R-6

This photo shows R-6 alongside the R-10 with her bow sticking up above the water and with her stern sunk to the bottom. The minesweeper USS Cardinal (AM-6) is standing by in the background.

USN photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

On September 26 , 1921 while stationed at San Pedro Submarine Base she was moored in a nest to the side of the tender Camden which was anchored in the harbor. The R-6 was making preparations for battle practice the next day. The Commanding Officer, Lt. Irving R. Chambers, was aboard as well as two other junior officers, Lieut. S. D. Juts and J. M. Steel. The torpedo gang was making a 'fish' ready and looking over systems in the torpedo room. They were working late and and were hard at it far into the night. The operations the next day were to involve the firing of exercise torpedoes that had a dummy warhead that was filled with water. When the torpedo reached the end of its run a mechanism in the torpedo was to blow air into the head and blowing out all the water make the torpedo float nose up making it easy to retrieve.

During this time a malfunction in one of her torpedo tubes interlock systems caused the inner and outer doors to be able to be opened at the same time. The crew was unaware of this. It is unclear from the reports from that time why the interlock failed but apparently the shutter door and outer door of one of the tubes was open or partly open and water pressure caused the inner door to fail and water began flooding the torpedo room.

The startled crew ran from the room into the forward battery compartment. Others escaped through the torpedo room deck hatch. One man seeing what was happening raced to the deck an chopped the mooring lines that held the R-6 to the nest of submarines moored to the tender Camden. The weight of the flooded submarine would have pulled the other submarines under as well.

The reports say that Electricians Mate second class Frank A Spalsbury and Seaman John E Dreffien were among those aboard. Witnesses say they heard a small explosion inside the submarine and at that time Electrician Spalsbury was seen to be launched into the air from the conning tower hatch, from which he was trying to escape and land in the water. At first it was thought that Seaman Dreffien and one other were trapped inside the submarine and had managed to secure themselves in a compartment.

The submarine continued to flood and reports also say that Lieut Chambers was the last officer to leave the submarine and he began at once to help other men in the water to safety and didn't stop until all men were assisted. The R-6 settled in 35 feet of water on the harbor bottom.

At first light work began in hopes of saving those inside the submarine. A large crane that was working in the harbor was brought over and divers went down to attach ropes to the submarine. They also tapped on the hull to see if there was any response from inside. Over the night one of the missing men had been located so it was only Seaman John Dreffein unaccounted for and presumed inside the hull. The submarine proved to be too heavy for the crane to lift.

Several days later, on the 29th, Electrician Spalsburys' body was found on the bottom of the harbor only about ten feet from his sunk submarine.

Frank Amzi Spalsbury was born and raised in a modest farming town in Northwest North Dakota named Powers Lake. Born on February 18, 1900, he was the son of Arthur Amzi 'Arthur W.' Spalsbury and Elizabeth Ann 'Bessie' Hall Spalsbury. He had a younger brother named Edward Arthur and another named Alan W. His father was a Stone mason. According to Powers Lake town historian, Larry Tinjum, the father was responsible for most of the towns cement work in the early years of the towns creation. At age 18 and WW I raging in Europe, Frank registered for the draft but joined the Navy. He had risen to the rank of Electricians Mate 2/Class at the time of his death. He was returned to Powers Lake is and buried at Bethel Cemetery just to the southwest of the town. He lies there under a beautiful red granite head stone.

Finally on October 13 the R-6 was refloated with the assistance of the R-10 who provided the pressure air to expel the water from the R-6 hull and the USS Cardinal AM-6.

Once the R-6 was back on the surface and crews could get aboard, the body of Seaman John E Dreffein was located. Little can be found about this man. He seems to have been born in Three Oaks, Michigan and born on August 27, 1898. He was buried in the Rock Island National Cemetery in Rock Island, Illinois, Plot: SE–453. There seem to be a number of Dreffein names in the Illinois area so it is quite possible there are family in that area.

The combined efforts of the crews of the R-10 and the Cardinal sealed up the R-6 and pumped out the water. She was fully raised on October 13, 1921 and towed to the Mare Island Navy Yard for reconditioning. Surprisingly she had suffered little damage and after a thorough drying out and cleaning was put back into full service.

U.S. Navy photo NH 93419 via NHHC.

R-6 seen from the air, port side, somewhere in the Atlantic, 1940-1941. For the R-class it was normal to have the deck gun stowed in an aft pointing position. There was a bracket on the forward end of the fairwater that the barrel could be clamped to. The R-class was unusual in this respect. R-6 had sat in reserve with the mothball fleet in Philadelphia from 1931 to 1940, when the war conditions in Europe prompted the Navy to put the reserve O and R-class boats back into full service.

USN photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

R-6 crew, 1944. Michael Raymond Gargano, Signalman 2nd Class, is fifth man from the right in the back row. This is the crew that did the early work on developing the first USN submarine snorkel. The fifth man from the left in front row is Ensign W. Bernard Carlson, Jr. He had served aboard the USS Crevalle (SS-291) before reporting to the R-6. As a side note it is interesting that Ensign Carlson's wife was also a commissioned Navy Officer who ran the Medical Technology Laboratory at Submarine Base New London during the war.

The crew photo was most likely taken at Christmas 1944 in or around New London/Groton at a place called "Polly's" that burned down in the late 40's or early 50's. There were numerous crew parties and photos taken there. When asked, locals can no longer tell you exactly where it was located.