o-boats

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The O-Boats

Unknown O boat makes a static dive dockside.
An other O boat is tied up to the pier in the background.
Possibly Portsmouth or the Fore River Shipyard in the background.

Six "O" boats moored to tender USS Camden AS 6.
Camden was the former German cargo ship SS Keil.
Photo is post Feb. 1919
O-10 and O-8 are shown as the outboard two boats.

USS O-1 SS 62 in dry dock

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Original Drawing In The Private Collection of Ric Hedman

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High Pressure Air
Original Drawing In The Private Collection of Ric Hedman

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Trim and Drain System
Original Drawing In The Private Collection of Ric Hedman

USS O-2 SS 63 diving
The USS O-2 was used in the design by William C. Eddy,
then a cadet, for the crest for the Naval Academy class of 1926.
Capt. Eddy's story: Here

"Back in 1922, I was on the Class Crest Committee and, using a 'bows on' photo of the (submarine) 'O-2' and adding two dolphins rampant, I came up with a design of the '26 class crest. About two years later, George Meale of Bailey, Banks and Biddle, mentioned that the submarine service was looking for a design for "Submarine Wings" to denote qualification in Submarines.
Using my original sketches of the '26 crest, and flattening out the dolphins, we came up with the present submarine insignia which was adopted by the Navy.
George gave me what purported to be the first dolphins struck from the dies, which I gave to my mother.
I was very proud to reclaim this original dolphins after qualifying in the '35 boat'. The class might be interested in the tie-in between the '26 crest, the O-2, and the present Dolphins."

USS O-2 diving

USS O-2 and USS V-4 (Argonaut) in dry dock, March 29, 1928.
Dry dock is flooding through openings in dry dock doors, at rear.

USS O-3 SS 64

USS O-4 SS 65

USS O-5 and mystery sub at Coco Solo, Panama 1923.

USS O-5 rescue of Henry Breault TM2 and Chief Lawrence T. Brown
Details about Medal of Honor winner Henry Breault.
More about the collision here.
The following crew lost their lives aboard USS O-5 (SS-66) on October 18, 1923:
Clyde E. Hughes, MoMM1 Thomas T. Metzler, FN Fred C. Smith, MS1

USS O-6 SS 67

While patrolling off the American coast during WW I a British convoy captain sighted the O-6 and opened fire on her. The Capt., Lt. C.Q. Wright, jr., dove but the O-6 was hit by six shells damaging the conning tower and foreward ventilator and leaked very badly. The O-6 resurfaced and was hit several more times before she could identify herself as an American submarine.

USS O-7 SS 68 date of photo unknown.

USS O-7 SS 68. Detail of con and men. Some appear to be civilians.

USS O-7 with O-3 and R-26

Living conditions were crude on the "O" boats as related in this narrative.

Remembrances of the O-7 by John Surprenant, Retired
SN to QMCS '43=58; Ensign to LCDR 59-73

USS O-7 SS 68, USS Tirante SS 420, USS Greenfish SS 351,
USS Grouper SS 214, USS Burfish SS312. USS Barb SS 220,
USS Odax SS 484, USS George Washington SSBN 598.
USS Proteus, USS Canopus plus some Destroyer and tanker duty as well as two tours at Sub School,
===================================================
I was assigned to the O-7 coming out of sub school and waiting for a fleet boat. I was a TMSN out of torpedo school but decided I wanted to be a quartermaster and changed over.

The CO was a CDR. Latham who had been skipper of Tautog, (USS Tautog SS 199), and while I was on board was relieved by LCDR Schatch (sp) The C.O.B., (Chief Of the Boat), was a TMC named CORSEY and I remember the leading QM was named McMILLAN.

While on board I received a set of orders to USS ESCOLAR, SS 294 which was coming through New London but I was on leave and they took another QM3 from another O boat. ESCOLAR was lost on her first patrol. I later caught USS TIRANTE SS 420 with skipper George Street who won the Medal of Honor.

