189

Under Construction

Saury keel laying June 28, 1937 at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, CT. Workmen in center are doing the final positioning of the keel.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Another view of the Saury keel laying on June 28, 1937 at Electric Boat.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Saury under construction at Electric Boat, April 16, 1938. The bow buoyancy tank has been installed, but none of the superstructure or the conning tower is yet in place. The EB design for this class introduced the faired in bullnose to the very tip of the bow. In the Government design it was still an above deck ring style bullnose.

The boat on the left in the photo is the further along Sargo (SS-188). Sargo's conning tower has been installed, along with the support beams for the periscope shears and much of her superstructure.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

This next series of interior photos were taken at various time during the construction process and are arranged forward to aft. They are out of date sequence and show the boat in various stages of construction. This view is of the forward torpedo room on January 14, 1939 about four months prior to her commissioning. The bars between the torpedo racks were removable and were put into place to allow the movement of the reload weapons so that they could be lined up with the tube.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

A closeup of the photo above showing details of the breech doors of the tubes. Chain hoists are in the overhead to facilitate the movement of torpedoes.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Saury's control room looking aft and to starboard in the fall of 1938. The ballast trim manifold is on the right.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

A closeup of the photo above showing valves used pump or flood various spaces.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Saury's forward engine room looking forward on April 2, 1938. This is early in the construction process. These two engines are her generator engines. The two main propulsions diesels are in the after engine room.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

The same view as the photo above, except on January 18, 1939. The room is now essentially complete. The difference is dramatic.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Saury's after torpedo room looking aft, April 2, 1938. Very little equipment has been installed. The torpedo tubes will eventually penetrate that bulkhead where the smaller holes have already been drilled.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

The same view four months later. The tubes have now been installed where the small holes where. The access hatch to the main deck can be see in the upper center, and the torpedo loading hatch is in the upper foreground center. Much more work remains to be done.

Photo courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Launch Day

A collection of photos of Saury's launch day at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, CT., August 29, 1938. It was traditional in those days to have the prospective Navy crew onboard for the launch, along with selected workers from the yard. The two closeup photos of the fairwater show quite a few civilians onboard as the boat was being moved alongside the pier. The last photo shows two Navy officers walking away from the boat post-launch. It is not known if those two were a part of the crew of Saury.

Photos courtesy of the Submarine Force Library & Museum