 USS S-51 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS S-51 |
| Builder | Lake Torpedo Boat Company |
| Laid down | 22 December 1919 |
| Launched | 20 August 1921 |
| Commissioned | 24 June 1922 |
| Stricken | 27 January 1930 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | S-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 240 ft (73 m) |
| Beam | 21 ft 10 in (6.65 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 38 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
USS S-51 (SS-162) was a fourth-group (S-48) S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
S-51′s keel was laid down on 22 December 1919 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut. She was launched on 20 August 1921, sponsored by Mrs. R. J. Mills, and commissioned on 24 June 1922.
The new submarine was based at New London, Connecticut on 1 July 1922 as a unit of Submarine Division 4 (SubDiv 4) and followed a normal peacetime training cycle, operating out of her home port with visits to Newport, Rhode Island, and Providence, Rhode Island. She departed from New York City on 4 January 1924 for the Panama Canal Zone to participate in winter fleet maneuvers off Panama and in the Caribbean Sea. During this cruise, she visited Trinidad, Guantanamo Bay, Culebra, and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. After returning to New York City on 30 April, she resumed type training off Block Island and in New England coastal waters.
On the night of 25 September 1925, S-51 was operating on the surface near Block Island, with her running lights on. [1] The merchant steamer City of Rome spotted a single white masthead light but was unable to determine its course, speed, or intentions. The ship altered her course away from the unknown light to give whatever it might be greater leeway. Meanwhile, S-51 spotted the ship's masthead and green sidelights, and held her course as she was required to do by the Rules of the Road then in effect. Shortly after altering course, City of Rome spotted the submarine's red sidelight and realized that they were on collision courses. She turned and backed her engines, but it was too late. Twenty-two minutes after first spotting the submarine's masthead light, the steamer rammed her at the position 41°14′30″N71°16′16″W / 41.24167°N 71.27111°W . [2]
Only three of the 36 men in the submarine (Dewey G. Kile, Michael E. Lira, and Alfred Geier) were able to abandon ship before she sank.
The courts found City of Rome at fault for not reducing her speed when in doubt as to the movement of S-51, and for not signaling her change of course. However, both the district court and the Circuit Court of Appeals found S-51 at fault for having improper lights.
The United States Navy argued that it was not practicable to have submarines of this class comply with the letter of the law, and that, as a special type of warship, S-51 was under no legal compulsion to do so. The court responded by saying if these statements were correct, then submarines "should confine their operation to waters not being traversed by other ships."
S-51 was raised on 5 July 1926 by a team led by then-Lieutenant Commander Edward Ellsberg with Lieutenant Henry Hartley assisting (both reached the rank of Rear Admiral). The entire salvage operation was commanded by Captain (later Fleet Admiral) Ernest J. King. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 January 1930 and sold for scrap on 23 June to the Borough Metal Company of Brooklyn, New York. [3] S-51's bell was removed and taken to the Submarine Force Library & Museum at Groton, Connecticut.
The sinking of USS S-51 is memorialized in the popular song, "Sinking of the Submarine S-51," by Maggie Andrews. For solo guitar and mouth harp accompaniment, the song was recorded by tenor Al Craver (pseudonym for Vernon Dalhart) on Columbia 78 RPM record 15044-D (141099), on October 9, 1925.
USS Amberjack (SS-219) was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship named for the amberjack.
USS S-4 (SS-109) was an S-class submarine of the United States Navy. In 1927, she was sunk by being accidentally rammed by a United States Coast Guard destroyer with the loss of all hands but was raised and restored to service until stricken in 1936.
USS S-27 (SS-132) was a S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
USS S-44 (SS-155) was a third-group (S-42) S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
USS Bluegill (SS-242/SSK-242) was a Gato-class submarine in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946, from 1951 to 1952, and from 1953 to 1969. She was named for the bluegill, a sunfish of the Mississippi Valley.
USS S-31 (SS-136) was a first-group S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
USS S-50 (SS-161) was a fourth-group (S-48) S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
USS S-48 (SS-159) was the first submarine in the fourth group of S-class submarines of the United States Navy.
A ship is scuttled when its crew deliberately sinks it, typically by deliberately opening holes in its hull.
USS Moody (DD-277) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy in commission from 1919 to 1922 and from 1923 to 1930. She was named for Justice William Henry Moody.
Edward Ellsberg, OBE was an officer in the United States Navy and a popular author. He was widely known as "Commander Ellsberg".
The third USS Penguin (ASR–12) was a submarine rescue ship in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of three vessels all originally laid down as fleet ocean tugs before being converted to rescue ships before completion.
USS Curlew (AM-8) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
The third USS Falcon, (AM-28/ASR-2) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper in the United States Navy. She later became a submarine rescue ship.
The first USS Chewink (AM-39/ASR-3) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper in the United States Navy. She was later converted to a submarine rescue ship.
USS Adela was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways.
USS Bagaduce (AT-21/ATO-21) was the lead ship of the Bagaduce class of fleet tugs for the United States Navy. She was the first ship of the U.S. Navy of that name, and is named for the Bagaduce River and a peninsula in Hancock County, Maine.
Acushnet – a steel-hulled revenue cutter – was launched on 16 May 1908 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; sponsored by Miss Alayce Duff; and commissioned at Baltimore on 6 November 1908. She saw service as a United States Revenue Cutter Service cutter, a U.S. Navy fleet tug, and as a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. She was taken out of service 8 January 1946.
USS Aramis (SP-418/PY-7) was a yacht acquired by the United States Navy during World War I which served as a patrol boat off New York City, was then fitted with an experimental "underwater detection system" and depth charges as an anti-submarine vessel, and was briefly the flagship of a battleship squadron. She ended her career as a tender and houseboat to a survey vessel off the coast of Cuba, until disposed of in 1933.
Henry Hartley was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy who reached the rank of Rear Admiral. A veteran of both World Wars, he began his career as Apprentice seaman and rose to the rank of Commodore during World War II. During his 45 years long career in the Navy, Hartley trained as Diver and was involved in research of techniques of salvage work. He distinguished himself during the salvage works on the sunken submarines USS S-51 in July 1926; USS S-4 in March 1928 and USS Squalus in May 1939, receiving the Navy Cross and Distinguished Service Medal.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) United States Navy |
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1925 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