The most thrilling thing about being a QM on board an O boat was opening that single dog hatch with pressure in the boat while surfacing.

O-7 operated as a school boat for sub school students. We did daily ops out of New London most of the time. Once in awhile we did an op up to Casco Bay Maine. With our rather primitive water, heat, berthing etc., it was an adventure. For two weeks you never took your foul weather gear off—and there were no showers. Berthing as I remember was all hands hot bunking which did not really matter as you were fully clothed anyway. Test depth as I remember was 170 feet and our CO CDR Latham tried it one time. We blew a couple of salt water connections and some zerk fittings flew out of the periscope grease connections.

I wish now that I appreciated the risk involved in that but I relived it when my TIRANTE skipper took us to 670 feet on a 400 foot test depth boat.

Some remembrances are the difficulty in opening the ballast tank flood valves-as a robust 18 year old 130 lb. sailor-I could barely do it.

The "conning tower" was really a tube from the control room to the bridge. When we surfaced it acted as a conduit for all the air in the boat and for the QM it was like being shot out of a canon.

The after battery was also the messroom--no tables or seats-you got your chow on a tray and hunkered down and ate it--of course the engine room WT door was completely visible as was the hopper, (The Toilet Commode), right next to it—if your timing was right you could watch a guy doing his business while you ate your lunch.

USS O-8 SS 69
USS O-8 web page with interior photos Here

USS O-8 SS 69
The object on the deck the men are standing around is the
3"/23 deck gun retracted into its below deck housing in a vertical position as shown here.

USS O-8 and an other "O" boat inside the Panama canal.

USS O-8 SS 69

USS O-8 SS 69 in drydock.
The arrangement at the bow is lashings holding the anchor in place
away from the hawshole while work is being done in that area.
The #2 torpedo tube outer door & shutter is open

O-8 and two other unidentified sub moored Sub Base New London, circa 1920.

O-8 heading down river from the Sub Base New London, circa 1920.

Two "O" boats in dry dock. The closest one is probably the O-8.

USS O-8 moored to a tender. Two other O-boats moored inside her to tender Camden.
Possibly WW I time frame since boats have deck guns.

USS O-9 SS 70

USS O-9 at Coco Solo, Panama 1923

USS O-10 SS 71
Looks like the sub is preparing to dock.
The vessel in the background could be one of the early
submarine rescue ships.

Early Sub Rescue Ship. It could be one of four such vessels.
Chewink, Mallard, Ortolan or the Widgeon

USS O-10 SS 71

USS O-10 moored to tender Camden. Two other boats moored inside her.
Possibly WW I time frame since boats have deck guns.

USS O-10 SS 71

USS O-11 SS 72

US Submarine base at Coco Solo, Panama 1923.

The R-26 is in the background with the white tarp over her fore deck.
The Submarine Chaser in the background is SC 285 which can be seen in the O-5 rescue photo above.
The O-3 & O-7 are in front of the R -26. The O-9 is next closest to the camera. The two boats in the foreground are the USS O-5 and a mystery "O" boat. The O-5 reported to Coco Solo in January of 1923 and she sank Oct 18, 1923 with the loss of 2 lives.

USS O-12 SS 73 date of photo unknown.
I count 38 men topside, normal crew size would have been 29.
Location unknown.

USS O-12 SS 73 date of photo unknown.
35 men can be seen in this close up.
Location unknown.

USS O-12 SS 73 circa 1921.
The men are topside for a crew photo.
Onlookers are standing by dockside. It appears that the duty officer is
aft by the conning tower talking with a woman. He is wearing a sidearm.

USS O-12 SS 73 circa 1921.
Crew photo close-ups.

USS O-12 SS 73 circa 1921.
Duty Officer with sidearm talking to lady visitor.
Torpedo loading hatch with built in loading skids is raised.
Behind is the 3"/50 deck gun in its raised position. The round disk is the flash guard.

