S-4 salvage: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:48, 6 September 2023

This photo was taken at approximately 3:30 pm on March 17, 1928, shortly after the salvage force successfully raised the S-4 from the bottom of Cape Cod Bay off Provincetown, MA. The six salvage pontoons that are supporting the S-4's wreck can be seen, and in the middle is the sub's conning tower fairwater. The ship on the left is the submarine rescue vessel USS Falcon (ASR-2), the lead salvage ship of the force. She is connected to the S-4 and the pontoons via towing chains and air hoses. Compressed air had to be continuously pumped to the pontoons in order to keep them fully buoyant. The Falcon trailed the S-4 all the way back to Boston.

The salvage operation went remarkably well, all things considered. The Navy had learned a lot about open ocean salvage during the S-51 operation two years prior. Those lessons greatly sped the S-4 operation, and she was off the bottom in a little over three months, as opposed to the 9½ months for the S-51.

Please see the Jim Christley article at this link for the story of the S-4.

U.S. Navy photo.

The S-4 under tow to the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, MA. on the morning of March 18, 1928. They are in Boston's Inner Harbor at this point, with Haymarket and the North End in view in the background. The fleet tugs USS Wandank (AT-26) and Sagamore (AT-20) are in the lead. The two smaller tugs are not identified.

U.S. Navy photo.

The top of S-4's conning tower fairwater as she hung from the pontoons, March 18, 1928. Visible are the bridge, the periscope shears, a pipe frame lookout stand at the top of the shears, and both periscopes. A national ensign has been raised on a makeshift flagstaff braced to the shears. This photo was taken in Boston's Inner Harbor, just off the Navy Yard in Charlestown.

U.S. Navy photo.

In this photo, S-4 has been placed on the blocks inside the drydock at the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, MA. The date is March 18, 1928. The boat has been rolled upright and braced to the dock sidewall by divers. The pumping of the dock has not yet begun. One of the pontoons can be seen on the far right.

U.S. Navy photo.

A long view of the S-4 and her pontoons in drydock at Charlestown. This photo was taken from a crane at the caisson end of the drydock. All of the pontoons used are in view, and they are still in their towing positions. At this point, divers are in the water from the various small boats milling about the dock. They are checking to make sure that the S-4 is resting squarely on the blocks and that none of them shifted while the boat was being rolled to an even keel. Once these inspections are complete, the pumping of the dock will resume. The dock workers have installed two long braces to either side of the conning tower fairwater. These will ensure that the boat does not roll as the water is pumped out.

U.S. Navy photo.

On the S-4 workman is beginning the process of pumping out the submarine. On the raft in the background a diver is emerging from the water after inspecting the placement of the keel on the keel blocks. His helmet rests at the feet of the man with his hands in his pockets. A manual hand-cranked pump for delivering air to the diver is at the other end of the raft with the men to turn it clustered around it.

U.S. Navy photo.

The actual pumping of the dock did not begin until the morning of March 19, 1928. By this point the boat is firmly on the blocks and the dock is being pumped down. The deck gun has been turned to port to allow better access to the damaged deck. Workmen are rigging pumping hoses to dewater the battery compartment directly below, as this was the only compartment that was unable to be dewatered due to the damage it received from the Paulding. The deck damage seen here was caused by the Paulding as it slid along the upper part of the hull during the collision. Of historical note in this photo is the cover that is in place over the breech end of the 4"/50 caliber gun. This cover is not seen in most photos. It was used to keep the delicate mechanism of the gun breech free of saltwater.

Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis.

A photo taken slightly later than the one above, March 18, 1928. More water has been pumped out of the dock, and diving barges are still milling about, with divers continuously checking the keel blocks to ensure they stay in place.

U.S. Navy photo

Enough water has been pumped out of the dock to reveal the collision damage for the first time. March 19, 1928.

Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

A good view of the hole in the starboard side of the S-4. The Paulding struck the S-4 at nearly head-on, and once the Paulding's forefoot broke off inside the submarine's hull, the ship slid up and over the hull and scraping it as it went past. It then struck the superstructure and heavily damaged it before the S-4 sank below the ship.

mage provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

U.S. Navy photo.
U.S. Navy photo.
Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.
Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

Four additional views of the damage to S-4's starboard side. Photo #2 has been marked up with arrows to show the damage, and in photo #3 on the left a small portion of the broken lower forefoot of the USCGC Paulding (the ship that struck S-4) can still be seen.

In this photo, probably taken on March 19, 1928, the dry dock is finally almost pumped free of water. Yard and Navy personnel can be seen on and under the submarine. It is draped with a profusion of lines, hoses, and pontoon lifting chains.

The long sausage looking object on the hull below the waterline beneath the bow planes is a MV sonar, a replacement for the earlier Y-tube mounted on the main deck forward. It was a line array of 12 microphones and was electronically steered. A duplicate array was on the port side.

U.S. Navy photo.

Looking at the S-4 from the port side. Damage to the deck can be seen, as well as damage to the fairwater at the front of the conning tower where the ammunition passing scuttle is located. The fairwater damage was caused by the salvage process from the lifting chains and pontoons. This can be seen just above the letter "S" on the fairwater.

Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

A closer look at the forward end of the conning tower fairwater and the damage it sustained during the salvage process. The three round portholes in the background let light into the watertight conning tower.

Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

A series of four photos show Secretary of the Navy Curtis D. Wilbur (wearing the fedora hat and long coat) at the Boston Navy Yard on March 20, 1928 to inspect the wreck of the S-4. In photo #1 he is talking to Captain Ernest J. King, who commanded the Salvage Force. On the far left is RADM Philip Andrews, Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard, and on the right is Lieutenant Henry Hartley, a salvage expert. King would go on to five star Fleet Admiral rank and would serve President Franklin Roosevelt as Chief of Naval Operations during WWII.

U.S. Navy photos.

This photo was taken on March 21, 1928, several days after the ones above. The 4"/50 caliber deck gun has been removed to facilitate repairs to the boat. The collision damage to the deck and superstructure in the area of the hole, (to the left in this photo), is clearly seen. At the right side is a large electrical pump that is in use pumping water from the hull. The stanchions for the radio antennas atop the bridge are bent to port as is the periscope. The two massive poles bracing the submarine to the sides of the drydock are seen running to each side of the photo. Portable lighting has been set up to allow work into the night and provide a safe area for walking due to all the damage. The round wire mesh enclosure in the foreground is a covering for one of the main ballast tank vents.

Image provided courtesy of the Stephen B. Luce Library, SUNY Maritime College, Papers of John S. Baylis via Joe Williams.

In dry dock at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, circa March 21, 1928. The original caption reads: "In memory of the historic crew. A huge cross of roses, the gift of workers at the Boston Navy Yard, is tied to the periscope of the ill-fated submarine S-4, after the eight bodies were removed from the undersea craft which is now in drydock at the Boston Navy Yard." Two men are seen attaching the roses to the periscope. Note the depth marking stick placed just forward of the submarine's fairwater during salvage operations.

U.S. Navy photo.