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A Photographic Essay of United States Navy Submarines 1900-1940

Latest Update June 1, 2023

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  03-May-2023
  O-Boats
  USS O-3 & O-2 Groton Ct. c1921

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  03-May-2023
  B-Class
  B-1 before launch Cavite PI 1915

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  USS O-3 & O-2 Groton Ct. c1921

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  B-1 before launch Cavite PI 1915

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  A Good and Favorable Wind A Book by PigBoats.COM

Welcome to the new PigBoats.COM!!

The webmasters have just taken PigBoats.COM through a complete overhaul and yard period. It has been a months long effort to update and expand the site. It is now in an "encyclopedia" style, with class pages, group pages, and individual boat pages. You can use the Navigation box on the left to peruse the site, or you can use the Search box at the top of each page. You will find more pictures and updated captions, submarine data and specifications, photo features and sea stories, blueprints, qualification books, and research articles among other information. All of the submarine pages are listed under the category "The Submarines". Each class page will have all boats of that class listed. The individual boat pages can be accessed by clicking on the "See more" links for each boat. In addition, you will see numerous interior and exterior links to various pages and sites, all of these will be in Bold type. All photos are expandable by clicking on them, giving you the highest resolution that we have. The "Latest Update" section at the top will show you our latest work.

This site was built on Mediawiki using a 15" laptop and optimized for a 2560x1440 resolution. It is fully functional on all types of screens and devices, but be advised that viewing it on smaller screens or lower resolutions may result in Mediawiki readjusting the formatting to fit your screen. Enjoy! - Dave Johnston

This new version of PigBoats.COM begins a new era for us. The formatting is changing and new skills are being learned but most importantly Dave Johnston, USN Retired, has been formally integrated into PigBoats.COM as a full and equal partner. Whereas he previously has been a most valued contributor and consultant for over 20 years and most importantly he has been a good friend. This is the formalization of that partnership. Welcome Dave!

Secondly, in this updated version of PigBoats.COM you will notice many colorized images. There are few from the day but with the new AI technology becoming available and being able to add color to older images it helps us see and visualize what the submarines, men, and service life in those days was like. Too often when we see old pictures and films we think of history as being black and white when, in fact, history was just as colorful as life is today. Black and white photography was just the mainstream technology of the day. We will not include color to all images but a portion of the collection will have this feature added. We hope you will enjoy all our additions and changes. - Ric Hedman

USS K-3 heading out with crew on aft deck. circa 1915

This webpage began as a photo essay about United States submarines beginning with the year 1900 and working up to and through the year 1940. A line had to be drawn some place, so the sub had to be in the water (launched) by December 31, 1940 for inclusion on these pages. The page is also about the men who sailed these submarines. We do not know or remember most of the men's names you will see on these pages, but we have tried to pull their faces out of the crowd. Where the names are known we use it.

I was struck by this statement pulled from another submarine related page called Sweet Bird Of Youth.

These sailors were the boys down the street, around the corner, out on the farms, the high school football heroes and, yes, even the geeks of their time, but they became one of the elite, one of that 1% that made the cut and became "Qualified in Submarines". They were, and still are, the best of the best of the United States Navy.

It is important to remember that the submarines were just steel and machinery. It was the men who brought them to life and made them live. It is the men that gave them the romance, the mystery and the mystique.

I have included a number of first person accounts on a some of the pages of what life was like aboard an "S" or "R" or even a "K" boat. There is also an account of what it was like being bombed on Sealion at Cavite Harbor in December, 1941. All this is most valuable since the men who sailed these boats have mostly commenced their own "eternal patrols". Preservation of these verbal images is important.

Sailors, rest your oar! You stand relieved, we have the watch. ...and thank you!

Acknowledgements

We would like to pass on our undying gratitude to Emilie and Aaron Salsitz, the owners of ICCI.com, a computer hardware and software consulting firm based in Ann Arbor, MI. Their assistant Evan Guzek was also instrumental in the creation of this new site. Thank you so much for your belief in us, and your willingness to help get this project moving forward.

Thanks also go to Dr. Richard Hendren for allowing us to publish his doctoral dissertation on the submarine H-1. Mr. Wolfgang Hechler of Lautertal, Germany has also gifted us the use of his database listing of the commanding officers of the non-nuclear USN submarines, covering the years 1900-2005. It is a monumental work and we are very glad to be able to present it here.

Special thanks go out to Mr. Roland Goodbody, Manuscripts Curator, Milne Special Collections & Archives at the University of New Hampshire Library and his staff and the University of New Hampshire for all their cooperation and kindness in helping us in this endeavor. All photos that are from the Milne Special Collections are their property and may not be reproduced without their permission.

We would also like to thank Wendy Gulley, curator of The US Navy Submarine Force Library & Museum in Groton, Ct. for her kind indulgences in letting us use their archive.

This work has become a collaborative effort by virtue of its viewers offering help, suggestions and images and names for publication on the page. Correcting errors we may have not known about and offering explanations for things we didn't know. Thank you all.

Photos credited to the people who submitted them are their property, and may not be copied or reproduced without their permission unless the original photo came from the public domain such as The National Archives or the United States Navy.

No images may be downloaded and used for commercial purposes.

Submarine silhouettes provided by Submarine Silhouettes a PigBoats.COM service.

Endorsements

Naval History and Heritage Command

The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), based at the Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia, is an Echelon II command with a mission of gathering, preserving, and disseminating our Naval heritage. Many of the photographs that we have collected here have come from their collections. In addition, they maintain the official copy of the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), from which we have gathered much of the background information on the submarines we feature. Please check out their expansive site here.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's primary records and image management service. They maintain a unbelievably vast database of records and photographs that have benefitted PigBoats many times. You might be surprised at what you can find there. Check them out at the National Archives site.

The Lost 52 Project

The Lost 52 Project is based in New York City and is dedicated to providing the fullest possible documentation of all of the 52 United States Navy submarines that were lost in World War II. Their mission goes beyond discovery and exploration and includes site surveys, developing complete database on each submarine, enabling community outreach and build education components that will stand the test of time. PigBoats.COM is proud to endorse this project. Check them out at this link.

Navsource.org

Navsource Naval History is one of the premier sites on the web for images of our warships. It is comprehensive and covers nearly every vessel ever commissioned into the U.S. Navy. We have collaborated with their webmasters on numerous occasions. Please visit their site here.

On Eternal Patrol

On Eternal Patrol.com maintains a database of every U.S. submariner that has lost their life in service of this country, both wartime and peacetime. It is an essential resource for anyone who has lost a loved one in the submarine service, and we have used information from them numerous times. We fully support their mission and cause.

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Ric Hedman & David Johnston
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