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Latest Update June 1, 2023

An important note about submarine names

During the period of history covered by PigBoats.COM, the U.S. Navy changed the naming and designation convention for submarines several times. In order to avoid confusion as you look through these pages, we believe it is vital that you take the time to read over the document in this link: USN Submarine Naming Conventions Thank you!

About PigBoats.COM

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These pages are quite a bit different from our older webpage version. The "Latest Update" section at the top will show you our latest work. The Navigation box on the left is key to finding everything else. All of the submarines are listed under the "Submarine Classes" category. They are further broken down by class and type on following pages. Enjoy!-Dave
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This begins a new era of PigBoats.COM. The formatting is changing and new skills are being learned but most importantly Dave Johnston has been formally integrated into PigBoats.COM as an 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!-Ric
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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.
USS K-3 heading out with crew on aft deck. circa 1915

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 are rapidly making 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!

The Submarine Tradition

"There is something about the submarine service. It tends to create a bond between those who have served that is born of trust. Every submariner who ever put to sea and submerged has placed in the hands of another, their very lives. The bond is not one of close friendship, even though those do grow out of the time spent aboard a boat. It is one of mutual respect - blind to color, ethnicity, religion, nationality and gender. The bond is one of personal responsibility. Not everyone has it. Some don't even know what personal responsibility is. Submariners know what it is. It is their way of life. The trust and respect and sense of personal responsibility is.... "The Submarine Tradition..." -- Author and Historian Jim Christley

"I saw the submariners, the way they stood aloof and silent, watching their pigboat with loving eyes. They are alone in the Navy. I admired the PT boys. And I often wondered how the aviators had the courage to go out day after day and I forgave their boasting. But the submariners! In the entire fleet they stand apart!” -- James Michener, Author; "Tales of the South Pacific"

"There is a touch of the pirate about every man who wears the dolphins badge." -- Commander Jeff Tall, RN

"Submariners are a bunch of intelligent misfits that somehow seem to get along, understand each other, and work well together.” -- Red Hanley

"Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase all for one and one for all is not just a slogan, but reality.” -- VADM Rudolf Golosov of the Russian Navy

"These dolphins, once you pin them on your chest, leave deep marks, right over your heart, long after the uniforms have been put away.” -- Bud F. Turner ex-MT2(SS)

"They weren't just hull numbers, they were our home addresses. Now the old neighborhood is torn down and gone and all that is left are memories." -- Dick Murphy, USS Tiru (SS-416)

PigBoats.COM would like to thank our good friend and colleague Jim Christley, and our brothers at SubmarineSailor.com for the quotes.

Acknowledgements

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.

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 me in this endeavor.

All photos that are from the Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H. are their property and may not be reproduced without their permission.

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

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.

Page created by:
Ric Hedman & David Johnston
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Mountlake Terrace, WA, Norfolk, VA
webmaster at pigboats dot com

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