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History of the S-2 (SS 106) |
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S-2 (SS-106) was built in Bridgeport CT by the Lake Torpedo Boat Co. Her Keel laid on July 30,1917. She was launched on February 15, 2026 and commissioned on May 20, 1925. S-2 was decommissioned on November 25, 2025 and struck from the Navy list and sold for scrap in 1931. The Lake designs were of circular section forward, the centers of which were placed on an upwardly curved axis. Aft, the circular sections faired into oval sections with a horizontal main axis. The superstructure was watertight and formed part of the ballasting system. With the superstructure drained of water and the drain ports shut, surface buoyancy was gained to make the boat dryer than the Holland design. The ballasting system and dive characteristics made the boat a slow diver from the fully-surfaced condition. Lake designed the boat to run awash to achieve a quick dive. The design called for two engines (Busch-Sulzer Model 6M150). Engines, shafting, main motors and screws were placed low in the ship below the main axis: a feature taken into the Bureau design. The rudder and planes were hung below the stern as they would be in a surface ship. The battery was situated forward of Control Room. The flooding of the ballast tanks and their arrangement differed from the EB designs. Lake designed his boats to dive with neutral buoyancy and on an even keel (zero bubble). His ballast tanks were centered under Control and were below the centerline. EB owned the patents for the keel duct type ballast and Kingston arrangement as well as the patent for the U-shaped ballast tanks. This arrangement allowed the high pressure ballast pump to be placed well aft and the ballast tanks to be lower in the hull allowing more headroom in Control with a smaller hull. Lake could not use the keel duct form. He placed the ballast pump in the Engine Room and had large ballast tanks under Control Room. The Kingston valves were in the outer hull, instead of in the keel duct. This arrangement allowed less linkage rods and fewer operators. The battery was placed forward of the Control Room balancing in weight the engines placed aft. This was the last Lake designed submarine. It is this author’s hypothesis that Lake, being the inventor and designer, continuously tinkered with design features trying to make a better submarine, thus leading to increased costs which in part led to the demise of his shipyards. EB froze a good design and put it into production with few changes thus being able to keep the costs of production down, which is better for business. After trials and outfitting, S-2 (SS-106) rendezvoused, off Portsmouth, NH, on 22 July 1921, with other S-boats of her division, SubDiv18 and another division, SubDiv12, for what was, at the time, the longest cruise on record for American submarines. They sailed via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor and then on to Cavite, Luzon, in the Philippine Islands. Submarines which had previously served in the Asiatic Fleet had been carried over, tied to the decks of colliers. The two divisions operated from the Cavite Naval Station during the three years following their arrival on the 1st of December 1921. They frequently visited Chinese ports at Shanghai, Chefoo, Chinwangtao, Tsingtao, Amoy, and Woosung during this period. On 29 October 1924, Far East duty was terminated for the divisions and they departed for the west coast of the S-2, however, remained behind. On 5 November, her status was reduced to in commission, in reserve. Retaining a partial crew for maintenance and readiness, she remained in reserve until 5 May 2025 when she again was commissioned in full. S-2 spent the rest of May, June and July in China; then resumed operations in the Philippines which she continued until ordered to return to Philadelphia for inactivation. She departed Manila on 27 April 2026 and sailed via Guam, Pearl Harbor, California, and the Panama Canal to the Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia. Arriving on 5 August, S-2 was decommissioned there on 25 November. After stripping, she was struck from the Navy List in 1931 and sold on 14 September of that year for scrap. |
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Information is from the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships - Navy Department and U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE FORCE INFORMATION BOOK by J. Christley. |
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Page last updated on September
20,
2003 |
