S-22

Although PigBoats does not have any photos of S-22 in her as built configuration, she did start out life as a unit of the Bethlehem Quincy built 20 series S-boats. In 1929, S-22 was chosen to be a test boat for several submarine escape and salvage schemes that were being developed by the Navy's Bureau of Construction & Repair (C&R) in the wake of the multiple sinking disasters that befell the S-51 and S-4. These changes ended up giving S-22 a unique silhouette for the remainder of her career in the USN. This photo shows S-22 after being modified at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, ME. The photo was taken on November 21, 1929. This port bow shot gives a good view of an expanded buoyancy tank at the tip of the bow. It also housed a large, unique marker buoy that could be released from inside the boat to mark its position on the bottom. Aft of the hump can be seen the newly installed escape trunk with its open top hatch. Also seen along the tank tops near the waterline are five lifting padeyes that would enable easier attachment of lifting pontoons.

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

Novmber 21, 1929 at Portsmouth. This is a close up of the new forward escape hatch that was installed in the torpedo room. It was large enough to fit three men. It enabled escapes from the forward torpedo room without having to flood the room. To conduct an escape, three men would enter the trunk from below while wearing Momsen Lung escape breathers. After shutting the lower hatch, the trunk would be flooded until a small bubble remained at the top, equalizing to sea pressure. The side hatch (where the officer is exiting in this picture) would then be opened and the men would duck down into the water inside the trunk and out of the side hatch. The side hatch would then be remotely shut from inside the torpedo room and the trunk drained. The process would be repeated until all the men in the room had escaped. The trunk would later be modified with an expanded seating surface around the top hatch that would enable a McCann Rescue Chamber to mate to it. This allowed the safe rescue of men without them having to make a perilous swim to the surface.

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

Novemeber 21, 1929 at Portsmouth. This view of S-22 from the port quarter. The lifting padeyes can be seen along the tank tops (there was another set on the starboard side). Also seen here is the aft marker buoy at the end of the superstructure skeg. The skeg normally ran aft all the way to the rudder, but it has been cut away to make a spot for the marker buoy. Also seen on the far right is an escape hatch leading to the motor room. This hatch operated differently from the one installed in the torpedo room. To use it a collapsible skirt was pulled down from the overhead around the hatch. Then the motor room is flooded up to the bottom of the skirt to equalize with sea pressure. The hatch could then be opened and men could duck under the skirt, swim up through the open hatch, and escape with Momsen Lungs. At normal surface trim the hatch sat right at the water line so it was not used for routine access to the boat, only for emergency escapes. The marker buoy, along with the forward one, was an early prototype design. They would be made shorter when installed as normal equipment on all other submarines. The lifting padeyes were a one-off experiment and were not repeated on other boats.

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

A close up of the photo on the previous page showing S-22 at gunnery practice in the late 1930's off the U.S. east coast. A net has been installed around the gun deck railing to catch the expensive brass shell casings for the 4"/50 caliber Mk 9 gun. The casings from the gun were recovered from the net and later reused once refurbished. Although the S-22 retained the expanded bow buoyancy tank at the tip of the bow, the forward marker buoy has been relocated to a bulge in the deck just aft of the boat's name on the side of the superstructure. Directly above this is the forward escape trunk, which by the date of this photo has been modified with an expanded seating surface for a McCann Rescue Chamber.

The towed gunnery target can be seen just below the horizon as four white dots, with a shell splash just to the left.

From an original photo negative in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-22 moored in New York City, circa the late 1930s. Inboard submarines are (left-to-right): R-1 (SS-78); R-13 (SS-90) and R-4 (SS-81). Note that by the date of this photo, the submarines had all been painted black, an effort that began in 1934-1935.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Another view of the scene above, this one from the bow, New York City, late 1930's. The R and S-class submarines were very similar in design, but the S-class was considerably larger, which is seen in this photo.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

S-22 Officers & Crew, summer of 1941.

Officers, seated in front center, are (left-to-right):
Lieutenant Joseph F. Enright, USN;
Lieutenant Commander George H. Wales, USN, Commanding Officer;
Lieutenant Ernest S. Friedrick, USN;
Ensign Alvin E. Kirstein, USNR.
Harold Lintner, Chief Radioman, just to the left of the two African American Stewards Mates.

Joe Enright would later command the USS Archerfish (SS-311) during WWII. In November, 1944 he directed a well-planned and aggressive attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, receiving credit for sinking the largest ship ever sunk by a submarine.

Photo NH 90515 courtesy of NHHC

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