United States R-class submarine explained

The R-class submarines were a class of United States Navy coastal-defense submarines active from 1918 until 1945. With the first of the class laid down following the American entry into World War I, they were built rapidly. Although R-15 through R-20 were completed July–October 1918, they did not serve overseas, and the bulk of the class were not completed until after the Armistice. As had been the usual practice in several of the preceding classes, design and construction of the 27 boats of this class was split between the Electric Boat Company and the Lake Torpedo Boat Company. Both designs were built to the same military operational specifications, but differed considerably in design and detail specifics.[1]

Design

Electric Boat: The R-1 through R-20 boats were designed by Electric Boat and built by the company's subcontractor yards Bethlehem Quincy and Bethlehem San Francisco. These single-hull boats were structurally similar to the preceding O-class, but larger and therefore with more powerful machinery to maintain the required speed. Electric Boat departed from their traditional rotating bow cap that acted as the muzzle doors for the torpedo tubes. All submarines from the R-class forward built by this company would have individual muzzle doors.[2] For the first time in a U.S. submarine class, 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted, a tube diameter that is still standard worldwide. A more powerful non-retractable 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber deck gun replaced the retractable 3-inch/23 caliber gun found on previous classes.[3]
Lake: R-21 to R-27, which were slightly smaller and faster than the Electric Boat design, were designed and built by Lake Torpedo Boat Co. Simon Lake finally gave up on his patented zero-angle (aka "even-keel") diving method with midships mounted diving planes, and adopted the Electric Boat style angled diving method using bow and stern mounted diving planes. The Lake-style flat shovel stern with ventrally mounted rudder, diving planes, and propellers were retained for this class.[4] There is conflicting information as to what size torpedo tubes were mounted in the Lake boats, with authoritative references by Gardiner and Friedman[5] disagreeing as to whether they were equipped with 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes or the 21-inch tubes of the Electric Boat design. They were equipped with the same 3-inch/50 caliber deck gun as the Electric Boat design. At least one boat, R-22 (SS-99), was fitted with an expanded bow buoyancy tank that gave it a humped appearance. This was done to improve surface sea keeping. Unlike the Electric Boat design groups, most of which survived to serve in World War II, the Lake boats were scrapped in 1930 as part of the Navy's compliance with the London Naval Treaty. The Lake company's demise in 1924 and poorly regarded design features also contributed to this.[6] [7]

Service

Most of the Electric Boat design group spent the 1920's in the Pacific, operating out of San Diego and Hawaii.[8] In 1921 one member of this group, the R-14 (SS-91), was stranded at sea in the Pacific off Hawaii when it ran out of fuel during a search and rescue operation. The boat rigged makeshift sails and sailed 140 miles to Hilo, Hawaii.[9] The Hawaii based boats returned to the mainland on January 18, 1931 and were decommissioned to reserve status at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1931. As the war emergency in Europe became more urgent most of the boats were recommissioned in 1940, conducting patrols in the Caribbean or being used as sonar targets at Key West, Florida. They also patrolled between Submarine Base New London, Connecticut and Bermuda. At least two R-boats unsuccessfully fired torpedoes at German U-boats on the Bermuda patrols. Three (R-3, R-17, and R-19) were transferred to the United Kingdom's Royal Navy as,, and in 1941-1942. P.514 was lost on 21 June 1942 in a collision with the Canadian minesweeper due to being mistaken for a U-boat. USS R-12 (SS-89) was lost on 12 June 1943 while underway off Key West. While the cause of her loss has never been definitively determined, when her wreck was found by the in 2010 by the Lost 52 Project it was suspected that the old boat suffered from a hull failure in the forward battery compartment.[10]

In the aftermath of the S-4 (SS-109) disaster in 1927, all of the EB design boats were modified for greater safety. A motor room escape hatch was added, the motor room being the after most compartment. The tapered after casing became a step as a result of this modification. The boats also received salvage air connections and mating surfaces around topside hatches to allow the McCann Rescue Chamber to rescue trapped crewmen.[11]

At least one R-class submarine can be seen briefly in the 1943 movie Crash Dive, filmed at the New London submarine base.

