S-48

S-48 on the ways at the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, Bridgeport, CT., on her launch day of February 26, 1921. Note the angled steel guard attached to the hull over the non-retractable bow planes. This prevented a tug or other boat from hitting and damaging the planes. It also allowed a mooring cable for a mine to pass without being snared.

U.S. Navy photo NH 108448 courtesy of the NHHC.

A broad port side view of S-48 on the ways at the Lake yard in Bridgeport, CT. on February 26, 1921. Crowds have gathered on this snowy day to see the always exciting launch of one of Uncle Sam's undersea hunters.

U.S. Navy photo NH 108453 via the NHHC.

This photo, taken just prior to the launch of the S-48, is of the ship's sponsor, Mrs. James O. Germaine. She is a Native American princess of the Mohican Tribe. She was selected by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to be the sponsor. Her Mohican name is Princess Tocoomwas. The bow of the S-48 can be seen in the right background.

There is another woman in tribal dress on the left and she is wearing a number of beaded necklaces. On her dress on the lower front is a swastika. It has nothing to do with the Nazi party at this time. It is an ancient symbol that has history going back thousands of years and has various meanings depending on the region of the world it appears. The word swastika derives from the Sanskrit "svastika" meaning "lucky or auspicious object". it is commonly used as a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism. It was considered as a luck symbol in many cultures.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-48 sliding down the ways and touching the water for the first time, February 26, 1921. The wooden cradle that she is sitting on will float free once she is fully waterborne. The cradle will be retrieved by a tug and reused.

U.S. Navy photo NH 108451 courtesy of the NHHC.

S-48 fully afloat in the waters of Bridgeport Harbor after launching from the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yard, February 26, 1921. Tugs have made up to her and will be moving her to the fitting out pier. The launch cradle can be seen floating on the far left, and pancake ice litters the water on this cold winter day.

U.S. Navy photo NH 108449 courtesy of the NHHC.

S-48 alongside the fitting out pier at the Lake yard, February 26, 1921. She is sitting high in the water as much work remains to be done, including installing the heavy battery cells. The bow plane guard can be seen just below the round superstructure limber holes.

U.S. Navy photo NH 108450 courtesy of the NHHC.

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  U.S. Navy photo.

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  Photo courtesy of T. Gray Curtis.

After she was completed but before she was accepted by the Navy, a Lake company crew along with some Navy observers took S-48 out to sea on builder's trials on December 7, 1921. During a dive off Penfield Reef in Long Island Sound, S-48 sank by the stern in 60 feet of water and came to rest upright on the bottom. The Lake crew was able to blow the forward ballast tanks and they brought the bow to the surface. They disconnected the interlocks for both ends of #2 torpedo tube and escaped through the tube to a tug which took them to New York. No one was injured. These pictures were taken during the subsequent salvage operation. The photo on the right shows that the open tube's muzzle door has been shut and braced closed by wooden beams. This was done to make the forward torpedo room watertight for the salvage operation.

The trial crew from the Lake Torpedo Boat Company is seen here as photographed for a newspaper story after their rescue from the sunken S-48. There is no indication which newspaper it may be as the photo was removed by Captain Austin and was in his personal papers. All the men's names were listed for the photo but due to damage the last three men to the right on the top row are unreadable. Captain Austin had been the commanding officer of the USS G-2 (Submarine No. 27) during WW I. He had left the Navy and was employed by Lake.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

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  U.S. Navy photo.

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  Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Simon Lake promptly hired the Merritt & Chapman company of New York for the salvage effort. Most of the boat was still watertight so the evolution was relatively simple as salvage jobs go. These two pictures were taken during the salvage operation. A floating derrick was used to raise the stern so that the water could be pumped out. The operation was complete just 13 days after the sinking and S-48 was towed back to the Lake yard in Bridgeport for repairs. A subsequent investigation forced Simon Lake to sheepishly admit that one of his workers had left a manhole cover off an aft ballast tank. When the boat submerged the open cover allowed water to flood the after part of the boat. They got very lucky. If the dive had occurred in deeper water the ending could have been disastrous. S-48 was eventually repaired and she was commissioned into the Navy on October 14, 1922.

S-48 and her crew pierside at an unknown location, summer 1923. The crew seems pretty relaxed. Laundry is hanging from the radio aerial wires on the right.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-48 was a hard luck boat. On the evening of January 29, 1926 she was on her way back to Portsmouth when she ran aground in a snowstorm on Jaffrey Point at the southern mouth of the Piscataqua River. She freed herself after a bit, but in the worsening weather conditions she grounded again at Little Harbor. This time she was stuck hard and the poor weather was causing her to roll excessively on the beach. Her battery was flooding and chlorine gas forced the crew to abandon ship. The entire crew survived, but several men had to be treated for gas exposure. This photo shows her on the beach at Little Harbor on January 30, 1926.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

A closeup of S-48's conning tower fairwater, heeled far over to starboard, grounded at Little Harbor, New Hampshire, January 30, 1926. The bridge fairwater juts out over the conning tower itself, three of the seven small round deadlight windows in the conning tower can be seen just below the bridge overhang. Just to the left of the "S 48" are three round watertight ammunition storage lockers for the 4"/50 caliber deck gun. The radio mast near the top of the photo appears to be bent.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Salvage operations on the stranded S-48 began immediately. She was refloated on February 7th and was towed to the Portsmouth Navy Yard just a few miles away. This photo shows a wrecking derrick helping to refloat her and the Navy harbor tug USS Penacook (YTM-6).

