S-29

S-29 is shown underway in San Diego Harbor, late 1920s to early 1930s. She is likely maneuvering up to a nest anchorage in mid harbor, potentially anchorage number 54 or 55. The stern of another S-boat can be seen in the foreground, and this boat is likely moored next to an anchored tender. In the background is the aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1) moored at the T-shaped pier at Naval Air Station North Island.

S-29 has been given a modification common to the 20 and 30 series S-boats, a raised aft end of the conning tower fairwater. There is an access hatch to the after battery compartment inside this aft part of the fairwater, in addition to an intake for a ventilation pipe for the battery. The original design for the fairwater was not high enough, with the ventilation intake frequently swamped by heavy seas. This mod lengthened the ventilation pipe to put the intake higher up and thus drier. The fairwater was rebuilt around it. The access hatch remained in its previous location.

Photo NH 108431 via NHHC.

Notes for photos below

We do not have many good photos of S-29 here on PigBoats, but the ones we do have are quite interesting. The following series of eight photos was discovered on the Portsmouth Ship Breaking page on Facebook. We contacted the page's owner and received permission to repost them here. S-29 held the final honors for the entire S-class of submarines as being the last of the boats to physically exist above water. Her wreck has finally been fully disposed of, but boy would we have loved to get a good look at her before she went to the great submarine ghost fleet.

This submarine is the ex-S-29. Loaned to the Royal Navy in 1942 she was renamed HMS P556 and served Great Britain well until 1944. A series of mechanical problems forced the RN to retire her to reserve status. On 26 January 1945 her ownership was returned to the United States Navy, but she languished in a decommissioned state at Portsmouth, UK until the USN sold her for scrap two years later to H.G. Pounds Shipowners and Shipbreakers Limited. The hulk sat grounded in the mudflats near Portchester until 1965, when she was finally moved to the nearby Pounds yard in Tipner Lake. This photo was most likely taken in the early 1960’s. Her former RN name P556 can still be faintly seen on the side of the conning tower fairwater. She is still mostly intact, but badly corroded and rusted.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

This shows ex-S-29 alongside the Pounds wrecking pier at Tipner Lake, Portsmouth, U.K. The date is most likely early 1970’s. The wreck is still mostly intact. There is damage at the tip of the bow, probably from the towing operation. The angular, slab-sided fairings for the bow plane pivots can see on the side of the forward superstructure. A large hole has been cut in the pressure hull above the forward battery compartment, with portions of the superstructure missing. Also, the bridge chariot-style fairwater has been removed, although the remainder of the conning tower fairwater is still in place. The large white pipe in the center of the fairwater is intake piping for the engine room.

Photo courtesy of David Hill via Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

ex-S-29 shown during the wrecking process at the Pounds scrapyard in Portsmouth, UK. The date of this photo is late 1970’s. The pace of the wrecking process at Pounds seemed to be exceedingly slow. Not much progress was made since the boat arrived in this spot in 1965. The engine room ventilation pipe can be seen in the center of the fairwater, and the hatchway going down to the conning tower can be seen at the forward end of the fairwater. Most of the superstructure is missing, and the foundation for the 4”/50 caliber Mk 9 deck gun can be seen attached to the pressure hull just forward of the fairwater.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

ex-S-29 seen alongside the Pounds scrapyard pier, late 1970’s or early 1980’s. This view is from the starboard quarter. The top of the rudder skeg can be seen in the lower left. The aft superstructure has been completely removed, and the engine mufflers can be seen in the center.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

A weary ex-S-29 in the throes of a very slow disassembly process at the Pounds scrapyard in Portsmouth, UK, probably early 1980’s. View is from the starboard quarter. On the left the engine mufflers can be seen. In the center is the conning tower fairwater with the engine room ventilation piping sticking up from the center. The remnants of her RN name (P556) can be seen, next to some graffiti. In the background the sail (in RN parlance the “fin”) of submarine HMS Statesman can be seen.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

The aft most part of the pressure hull and the rudder skeg of the ex-S-29 rusting away at the Pounds scrapyard in Portsmouth, UK mid 1980’s.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

The end of the line for the ex-S-29. This photo shows her just before her final breakup in the late 1980’s (one source says this was in 1990). Her conning tower fairwater had been removed and she was broken into two major pieces. The remains were loaded onto a barge and shipped off to Spain for the final work.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

In the late 1980’s as the final wrecking work was being done on the ex-S-29/P556, the conning tower and the fairwater was removed and relocated to the nearby Fort Southwick historical site just north of Portchester. There may have been some ideas of setting up a memorial of sorts. This photo was taken in 2017 and shows the ex-S-29’s conning tower in the center with torpedo tubes and a gray sonar dome from RN submarines HMS Tiptoe and HMS Artemis. The deadlight portholes for the conning tower can be seen, and at the very top the coaming edge for the bridge hatch is visible. On the right, the odd shaped circular object with holes in it is actually the high pressure ballast pump from the ex-S-29/P556. Sometime after this photo was taken, all of this wreckage was removed and presumably disposed of. A current Google Earth image of the site shows it to be a parking area for cars. The administrator of the Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page has stated that it is possible that this wreckage was put into storage at the fort, since the former owner of the Pounds yard also owned the former British Army fort.

Photo author unknown, courtesy of Portsmouth Ship Breaking Facebook page. Used with permission.

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