Small boat
Small Boat Stowage
The first photo was taken alongside the forward edge of the conning tower fairwater, on the starboard side looking forward. The 4"/50 caliber Mk 9 gun is clearly seen. In this particular case, the swinging cover over the breech block has been removed. The cover was found to be redundant as the breech block itself was completely watertight. In many cases the cover was removed. It was retained on some boats.
Farther forward up the deck the torpedo loading hatch is open and the loading skid is raised and locked in place. The skid was used to carefully slide a torpedo down and into the torpedo room.
In the lower right is the rare sight of the sub's small boat in its below deck locker. Part of the deck hatch has been removed to expose the boat. S-boats normally carried only one of these boats, normally on the port side of the deck. This boat has a rare modification to house an additional smaller boat on the starboard side.
U.S. Navy photo.
This view is also of a Government design S-boat, date and location unknown. This shows the normal stowage position for the small boat on the port side. The deck hatch has been lifted and the crew are preparing to haul out the boat. This deck stowage position is not watertight and would completely flood when the boat submerged. A removable transom plug had to be installed to allow the water to drain from the small boat prior to being placed in the water. Water can actually be seen sloshing around in the bilge of the boat.
U.S. Navy photo.
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