USN photo from the Rick Larson Collection, now in the private collection of Ric Hedman.
S-1 sliding down the ways at the Bethlehem Quincy shipyard (formerly Fore River Shipbuilding), Quincy, MA. on October 26, 1918. The tube at the tip of the bow is a towing fairlead hawsepipe. The two port side torpedo tube shutter doors can be seen, and at the bottom underneath the retracted bow planes is the boat's mushroom anchor. Despite flying the U.S. flag on the aft flagstaff, the boat is not yet in commission, and would not be until June 5, 1920.
L-2 in an unknown location, approximately fall of 1916. In July of 1918 while patrolling in the Irish Sea, a large explosion rocked the L-2 about 25 feet on her beam. A torpedo aimed at her by a German U-boat had seemingly detonated prematurely. A periscope was sighted so the L-2 immediately submerged and made an unsuccessful attempt to ram the submarine. with her primitive sonar she couldn't track the U-boat well under water, plus the U-boat had superior under water speed. Later it was suspected that a U-boat had indeed attempted to fire upon the L-2, but another U-boat, the U-65, was unknowingly in the way and was hit by the torpedo meant for L-2. Some time later when the L-2 was dry docked her hull plating was noted to be heavily dented from the close by explosion. The U-65 never returned to her port.
