S-13

This photo of the S-13 is taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard sometime close to her commissioning on July 14, 1923. There are both civilians and Navy sailors in uniform on the dock and on the boat. It is noted, however, that the sailors are wearing dress blue uniforms which could place the photo prior to June 1st, before the change to summer white uniforms. These is no sign of a commissioning pennant, American flag or the Navy Jack at the bow which the vessel would carry if it was commissioned.

In the background is the World War I Memorial Bridge that was a vertical-lift bridge that carried U.S. Route 1 across the Piscataqua River between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Badger's Island in Kittery, Maine. The bridge is seen in its raised position and probably still under construction. The bridge was officially opened on August 17, 1923 so this photo is notable in that neither the bridge nor the submarine have been completed for use at this point.

In a side note, five-year old Eileen Foley who cut the ceremonial silk ribbon in 1923 to open the bridge returned in 2013, 90 years later, to dedicate the bridge's replacement.

U.S. Navy photo. Bridge identification by Jim Christley with information from Wikipedia.

S-13 is seen here entering San Francisco Bay. The exact date is not known. We do know that the S-13 left New London on November 24, 1924 and proceeded, via the Panama Canal to California and then on to Hawaii, arriving on April 27 and stayed there until May 25, 1925. She headed back to New London on July 12, 1925.

Using this information, we can extrapolate an approximate date of late 1924 to early 1925 for this image of her sailing into San Francisco Bay.

It is easy to look at this photo and determine that the boat was painted black. In actuality, that perception is a trick of lighting and the age of the photo. During the dates in question, the S-13 was still painted the traditional haze gray. She would not be painted black until 1934-1935.

U.S. Navy photo.

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