R-6 Recovery
R-6 Sinking and Recovery
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 and 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 Electrician's Mate 2nd 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 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 LT Chambers was the last officer to leave the submarine. 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.
Courtesy of FindAGrave.com
Several days later, on the 29th, Spalsbury's body was found on the bottom of the harbor only about ten feet from his sunken 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 town's cement work in the early years of the town's creation. At age 18 with WW I raging in Europe, Frank registered for the draft but joined the Navy. He had risen to the rank of Electrician's Mate 2nd Class at the time of his death. He was returned to Powers Lake and is 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, 1921 the R-6 was refloated with the assistance of the USS Cardinal AM-6 and sister ship R-10 who provided the high-pressure air to expel the water from the R-6's hull.
Once the R-6 was back on the surface and crew 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 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.
Once the R-6 was repaired she was sent back to the fleet for duty. She was given a unique task in 1923. From February 26 to March 2 of that year, the R-6 was used by Twentieth Century-Fox in making the motion picture, "The Eleventh Hour". There are several movies made with this name over the years but no account can be found of this movie made in 1923.
Orders came to Submarine Division 9 and the R-6 and they were transferred on July 16, 1923 to Hawaii and Pearl Harbor where she remained for the next eight years engaged in training and operations with fleet units.
Finally, the R-6 was recalled to the Atlantic and on December 12, 1930 she departed the Hawaiian Islands and transited the Panama Canal January 18, 1931. She arrived on February 9th at Philadelphia Navy Yard where she was decommissioned May 4, 1931.
The R-6 sat in ready reserve for 9 years until she was needed once more. She was recalled to active service and recommissioned at Submarine Base New London on November 15, 1940. The R-6 was assigned to Division 42 and departed December 10, 1940 for the submarine base at Coco Solo, C.Z., where she remained carrying out operations until June 16, 1941. She was then transferred to Division 31 at St. Thomas, V.I., on June 22, 1941 and operated in those waters until she was ordered to return to New London October 8 for a refit.
She served faithfully for the rest of the war and even conducted tests on a prototype snorkel. R-6 decommissioned at Key West September 27 and was struck from the Navy list October 11, 1945. She was sold for scrap to Macey O. Scott, Miami, FL., in March 1946.
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