U.S. Navy photo.

Penacook and another tug towing the S-48 up the Piscataqua River near the Portsmouth Navy Yard, February 7, 1926. They are just passing the Portsmouth Naval Prison at the east end of the yard. The sub is sitting pretty low in the water, as she has not been completely dewatered yet.

U.S. Navy photo.

S-48 and Penacook very near the end of the tow to the Portsmouth yard, preparing to hand off the submarine to the drydock, February 7, 1926

U.S. Navy photo.

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Two views of the S-48 in drydock at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME. on February 8, 1926. Hull plates along her bottom have been heavily indented, her starboard bow diving plane has been ripped off and the guard bent up, and her starboard side propeller, shaft and stern diving plane have been destroyed. In the left photo the large round plate is the transducer for the Fessenden Oscillator, an early form of sonar. The damaged strip underneath it is the former location for the MV series passive sonar. The oblong housing and transducers have been completely sheared off by the grounding, leaving dangling wires. In the photo on the right, the stern torpedo tube can be seen jutting through the stern "chisel". Compare this configuration to the one for the S-11 (SS-116) and the differences in the stern tube design can be clearly seen.

In the aftermath of this incident the commanding officer of the S-48, a Lieutenant Commander, was court-martialed as was customary. He was charged with negligence and failure to obey orders. The court acquitted him of all charges, although the Secretary of the Navy disapproved the finding on the 2nd of the two charges. The SecNav's disapproval carried no legal weight and in the end the acquittal stood.

U.S. Navy photos.

In the period between 1925 and 1928 the damaged S-48 was in and out of commission at Portsmouth as the Navy dithered on whether she would be repaired. Finally, she was taken in hand in early 1928 and thoroughly overhauled and modernized in compliance with a Navy scheme to modernize the Government design S-boats. It was thought that these boats could become excellent long range patrol submarines if their basic deficiencies could be corrected. S-48 was lengthened by 25 feet 6 inches, her battery was completely replaced and divided into two compartments, she received brand new MAN engines, and her interior was completely renovated and brought up to date. She also received one of the first air conditioning plants ever installed on a USN submarine. She is shown here alongside in Portsmouth probably while the conversion work was still ongoing, fall of 1928.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

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This is a series of seven photos likely taken during December of 1928 or early January, 1929, after the S-48 had been re-commissioned but before she left for exercises off Connecticut and Florida. These photos seem to have been taken over several days, as the crew are wearing different uniforms in some of them. It was an icy cold and snowy day in Maine/New Hampshire, yet the crew seem to be enjoying themselves. Some of the S-48's new features can be seen, such as the extra length and the high gunnels around the forward deck. In the third and sixth pictures the two men are likely the Commanding Officer, LT Alf O.E. Bergesen, and the Executive Officer LT William N. Meyer. In the fifth picture the crew is loading two Mk 10 torpedoes into the forward torpedo room.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

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S-48's senior officers, taken at the same time as the photos above. Commanding Officer LT Alf O.E. Bergesen on the left, with Executive Officer LT William N. Meyer on the right.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-48's senior officers shown here in a warmer situation, possibly in Groton or Florida, March or April 1929. Bergesen is on the left, Meyer is on the right. There are two Chief Petty Officers behind them. The 4"/50 caliber gun is raised and the hatch in front of the gun leads to the forward battery compartment.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-48 in the Gaillard Cut of the Panama Canal, circa 1931. It is not clear which direction she is headed. Her raised bulwarks on the fore deck are visible and crew can be seen sitting on the deck just aft of the radio antenna stanchion. Other crew can be seen on the aft deck. A canvas sun awning is in place over the bridge.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Another view taken at nearly the same time as the photo above. This shot gives an impression of how rugged the Gaillard Cut was. It literally had to be blasted out of the mountain range that cut across the canal route, and it proved to be a major headache for the canal engineers and workers. By necessity the sides had to be steep and the torrential rains of the region made landslides a frequent occurrence. It was eventually stabilized enough to permit passage, but it remained a constant work site in order to keep clear. In recent times the cut has been greatly expanded with the sides far less steep.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-48 alongside the pier in Coco Solo, Panama, March 1931. An awning has been thrown over the aft radio wires in an attempt to provide some relief from the oppressive tropical sun of Panama.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

A July, 1933 photo of S-48, likely in the vicinity of Coco Solo, Panama. The dark rectangle on her starboard bow is the recessed housing for the standard Navy stockless anchor.

U.S. Navy photo.

