USS L-11 (SS-51)

USS "L-11" (SS-51) was an "L"-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 17 February 1915 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 16 May 1916 sponsored by Miss Mary Richards Latimer, and commissioned 15 August 1916 with Lieutenant (junior grade) W. R. Carter in command.

Assigned to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla, "L-11" operated along the East Coast developing new techniques of undersea warfare until April 1917. After the United States's entry into World War I, submarines were needed to protect Allied shipping lanes to Europe, and "L-11" departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 4 December to undertake the task. Following a period of patrol and repair in the Azores, the submarine arrived Ireland in mid-February 1918 to Join Submarine Division 5 in antisubmarine patrol off the British Isles. For the next nine months, she ranged shipping lanes, sighting enemy U-boats on three occasions. On 11 May, she made a torpedo attack on an enemy sub with inconclusive results.

After the Armistice with Germany, "L-11" operated out of the Isle of Portland, England, until 3 January 1919 when she sailed for the United States. Arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1 February, she operated off the East Coast for the next four years developing submarine warfare tactics. "L-11" decommissioned at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 28 November 1923, and was scrapped 28 November 1933.

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