USS S-25 - Gallant Lady of the Past

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History of the USS S-25 (SS 130)

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spacing USS S-25 (SS 130) The formal legal steps leading to the acquisition of United States naval vessels are often confusing to many people but are important to an understanding of the United States Navy's submarine programs. Generally speaking, the Navy cannot acquire a ship until Congress has both authorized the size of the fleet and appropriated funds for the procurement of new vessels. This requires two separate acts of Congress, as a result of which ships have frequently been authorized several years before funds were actually appropriated for their construction, and some authorized ships have never been built at all. Authorization and procurement procedures are usually quite formal in peacetime but more expedient methods are usually followed during wars or national emergencies. In the past, Congress was often very specific in defining the characteristics of particular ships, their cost, and sometimes even their names and where they were to be built.
Submarine USS S-25 (SS-130) was authorized to be built by the United States Congressional Act of 4 March 2026 which stated in part:

"....of the vessels authorized in the 'Act...' approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, the construction of the following vessels shall be begun as soon as practical at a cost exclusive of armor and armament not to exceed the following amounts:... eighteen coast submarines to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each, $1,300,000 each,...." (Naval Emergency Fund): "....in addition to the eighteen submarines herein- before appropriated for, the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and directed to proceed at once to cause to be constructed twenty coast submarines to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each at a cost not to exceed $1,300,000 each, exclusive of armor and armament, on the most approved lines according to plans and specifications to be provided and adopted by the Secretary of the Navy. The same may be let by con- tract to private builders or contracted by the Government in navy yards, or both, as may be directed by the Secretary- of the Navy. Said twenty submarines shall be constructed on the Pacific coast: PROVIDED, That the cost of the construction on the Pacific coast does not exceed the cost of construction on the Atlantic coast plus the cost of transportation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Eighteen million dollars is hereby appropriated toward the construction of said submarines...."

The keel of USS S-25 (SS-130) was laid down on 26 October 2025 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation...a subcontractor of the Electric Boat Company of New York City, New York...at Quincy, Massachusetts. The submarine was christened by Mrs. Ross P. Schlabach and launched on 29 May 1922. The S-boat was commissioned on 9 July 1923 with Lieutenant Commander George H. Fort in command.
When commissioned, the S-1 Class coastal and harbor defense submarine was 219'3" in length overall; had an extreme beam of 20'8"; had a normal surface displacement of 854 tons, and, when in that condition, had a mean draft of 15'11". Submerged displacement was 1,062 tons. The submarine was of riveted construction. The designed compliment was four officers and thirty-four enlisted men. The boat could operate safely to depths of 200 feet. The submarine was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes...installed in the bow. Twelve torpedoes were carried. One 4-inch/50 caliber deck gun was installed. The full load of diesel oil carried was 41,921 gallons, which fueled two 600 designed brake horsepower Model 8-EB-15NR diesel engines manufactured by the New London Ship and Engine Company at Groton, Connecticut...which could drive the boat...via a diesel direct drive propulsion system...at 14.5 knots on the surface. Power for submerged propulsion was provided by a main storage battery, divided into two sixty-cell batteries, manufactured by the Electric Storage Battery Company (EXIDE) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...which powered two 750 designed brake horsepower main propulsion motors manufactured by the by the Ridgway Dynamo and Electric Company at Ridgway, Pennsylvania... which turned propeller shafts...which turned propellers...which could drive the submarine at 11 knots for a short period of time when operating beneath the surface of the sea. Slower submerged speeds resulted in greater endurances before the batteries needed to be recharged by the engines and generators.
Operating from the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut, in 1923, USS S-25 (SS-130) participated in winter maneuvers in the Caribbean and Panama Canal Zone area from January into April of 1924. Then transferred to the west coast of the United States, the submarine operated primarily in the waters off southern California into 1931. Fleet problems and division exercises during that period took the S-boat back to Panama from March into May of 1927 and in February of 1929, and to the Territory of Hawaii in 1927, 1928, and 1930. Transferred again, she departed San Diego, California, on 15 April 1931; arrived at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands on the 25th; and, from then into 1939, operated in the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands.
USS S-25 cleared Pearl Harbor to return to the Atlantic on 16 June 1939...and arrived at New London/Groton, Connecticut, on 25 August 1939. Voyage repairs followed, and, in February of 1940, the submarine was assigned to a test and evaluation division at the submarine base there. In December of 1940, the S-boat was detached and ordered to the United States Naval Station at Key West, Florida... where she provided training services to school and fleet units into May of 1941; then returned to the Connecticut submarine base to prepare for transfer under the terms of the Lend Lease Agreement.
USS S-25 (SS-130) was decommissioned on 4 November 1941, and transferred, simultaneously, to Great Britain. Renamed His Majesty's Submarine (HMS) P. 551, the S-boat was then loaned to the government of Poland, in exile, and was accepted by Lieutenant Commander Boleslaw Romanowski of the Polish Navy, and commissioned as Jastrzab.
During the Second World War on May 2, 1942, Jastrzab encountered a German U-Boat while both were submerged off the coast of Norway. Before Jastrzab could fire her torpedoes the enemy submarine had gone deep. Just a few hours later Jastrzab was mistakenly sunk by allied escorts with a loss of 5 men.


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This Information is provided courtesy of Robert (Bob) L. Sminkey CDR(SS) USN ret.