USS S-51
USS S-51
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS S-51 |
Builder | Lake Torpedo Boat Company |
Laid down | 22 December 1919 |
Launched | 20 August 1921 |
Commissioned | 24 June 1922 |
Stricken | 27 January 1930 |
Fate |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type | S-class submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length | 240 ft (73 m) |
Beam | 21 ft 10 in (6.65 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
Speed |
|
Complement | 38 officers and men |
Armament |
|
USS S-51 (SS-162) was a fourth-group (S-48) S-class submarine of the United States Navy.
Construction and commissioning
S-51′s
Operations
The new submarine was based at
Sinking
On the night of 25 September 1925, S-51 was operating on the surface near Block Island, with her running lights on.[1] The merchant steamer City of Rome spotted a single white masthead light but was unable to determine its course, speed, or intentions. The ship altered her course away from the unknown light to give whatever it might be greater leeway. Meanwhile, S-51 spotted the ship's masthead and green sidelights, and held her course as she was required to do by the Rules of the Road then in effect. Shortly after altering course, City of Rome spotted the submarine's red sidelight and realized that they were on collision courses. She turned and backed her engines, but it was too late. Twenty-two minutes after first spotting the submarine's masthead light, the steamer rammed her at the position 41°14′30″N 71°16′16″W / 41.24167°N 71.27111°W.[2]
Only three of the 36 men in the submarine (Dewey G. Kile, Michael E. Lira, and Alfred Geier) were able to abandon ship before she sank.
The courts found City of Rome at fault for not reducing her speed when in doubt as to the movement of S-51, and for not signaling her change of course. However, both the district court and the Circuit Court of Appeals found S-51 at fault for having improper lights.
The United States Navy argued that it was not practicable to have submarines of this class comply with the letter of the law, and that, as a special type of warship, S-51 was under no legal compulsion to do so. The court responded by saying if these statements were correct, then submarines "should confine their operation to waters not being traversed by other ships."
Salvage
S-51 was raised on 5 July 1926 by a team led by then-
In Culture
The sinking of USS S-51 is memorialized in the popular song, "Sinking of the Submarine S-51," by Maggie Andrews. For solo guitar and mouth harp accompaniment, the song was recorded by tenor Al Craver (pseudonym for Vernon Dalhart) on Columbia 78 RPM record 15044-D (141099), on October 9, 1925.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- ^ "Submarine Casualties Booklet". U.S. Naval Submarine School. 1966. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ New York Times, 27 September 1925, Section 1, pages 5–8.
- ^ "Famous Sub Makes Last Trip To The Junk Pile", October 1931, Popular Mechanics
Further reading
- Ellsberg, Edward. "Report on Salvage Operations: Submarine S-51". Navy Department: United States Government Printing Office, 1927.
- _____. On the Bottom. New York: The Literary Guild of America, Inc, 1929. ISBN 0-9718303-0-4.
External links
- The S-51 Memorial web site
- On Eternal Patrol: USS S-51
- NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive S-51 (SS-162)
- "COURAGE!" Popular Mechanics, March 1933 – detailed article on salvage operation