S-5

There are very few good photographs of the S-5 due to her very short life span. In fact, the webmasters are only aware of four, and one of these is shown here. This very nice photo shows S-5 on builder's trials in the Atlantic, in January or February of 1920. She displays all of the typical features of the as-built Government design. S-5 would be lost in an unusual diving accident just six months after this photo was taken. Miraculously, her crew was able to raise the stern of the sunken boat above the waves and they laboriously cut a hole in the pressure hull in the aft most tiller room. The entire crew was rescued by a passing steamer. A later salvage effort failed and the S-5 remains on the floor of the Atlantic off the coast of Cape May, NJ to this day.

Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H.

This is the aft port corner of S-5's control room, date is circa summer 1920. This shows the large levers used to open or shut the port side Kingston valves that closed off the bottom of the ballast tanks. To the right of the Kingston levers are valves and controls for the ballast trim system, used to move ballast water to various tanks to keep the boat balanced and in proper trim. To the left of the Kingston levers is a drop down window from the boat's galley, which was a small compartment within the control room.

U.S. Navy photo.

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