R-24 on her launch day August 21, 1918 at the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yard in Bridgeport, CT. She is still firmly resting on her launch cradle, and that is the only thing that has touched the water, although the lower tip of her rudder support is only inches from getting wet. This photo gives a great view of the stern configuration of the Lake design, with a buoyant, flat horizontal "shovel" stern and all of the control surfaces and propellers mounted ventrally. This is in marked contrast to the EB design, which had everything mounted axially in line with the boat's centerline.
The buoyant stern and ventral control surfaces was one of the design features pioneered by Lake that the Navy actually liked. It made the boat ride better in the sea, and it put the control surfaces deeper in the water and thus more effective while surfaced.
Another boat, likely R-22 or R-27 is on the other set of ways in the background. That boat would be launched one month later on September 23.
Photo NH 108254 courtesy of NHHC.
R-24 is seen here underway in the basin at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, September 22, 1923. She had been there for a shipyard overhaul. Overall, the Lake design for the R-boats were good looking warships, but they were saddled with unreliable engines, slow diving times, and overall mechanical unreliability.
There are a number of decommissioned ships moored to the right. The ship painted white with a red stripe is the hospital ship USS Solace (AH-2) the ship to her immediate right is the destroyer Mayrant (DD-31) and the second ship from the right is the destroyer Drayton (DD-23).
