USS C-5 (Submarine Number 16) was christened by Miss A. Nicoll and launched on 16 June 1908 as USS Snapper by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company. The submersible was commissioned on 2 February 1910 with Ensign Chester W. Nimitz (the future Fleet Admiral) in command. She was renamed USS C-5 on 17 November 1911.

When commissioned, the submarine was 105'4" in length overall; had an extreme beam of 13'11"; had a normal surface displacement of 238 tons (and a mean draft of eleven feet when in that condition) and a submerged displacement of 275 tons; was manned by one officer and 14 enlisted men; could safely dive to 200'; was armed with two 18-inch torpedo tubes (four torpedoes were carried on board); could make 10.5 knots on the surface and 9 knots submerged; carried 3,900 gallons of gasoline to power two 240 brake horsepower gasoline internal combustion engines manufactured by the James Craig Machine and Engine Works at Jersey City, New Jersey; and had 120 Exide battery cells to power two 115 horsepower electric motors manufactured by the Electro Dynamic Company at Bayonne, New Jersey...for propulsion when submerged. She was a C class submarine.

C class submarines were the first submersibles in the United States Navy to be fitted with two propeller shafts and two propellers.

The submarine fitted out at the Boston Navy Yard, then began three years of training and tests along the east coast and in Chesapeake Bay. She ran experiments with radio, submarine signaling apparatus, different types of batteries, and other equipment, all of which has since become standard in submarines of the "Silent Service." She joined in fleet maneuvers helping to develop submarine tactics in submerged attacks on combatant ships, and engaged in operations with airplanes in the infancy of naval aviation. Highlights of the period were the reviews of the fleet by President William Howard Taft and Secretary of the Navy George von L. Meyer...in November of 1911 and October of 1912, respectively.

On 20 May 1913, USS C-5 and her sisters of the First Group, Submarine Flotilla, United States Atlantic Fleet, commanded by Lieutenant Junior Grade R. S. Edwards in USS C-3, departed Norfolk, Virginia, in tow of tender USS Castine and Collier USS Mars, for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From her arrival on 29 May, USS C-5 exercised in Cuban waters, principally conducting torpedo practices, until 7 December 1913. On that date, USS C-5 and her sisters of the redesignated First Division (USS C-1, USS C-2, USS C-3, and USS C-4), escorted by four surface ships (including USS Ozark...which was acting as tender), sailed for Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, under the command of a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Five days later, the submarines successfully completed the 700-mile passage...at that time the longest cruise made by United States Navy submarines operating under their own power...without experiencing any serious engineering mishap.

USS C-5 operated in Panamanian waters conducting exercises and patrolling on harbor defense...as well as studying the suitability of various ports of Panama for submarine bases.

USS C-5 (SS-16) was decommissioned at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, on 23 December 1919...and sold on 13 April 1920.

Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz wrote of USS Snapper (Submarine Number 16)...later, USS C-5: "Her Craig gasoline engines were built in Jersey City by James Craig...an extraordinarily wise and capable builder. Craig was a self-taught engineer who began as a draftsman in the Machinery Division of the New York Navy Yard--and who started his 'Machine and Engine Works' in Jersey City at a later date. USS C-5's engines were excellent as were also the Craig diesel engines he built for a subsequent submarine. These engines were designed and built by Craig and I have never forgotten his 'Forward'--to the pamphlet of Operating Instructions--which read briefly--somewhat like this:

'No matter what the designer and the builder may have planned for these engines--and no matter what the operator may try to do with them--The Laws of Nature will Prevail in the End.' How True!!"