USS X-1 SUBMARINE

 
The USS X-1 was the first midget submarine built for the US Navy. It was designed to penetrate enemy harbors and conduct offensive operations, her principal armament was swimmer delivered limpet mines. The sub was first put in service in 1955. It was first designed to be diesel-battery craft by the Portsmouth Navel Shipyard. Later the design was turned over to Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corp. There the boat was constructed with a partial closed cycle diesel propulsion system using Hydrogen Peroxide for submerged operations. After an explosion in the Hydrogen Peroxide cell in 1957, the Peroxide system was removed. The boat returned to service and completed her useful life as a Diesel-electric sub conducting oceanographic research for the Navel Research Laboratory.