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Photo # NH 81353:  USS USS L-7 in port, circa 1917, possibly prior to delivery by her builders.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS L-7 (Submarine # 46, later SS-46), 1917-1925

USS L-7, a 456-ton L-5 class submarine of the Lake type, was constructed at Long Beach, California. She was placed in commission in December 1917, shook down in West Coast waters, and in April 1918 was sent to the Atlantic to take part in First World War operations. After about four months of service out of Charleston, South Carolina, she voyaged to the Azores, arriving shortly before the 11 November Armistice brought an end to the fighting. L-7 soon returned to the Western Hemisphere. From February 1919 until 1922 the submarine was based in California, mainly employed on experimental duties. She transited the Panama Canal for the last time in mid-1922, headed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she was decommissioned in November. Following three years of inactivity, USS L-7 was sold for scrapping in December 1925.

This page features the only views we have concerning USS L-7 (Submarine # 46, later SS-46).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 81353

USS L-7
(Submarine # 46)

In port, circa 1917, possibly prior to delivery by her builders, the Craig Shipbuilding Company of Long Beach, California.
Note that she still has an open bridge.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 51134

USS L-6
(Submarine # 45)
or
USS L-7 (Submarine # 46)

Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 April 1918.
This submarine has been fitted with the newly adopted "chariot bridge".

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103256

Submarines at a West Coast port, circa 1919-1922


The Lake type USS L-8 (SS-48) is at the outboard (left) end of the nest, with her sister, USS L-7 (SS-46), in the middle (3rd from left). USS H-3 (SS-30) is between them, with another Electric Boat Company submarine second from right. The inboard (right) "boat" and that in the foreground are the other two units of the Lake-designed L-5 class, USS L-5 (SS-44) and USS L-6 (SS-45).
Note piloting station details, periscope, and wide deck of the Lake type "L-boat" in the foreground.

Collection of Chief Engineman Virgil Breland, USN. Donated by Mrs. E.H. Breland, 1979.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 455 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 103255

Submarines at a West Coast port, circa 1919-1922


The Lake type USS L-8 (SS-48) is at the outboard (left) end of the nest, with her sister, USS L-7 (SS-46), in the middle (3rd from left). USS H-3 (SS-30) is between them, with another Electric Boat Company submarine second from right. The inboard "boat" and that in the foreground are the other two units of the Lake-designed L-5 class, USS L-5 (SS-44) and USS L-6 (SS-45).
Note the "Y-tube" hydrophone mounted on the bow of the submarine in the foreground.

Collection of Chief Engineman Virgil Breland, USN. Donated by Mrs. E.H. Breland, 1979.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 460 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 25 January 2006