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Photo # NH 41989:  USS S-1 underway during trials, 15 April 1920

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

USS S-1 (Submarine # 105, later SS-105), 1920-1942

USS S-1, first of a numerous class of Electric Boat Company type 854-ton submarines, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in June 1920, she mainly served in New England waters until 1922, when she was modified to both bring her up to current standards with a larger deck gun and to fit her for experimental use as a base for a small scouting seaplane. S-1 spent the next several years conducting tests with Martin MS-1 aircraft, then returned to regular operational use. During the later 1920s she made several deployments to the Caribbean area, and in 1930 was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

S-1 was based in Hawaii for seven years, returning to the East Coast in July 1937 to be laid up. She decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in October of that year and remained in reserve until recalled to active duty in October 1940, part of the Nation's response to the outbreak of World War II more than a year earlier. While operating in a training capacity in 1940-1941 S-1 made two trips to Bermuda. In April 1942 she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom. As HMS P-552, she was employed by the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic. Returned to U.S. custody at Durban, South Africa, in October 1944, she was sold for scrapping there in July 1945.

This page features, or provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS S-1 (Submarine # 105, later SS-105).

For more images related to this submarine, see:

  • USS S-1 (Submarine # 105, later SS-105) -- Part II.


    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 104991

    USS S-1
    (Submarine # 105)

    Possibly photographed near the New London Submarine Base, Groton, Connecticut, circa 1919.
    S-1 was launched in late October 1918, but not commissioned until mid-1920, so it is possible that this photograph shows her during an early trial period, as she appears to not be fully outfitted. The original photograph is mounted in an album of views taken between late 1918 and mid-1919.

    Photograph from the album of Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Edward D. Porges. Donated by his daughter, Gail Porges Guggenheim, 2007.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 460 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 41988

    USS S-1
    (Submarine # 105)

    Off Provincetown, Massachusetts, on 17 April 1920, while running trials.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 565 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 41989

    USS S-1
    (Submarine # 105)

    Underway at 14.5 knots, while running trials off Provincetown, Massachusetts, on 15 April 1920.
    Note the 3"/23 retractable deck gun mounted forward of her fairwater.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 560 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99772

    USS S-1
    (Submarine # 105)

    Underway during her builder's trials, circa April 1920.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 525 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 80594

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    In port during the early 1920s, prior to installation of a 4"/50 gun on her foredeck and a small seaplane hangar aft of her fairwater.

    Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 41987

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    Underway, while fitted with an aircraft hangar aft of her fairwater, circa the mid-1920s.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 41986

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    With a Martin MS-1 seaplane on her deck, circa the mid-1920s.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 67KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 70979

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    Martin MS-1 scouting seaplane (Bureau # A-6525) on her after deck, during the mid-1920s.
    Among the submarines docked in the background is USS K-7 (SS-38), at left. USS L-8 (SS-48) is at right, with USS L-9 (SS-49) just to her left.
    Original photo caption gives location as New London, Connecticut. However, the view may have been taken at Norfolk or Hampton Roads, Virginia.

    Donation of Lieutenant Gustave Freret, USN (Retired), 1970.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 305 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 72793

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    With a Martin MS-1 scouting floatplane (Bureau # A-6525) on her after deck, probably at Norfolk, Virginia, on 24 October 1923.

    Donation of Lieutenant Gustave Freret, USN (Retired), 1970.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 63KB; 740 x 360 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99774

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    With her after deck awash, preparing to take a Martin MS-1 seaplane on board during tests in October 1923. Probably taken at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69033

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    With her after deck awash, as a Martin MS-1 seaplane returns on board to be taken apart and stowed away in the submarine's hangar, October 1923. Probably taken at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

    Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, California, 1969.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99773

    USS S-1
    (SS-105)

    Ballasted down aft, with # 3 Main Ballast tank flooded, during seaplane handling trials in the Thames River, off New London, Connecticut, 22 July 1926.
    A Martin MS-1 floatplane is partially visible at left.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99776

    Martin MS-1 seaplane


    Flies over USS S-1 (SS-105), during the mid-1920s.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS S-1 (SS-105). The following list features some of these images:

    The images listed below are NOT in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 19-N-8846
    USS S-1 (SS-105) At the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, on 30 December 1922, at the conclusion of a yard period in which she received an aircraft hangar and 4"/50 deck gun.
    Starboard bow surface view. There is ice in the water off S-1's bow. A large mobile crane and USS Wilmington (PG-8) are in the background.

  • Photo #: 80-G-1032498
    Removing a Martin MS-1 seaplane from the hangar on USS S-1 (SS-105), at Hampton Roads, Virginia, 23 October 1923.
    Closeup view, taken from off the submarine's port quarter, showing Sailors pulling the airplane's fuselage out of the hangar entrance, prior to assembling it for flight. This view is apparently one of a series showing the assembly of the MS-1 on board the submarine. Another view in this series is Photo # NH 71028.

  • Photo #: 80-G-456162
    USS S-1 (SS-105) underway, probably in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during the 1930s.
    Port broadside view. The image is partially framed by the trunk and branches of a palm tree in the foreground.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval History and Heritage Command's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • For more images related to this submarine, see:

  • USS S-1 (Submarine # 105, later SS-105) -- Part II.


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


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


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    Page made 27 November 2004
    Coding updated 22 November 2010