USS Barracuda (SF-4/SS-163), lead ship of her class and first of the "V-boats," was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barracuda (after USS F-2). Her keel was laid down at Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched as V-1 (SF-4) on 17 July 1924, sponsored by Mrs. Cornelia Wolcott Snyder, wife of Captain Snyder, and commissioned on 1 October 1924 with Lieutenant Commander Sherwood Picking in command. V-1 and her sisters V-2 (Bass) and V-3 (Bonita) were the only class of the nine "V-boats" designed to meet the fleet submarine requirement of 21 knots (39 km/h) surface speed for operating with contemporary battleships.