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This item is a real GEM! A letter from Fred Smith's father to his mother traveled on the
first airmail flight to the states from the canal zone. Charles Lindbergh flew the plane. The 28 boat was on the way to San Diego and from there to Pearl in 1930.
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This photo and the included Scanned Caption Text (Very Large File) were contributed by Shipmate Ed Lyons. The photograph shows a Chief Petty Officer wearing what is known as a Momson Lung in the submarines escape hatch. The S-4 after being raised and reconditioned was used to conduct tests of the artificial lung whose purpose was to aide submariners in escaping from a sunken sub.
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This picture and the next three were donated by Jim Mandelblatt and came from the USN CD-ROM: Submarine Force, Past and Present. At present none of the boats in these Pics are identified. The first Pic is of an unidentified shipyard with three S-Boats on the ways.
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This is an unidentified S-Boat tied to pier. You can see part of another boat outboard of this one but can't tell if it is an S-Boat or of another type.
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There are five S-Boats rafted alongside a Pier in this one, No numbers are identifiable nor is the location. However it might be Pearl Harbor.
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I believe this is a four inch:50 caliber gun, which is what S-boats were originally equipped with. This boat is also not identified.
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Here an S Boat sailor is served with one of the well earned rewards after a patrol. Fresh Milk is hard to come by on any submarine at sea. |
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An S-Boat rafted next to a Fleet Boat. The difference is size is quite apparent. |
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Flying Boat carrying Navy Secretary comes alongside S Boat at Pearl Harbor in 1922. (Number Unknown) |
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These are the Mark 10 torpedoes which American submarines were using at the beginning of the war. They tended to have depth setting problems and were the cause of a lot of missed target opportunities. |
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The Torpedo Room of an S-Class Boat. There were four 21 inch tubes. In addition, the S Boats carried 8 reloads. Four of the boats, S11, S12, S13, and S48 had one additional after torpedo tube. |
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S-Boats alongside the USS Bushnell dress out for Washington's Birthday.
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A close-up of USS Bushnell showing her brood of chicks alongside. This one is a nice bow-on shot of the S-Boats.
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A nice distance view of the Bushnell and her charges. The Bushnell had a clipper bow and two masts. She was very similar in appearance to the USS Holland.
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The USS Holland AS 3 anchored in San Diego harbor about 1930. There are four S Class boats and two B Class boats moored along side. |
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The USS Holland with six S-Boats The outboard two are S-27 and S-29. The Holland escaped the Japanese in the
Philippines and continued to service submarines throughout the war. |
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The Submarine Tender Canopus anchored in the Philippines with her charges.
There are six Fleet Boats to the right and six S Class boats to the left. |
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A second shot of the Canopus with S-36 through S-41 rafted along side. |
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The Fubuki Class destroyers were typical of the type Japanese destroyers which chased S-38. The Fubuki's were state of the art at the beginning of the war. |
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This is the plan and elevation drawings for the S-51. The S-51 was a Group 4 S-boat of the later Lake Torpedo Boat design. She was 267 feet in length, fitted with a 4 inch 50 caliber deck gun and four forward torpedo tubes. She had a maximum speed of 14.5 knots surfaced, 11 knots submerged and a range of 8000 miles at 10 knots surfaced. |
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As part of my research on the S-51 and the S Class boats, I perused the old issues of the New Orleans Picayune Times. I found these headlines, (September 26, 2025), for the sinking of the S-51. The librarian was kind enough to make me a copy and I have reproduced it here. |
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The USS Falcon was the main salvage vessel used in raising the S-51. She is shown here with one of the pontoons which were used to raise the sunken submarine. |
