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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 44551:  USS O-5 off Provincetown, Mass., 14 April 1918

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

USS O-5 (Submarine # 66, later SS-66), 1918-1923

USS O-5, a 521-ton O-1 class submarine, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in June 1918, she operated along the Atlantic coast for the next four months, and was en route to European waters when the First World War ended in November 1918. Thereafter, O-5 was assigned to the New London Submarine Base, Connecticut. She was classified as SS-66 in 1920, and her base was changed to Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, in 1923. On 28 October of that year, while in Limon Bay, Panama, the submarine collided with the steamship Abangarez and quickly sank. Three of her crew were lost in this tragic accident, and two others spent many hours on board the sunken O-5 until they could be rescued. For his "heroism and devotion to duty" in assisting a shipmate in the sinking submarine, Torpedoman 2nd Class Henry Breault received the Medal of Honor. O-5 was raised soon after her loss, but she was too badly damaged to be worth repairing and was sold for scrapping in December 1924.

This page features the only views we have related to USS O-5 (SS-66).


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 44551

USS O-5
(Submarine # 66)

Off Provincetown, Massachusetts, on 14 April 1918, during her trials.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 505 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 98061

USS O-5
(Submarine # 66) -- left)
and
USS O-3 (Submarine # 64)

Probably at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, circa 1918-1920.

Collection of Christopher Henry William Lloyd, donated by Virginia M. Agostini, 1990.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 520 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 52788

Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault, USN
(center)

Receives the Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge, in ceremonies at the White House, Washington, D.C., on 8 March 1924.
Captain Adolphus Andrews, Presidential Naval Aide, is at left.
Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor for "heroism and devotion to duty" during the sinking of USS O-5 (SS-66) on 28 October 1923.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 


USS O-5 is the middle "boat" in the more distant group of submarines seen in the following photograph:

Photo #: NH 103193

Submarine Division 8
,
Commander Guy E. Davis commanding

Nine of the Division's ten "O" type submarines at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 16 August 1921.
Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 11 Portland Street, Boston.
Submarines in the front row are (from left to right): O-3 (SS-64), O-6 (SS-67), O-9 (SS-70) and O-1 (SS-62).
Those in the second row are (from left to right): O-7 (SS-68), unidentified (either O-2 or O-8), O-5 (SS-66), O-10 (SS-71) and O-4 (SS-65).
Large four-stacked ship in the left center distance is the U.S. Army Transport Mount Vernon.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 168KB; 1200 x 670 pixels

 


In addition to the views reference above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other photograph of USS O-5 (SS-66). The following listing describes this image:

The image listed below is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • Photo #: 80-G-1006338
    USS O-5 (SS-66) off Cape May, New Jersey, during war maneuvers, 4 April 1919.
    Port broadside low aerial view, showing the submarine underway at low speed.


    Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The image listed above is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • Additional information and pictures:

    The February 1972 issue of the magazine "U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings", contains an article by Captain Julius Grigore, Jr., USNR, entitled "The O-5 is Down!". This piece, on pages 54-60, provides a good description of the circumstances of USS O-5's loss, and includes a number of relevant photographs. Most of these are, unfortunately, not credited.


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


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    Page made 8 September 2002
    New image added 29 October 2005