O-15

O-15 underway on June 28, 1919, "Peace Day", (the day Germany Signs Treaty of Versailles), at the Philidelphia Navy Yard. On the bridge, aft, is Lt Sifrein Fontaine Maury, the Commanding Officer. The other officers and men are not identified except for the man all the way forward with the heaving line in his hands. That is Seaman 1st Class George V. Peterson, a cook striker.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

This is a second photo taken moments after the other using a panoramic lens which gives the photo a stretched look.

In the background are seen are a number of other warships. The one closest to the camera at the right side of the photo is the USS New Hampshire (BB-25). Also in the background just to the right of the O-12's conning tower fairwater is the destroyer USS Decatur (DD-5) and further to the right just past the battleships and sticking out behind the stern of the cargo ship is the bow of the USS Dale (DD-4). Stern to the camera is the minesweeper USS Partridge (AM-16).

Photo courtesy of George Petersen, grandson of George Petersen, a crewman on O-boats. Photo now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

The conning tower fairwater and stern of the O-15 is seen here with officers and crew, June 28, 1919 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The man aft on the bridge is the commanding officer, Lt. Sifrein Fontaine Maury, (grandson of Matthew Fontaine Maury, the famed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology"), Note that the submarine's commissioning pennant is wrapped around the #2 periscope. The man to the right on the bridge is the helmsman and has the ships wheel in front of him. On the deck the 3"/23 caliber deck gun is raised. To the right of the conning tower and bridge in the background is the USS Decatur (DD-5).

Photo courtesy of George Petersen, grandson of George Petersen, a crewman on O-boats. Photo now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

A closeup of the panoramic photo above, showing crew on the deck of O-15. The man all the way to the right is Seaman 1st Class George V. Peterson, a cook striker. The round plates on the superstructure that look like portholes are actually flood ports for the watertight superstructure, a feature of the Lake design. All submarine up to this point had a low amount of surface buoyancy, making them wet boats while on the surface. Simon Lake designed the superstructure to be watertight while surfaced, in theory providing extra reserve buoyancy. In fact, it did not provide as much buoyancy as originally thought, and it made the boats more complicated to operate and slower to dive.

Photo courtesy of George Petersen, grandson of George Petersen, a crewman on O-boats. Photo now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Another closeup of the panorama photo, showing details of the New Hampshire, Partridge, and the bow of the O-15. The Lake design for the O-class featured bow planes that retracted into slits in the superstructure, as opposed to folding up alongside as in the EB design. This design feature fell out of favor during the 1930's and 40's, but was revived for the post-WWII diesel and nuclear submarines.

Photo courtesy of George Petersen, grandson of George Petersen, a crewman on O-boats. Photo now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Three crew posing for a humorous photo while a torpedo is being loaded into the O-15. The O-11 is moored to the left. Photo circa 1920. The man on the left is thought to be SN 1c George Peterson, a Cook Striker. The man on the right is pretending to kick the man in front in the back of the head.

The torpedo is suspended from a cinch around its belly that is hanging from the torpedo loading davit. The torpedo is most likely a Bliss-Leavitt Mk 7. It was 18 inches in diameter and 17 feet long. It weighed 1,588 lbs. and had a range of 4,000 yards. The warhead consisted of 205 lbs. of TNT.

Photo courtesy of George Petersen, grandson of George Petersen, a crewman on O-boats. Photo now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

O-15 is in the background of what is a posed photo of a sailor taking a drink from a coconut. Since the only vessel with clear identification is the O-15 we are assuming the man is a crew member of that vessel. The location is identified on the photo as being Coco Solo, Panama and the time frame could be any time circa 1920 to 1923. There is an unknown minesweeper or ASR behind the man.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

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