USS O-12 SS 73 circa 1920.
Crew topside for a photo shoot.
Lapstrake dingy is lashed to the side of the conning tower.
At the bottom of the photo is a list of names. There are only 24 names and 33 crew shown in the photo.
They are:
Morris, Swango, Satterfield, Dooley, Longfield, Lyons, White,
Coody, Burdick, Bingo, Clark, Merrill, Linder, Bower, Cherry,
Packard, Karp, Weigh, Thomas, McCarthy, Burton, Beckler, Ambroio, Elliot

USS O-12 SS 73 circa 1920.
Crew topside on the O-12 for a photo shoot.

USS O-12 SS 73; USS O-14 SS 75; USS O-13 SS 74 and USS O-15 SS 76
Shown here on April 8, 1924, just two months before they were all decommissioned.
The O-12 was sold to the Wilkins-Ellsworth Trans Arctic Submarine Expedition.
Wilkins renamed the O-12 Nautilus for this expedition. Wilkins was trying to surface
at the North Pole but mechanical difficulties made that impossible. Another
Nautilus was to pass under the pole 25 years later But the first surfacing at
the pole was to be the USS SKATE(SSN-578) 28 years later. The O-12 was used
in this first attempt in 1931 and then was scuttled near Bergen, Norway in a fjord.
She was rediscovered in 1985 in about 1100 feet of water.
Position: N 60-26-15 / E 05-16-00

If you look at the picture just above this one you will see
these two men in the bow plane opening of the O-15.
(thanks to Kenneth Henry ENCS(SS) for these two pictures)

The USS O-12 shown here in her decommissioned state at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Moored to the right in the photo is most likely the ex-USS Tonopah or Cheyenne. Both had been used as submarine tenders.

She was decommissioned 17 June 1924 and was placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Struck from the Naval Register 29 July 1930, she transferred to the United States Shipping Board for conversion by the Philadelphia Navy Yard for use on the Sir Hubert Wilkins Arctic Expedition of geophysical investigation.

After use by Lake and Dannenhower, Inc., of Bridgeport, Conn., for the Wilkins-Ellsworth Arctic Expedition, during which the submarine bore the name "NAUTILUS," O-12 was returned to the Navy Department. She was sunk 20 November 1931 in a Norwegian fjord.

Photo provided by the late Rick Larson MMCM (SS) (ret.)

View of Nautilus (ex-O-12) from deck of Navy Ship, 1931

Former USS O-12 now "Nautilus" on sea trials 5/25/1931 (top) and 5/15/1931 (bottom). You can see in the top and bottom photos that the original hull has been extended to bring the freeboard up to more than double the original height. The reason for this isn't clear at this time. In the bottom picture the bow is to the right side of the photo as the boat slips beneath the surface.

USS O-13 SS 74 coming to the surface after a 90 foot test dive off Guantanimo Bay, Cuba, March 3, 1919.

USS O-15 SS 76 crew on deck. It looks like the boats is heading out for operations.
The men forward of the Conn look to be closing the torpedo loading hatch
and the men forward of them seem to be placing mooring lines in a deck locker.
On the bow S1C George V. Peterson, (a cook stiker) appears to be coiling a heavie.

USS O-15 SS 76 crew on back deck.

USS O-15 SS 76 officers on bridge deck.

USS O-15 SS 76 Officer of the Deck (OOD) or perhaps the Captain and the helmsman on the bridge.

USS O-15 SS 76 crew on deck forward of the conn.
Retracting deck gun is in raised position.

USS O-15 SS 76 crew closing the torpedo loading deck hatch.

USS O-15 SS 76 crew stowing mooring line into a locker under deck hatch.

USS O-15 SS 76
S1C George V. Peterson, (a cook stiker) is coiling a heaving line.

USS O-16 SS 77 date of photo unknown.
I count 70 men topside, normal crew size would have been 29.
Location unknown.

USS O-16 SS 77 date of photo unknown.
I count 31 men alone in this close up.
O-16 can be seen on the side of the conning tower behind the men
Location unknown.

USS O-16 SS 77 wearing a version of camouflage "dazzle paint" that was tested using her.

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