This crew photo and the following closeups are dated 1934 and appears to have been taken at Coco Solo where she was stationed at that time. In July 1933, she was assigned to the Rotating Reserve and in 1935 she was ordered inactivated. She seems to be actively manned and in service in this photo. The crew of 47 men has taken the time to spread themselves around to be sure the submarines name is visible. The round logo above the Chief's heads is for Submarine Squadron Five.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

The man at the left seems to be a first class Radioman with more than eight years active duty. He is also Qualified in Submarines as seen by the cloth dolphins sewn on his right sleeve below the elbow. The four men on the right are nonrated but the stripe around and under the right shoulder means they are qualified watch standers. The man in the front right is also Qualified in Submarines. The man just to the right of the radio mast has no stripe but his left sleeve is not visible so he may be rated. His right sleeve is not visible, so it is impossible to tell if he is Submarine Qualified.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Seven out of the ten men seen in this detail are Submarine Qualified. Two men are doubtful due the right forearm being obscured, one by a hand the other by the sleeve being pushed up. The man at lower right is not qualified at this point. We are unable to see what rates these men are.

The second man seated from the left is a First Class Petty Officer with over eight years service but we are unable to tell what his rate is. The man at the top of the image is striking a pretty dramatic pose for the camera. He also seems to be maybe Hawaiian or Guamanian and at the time this was taken he would either be a cook or officer's steward. People of "color" were limited as to what they were allowed to do in the post WW I segregated Navy.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

Two of the men in this detail can be identified by rate. The man second from the left is a third class Radioman and the third man is a Third class Torpedoman, both are Submarine Qualified. The man at the far left is also Submarine Qualified but is nonrated but and a qualified watch stander.

The next two men are qualified watch standers, one in the Engineering field. The man with the stripe around his left shoulder would have had a red not black stripe meaning he was striking for either Machinist Mate, Engineman, or Electricians Mate. They are not Submarine Qualified yet.

The next two men are both Submarine Qualified.

One of the subs life rings with the sub's name on it is hung on the side of the conning tower fairwater. The black canister probably holds a length of line attached to both the life ring and submarine. These would have been taken below before diving.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

The man in the middle in the front row is a Second Class Torpedoman and is Submarine Qualified. The other men with their right sleeves visible seem to not be Qualified yet. Two of the men in back are probably rated men and may or may not be Submarine Qualified.

The man to the left of the Second Class is probably a Filipino and is most likely an officer's steward, again, due to the segregation in the services created by President Wilson that persons of "color" were restricted in jobs they were allowed to perform.

The officer on the right is Submarine Qualified. He is wearing his gold plated Dolphins on his left chest. He is a Lieutenant Junior Grade indicated by the 1½ stripes on his shoulder boards. The star next to the stripes means he is a "Line Officer" and can succeed to command of a vessel.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

This is the Ward Room of the S-48, meaning the officers who commanded the crew. The men are all Lieutenants Junior Grade except the man standing between the 4 and the 8 who is a full Lieutenant and no-doubt the Commanding Officer. Given the time frame this man is likely LT Olton R. Bennehoff. We think the officer on the right is the Executive Officer (the 2nd in command) and the other two men are the Engineering and Navigation Officers. All are Submarine Qualified.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

The Chief on the left next to the officer is a Chief Machinist Mate with more than eight years service, Sub Qualified. The next chief is a Chief Torpedoman, again, with over eight years service and like wise Qualified. We can't say what the next chief is other than it is a left arm rate, maybe an Electrician. It is unknown.

The next man is a fireman striker noted by the stripe over and under the left shoulder. He is a qualified watch stander and Submarine Qualified.

The next man is a petty officer and is Submarine Qualified. The badge on his right arm with the star above looks to to be a Gun Pointer/Gun Director First Class badge that may mean the man is probably a Gunner's Mate and perhaps the Gun Captain for the S-48's 4"/50 caliber deck gun.

The next man in the front row is a "hot running" Second Class Electricians Mate with no "hash marks" meaning he has made "rate" in under 4 years. We can't see his right arm to see if he is Qualified. The man directly behind is a First Class Electrician. The three hash marks mean over 12 years active service in the Navy and he has also Qualified in Submarines.

The man in the middle moved and is, unfortunately, blurred for posterity. The next two men are Submarine Qualified. The to the left is a Third Class Petty Officer with over eight years service. Rate unknown. The man on the right is a Second Class Machinist Mate with some time over 4 years active service.

Of the last two men in the second row, the man on the left is a firemen striker but that is just about all that can be found out from this photo. The man on the right is a First Class Petty Officer with over eight years service.

The last two men in the third row are seen as a Third Class Petty Officer with over eight years service and the other man is a fireman striker with a hash mark meaning over 4 years service.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

A lower resolution photo of S-48 in March, 1941, somewhere in the western Atlantic. S-48 had spent 4½ years in inactive reserve in Philadelphia. She had been recommissioned in December 1940 as the situation in Europe deteriorated. She is now painted the standard black and has only her hull number showing topside.

U.S. Navy photo.

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