https://pigboats.com/subs/a-boats.html |date=2023-09-26 }} (retrieved 27 February 2018)</ref>

''Pike'' operated out of the Mare Island Navy Yard for over three years, operating principally in experimental and training roles. Following the earthquake and subsequent fire at San Francisco on 18 April 1906, members of Pike's crew took part in the relief efforts in the wake of the disaster.

[[Image:USS Pike (SS-6) Under way.jpg|thumb|left|''Pike'' underway]]

Decommissioned on 28 November 1906, ''Pike'' remained inactive until 8 June 1908, when she was recommissioned for local operations with the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Torpedo Flotilla]], off the Pacific coast. She remained attached to this unit into June 1912. ''Pike'' was renamed ''A-5'' on 17 November 1911.

''A-5'' arrived at the [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]] on 26 June 1912, and was placed in reserve two days later. Following two and a half years of inactivity there, ''A-5'' was loaded onto the [[Collier (ship type)|collier]] {{USS|Hector|AC-7|2}} on 15 February 1915 (her sister-ship [[USS Grampus (SS-4)|''A-3'']] was loaded the next day). ''A-5'' made the voyage to the Philippines as deck cargo. She arrived at Olongapo on 26 March. Launched on 13 April, she was recommissioned on 17 April and assigned to the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]].

Shortly after the [[United States]] entered [[World War I]], ''A-5'' sank while moored at the [[Cavite Navy Yard]] on 15 April 1917; her sinking was attributed to a slow leak in a main [[ballast tank]]. She was raised on 19 April and, following reconditioning, returned to active service. Like her sister-ships, she patrolled the waters off the entrance to [[Manila Bay]] during the course of the war with the [[Central Powers]].

''A-5'', given the alphanumeric hull number '''SS-6''' on 17 July 1920, was decommissioned on 25 July 1921. Earmarked as a target vessel, she was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 16 January 1922.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal|last1=Wright|first1=C. C.|title=Question 40/02: Submarines Expended as Targets 1922 |journal=Warship International |date=2003|volume=XL|issue=4|pages=286–298 |issn=0043-0374}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/a-5.html}}

{{Plunger class submarine}}
{{April 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike 006}}
[[Category:Plunger-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States|Pike]]
[[Category:Ships built in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1903 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]
[[Category:United States submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Ships built by Union Iron Works]]