Electric Boat built four variants of the R-class for the Peruvian Navy (R-1 to R-4). Built after World War I using materials assembled from cancelled S-class submarines, they were refitted in 1935–36 and 1955–56, and renamed Islay, Casma, Pacocha, and Arica in 1957. These were the first submarines built directly by Electric Boat at their newly established shipyard along the Thames River in Connecticut.[12] They were discarded in 1960.

In December 2020, the remains of R-8 were discovered off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland.[13] The vessel sank there in 1936, after being used for target practice by bombers.

Ships in class

The 27 submarines of the R class were:

Construction data for the Electric Boat design
Ship name and BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
(SS-78)Bethlehem Quincy16 October 191724 August 191816 December 191820 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-79)16 October 191723 September 191824 January 191910 May 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-80)11 December 191718 January 191917 April 1919transferred to United Kingdom 4 November 1941Scrapped 1948
(SS-81)16 October 191726 October 191828 March 191918 June 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-82)16 October 191724 November 191815 April 191914 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-83)17 December 19171 March 19191 May 191927 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-84)6 December 19175 April 19191 May 191914 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-85)4 March 191817 April 191921 July 19192 May 1931, sank at moorings 1936Raised and expended as target 1936; remains discovered 2020
(SS-86)6 March 191824 May 191930 July 191925 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-87)21 March 191828 June 191920 August 191918 June 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-88)18 March 191821 July 19195 September 19195 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-89)28 March 191815 August 191923 September 1919N/ASank during training exercise 12 June 1943; wreck found 2011
(SS-90)27 March 191827 August 191917 October 191914 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-91)6 November 191810 October 191924 December 19197 May 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-92)Bethlehem San Francisco30 April 191710 December 191727 July 191817 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-93)26 April 191715 December 19175 August 191816 July 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-94)5 May 191724 December 191718 August 1918transferred to United Kingdom 9 March 1942Scrapped 1945
(SS-95)16 June 19178 January 191811 September 191819 September 1945Scrapped 1946
(SS-96)23 June 191728 January 19187 October 1918transferred to United Kingdom 9 March 1942Rammed and sunk by HMCS Georgian 21 June 1942
(SS-97)4 June 191721 January 191826 October 191827 September 1945Scrapped 1946
Construction data for the Lake Torpedo Boat Company design
Ship name and BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
(SS-98)Lake Torpedo Boat Co.19 April 191710 July 191817 June 191921 June 1924Scrapped 1930
(SS-99)19 April 191723 September 19181 August 191929 April 1925Scrapped 1930
(SS-100)25 April 19175 November 191823 October 191925 April 1925Scrapped 1930
(SS-101)9 May 191721 August 191827 June 191911 June 1925Scrapped 1930
(SS-102)26 April 191715 May 191923 October 191921 June 1924Scrapped 1930
(SS-103)26 April 191718 June 191923 October 191912 June 1925Scrapped 1930
(SS-104)16 May 191723 September 19183 September 191924 April 1925Scrapped 1930

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=R-class PigBoats.COM R-class page
  2. https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=O-class PigBoats.COM O-class page
  3. Gardiner, p. 130
  4. PigBoats.COM R-class page
  5. Friedman, p. 308
  6. Gardiner, p. 130
  7. https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=R-class PigBoats.COM R-boats page
  8. DANFS R-class pages
  9. Johnston & Hedman, p. 47-69
  10. https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=R-12 PigBoats.COM R-12 page
  11. https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=R-class PigBoats.COM R-boats page
  12. Rodengen, P. 81
  13. Web site: American submarine discovered off Ocean City coast. Baltimore Sun. December 10, 2020. December 12, 2020.

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