O-5

Notes

O-5 would be lost in a collision with a merchant steamer in Limon Bay on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal on October 28, 1923 with the loss of three men. Please see this link for more information and photographs.

O-5 shown here underway in a U.S. east coast port, 1918. A Virginia-class battleship is in the background, camouflaged in disruptive low-visibility pattern.

Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection via Navsource.org

This detail from a much larger undated photo of the O-5 shows the crew on deck "manning the rails" and facing a crowded tourist boat. It seems to be a gala occasion. The crew are in winter blue uniforms and appear to be in peacoats as well. The location is unknown, but is likely a U.S. east coast port. The time frame could be some sort of post WW I victory celebration, late fall of 1918 or spring of 1919.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

O-5 and another unknown O-class submarine at Submarine Base Coco Solo, Panama, 1923. The O-class boats spent a lot of time in the Canal Zone in the 1920's, fulfilling their intended role as coastal defense submarines. They frequently transited the canal and made patrols along both the Atlantic and Pacific sides, operating out of Coco Solo. Rodman Naval Station would be established near Balboa in 1937 to help support operations on the Pacific side of the canal.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

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