Tied up along the dock from right to left: R-12 (SS-89), R-15 (SS-92), R-13 (SS-90) with R-9 (SS-86) and an unidentified R-boat probably in
Pearl Harbor, c. mid-1920s.
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | R class |
Builders |
|
Operators | |
Preceded by | O class |
Succeeded by | S class |
Built | 1917-1919 |
In commission | 1918-1931, 1940-1945 |
Completed | 27 |
Lost | 2 |
Retired | 25 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length |
|
Beam |
|
Draft |
|
Propulsion |
|
Speed |
|
Test depth | 200 ft (61 m) |
Complement | 30 officers and men |
Armament |
|
The R-class submarines were a class of United States Navy submarines active from 1918 until 1945. With the first of the class laid down following the American entry into World War I, they were built rapidly. Although R-15 through R-20 were completed July–October 1918, they did not serve overseas, and the bulk of the class were not completed until after the Armistice.
The Group 1 boats, after crossing the Panama Canal as a group of 20 on January 18, 1931 were decommissioned in 1931, but were recommissioned in 1940, patrolling in the Caribbean or being used as sonar targets at Key West, Florida, also patrolling between Submarine Base New London, Connecticut and Bermuda. At least two R-boats unsuccessfully fired torpedoes at German U-boats on the Bermuda patrols. Three (R-3, R-17, and R-19) were transferred to the United Kingdom's Royal Navy as HMS P.511, HMS P.512, and HMS P.514 in 1941-1942. P.514 was lost on 21 June 1942 in a collision with the Canadian minesweeper HMCS Georgian due to being mistaken for a U-boat. R-12 was lost on 12 June 1943 in an accident off Key West.
At some point between the wars the US R class were modified for improved rescue ability in the event of sinking. A motor room hatch was added, the motor room being the aftermost compartment. The tapered after casing became a step as a result of this modification. [4]
At least one R-class submarine can be seen briefly in the 1943 movie Crash Dive, filmed at the New London submarine base.
Electric Boat built four R-class boats for the Peruvian Navy (R-1 to R-4). Built after World War I using materials assembled from cancelled S-class submarines, they were refitted in 1935–36 and 1955–56, and renamed Islay, Casma, Pacocha, and Arica in 1957. They were discarded in 1960.
In December 2020, the remains of R-8 were discovered off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland. [5] The vessel sank there in 1936, after being used for target practice by bombers.
The 27 submarines of the R class were:
Ship name and hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USS R-1 (SS-78) | Fore River Shipbuilding | 16 October 1917 | 24 August 1918 | 16 December 1918 | 20 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 |
USS R-2 (SS-79) | 16 October 1917 | 23 September 1918 | 24 January 1919 | 10 May 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-3 (SS-80) | 11 December 1917 | 18 January 1919 | 17 April 1919 | transferred to United Kingdom 4 November 1941 | Scrapped 1948 | |
USS R-4 (SS-81) | 16 October 1917 | 26 October 1918 | 28 March 1919 | 18 June 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-5 (SS-82) | 16 October 1917 | 24 November 1918 | 15 April 1919 | 14 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-6 (SS-83) | 17 December 1917 | 1 March 1919 | 1 May 1919 | 27 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-7 (SS-84) | 6 December 1917 | 5 April 1919 | 1 May 1919 | 14 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-8 (SS-85) | 4 March 1918 | 17 April 1919 | 21 July 1919 | 2 May 1931, sank at moorings 1936 | Raised and expended as target 1936; remains discovered 2020 | |
USS R-9 (SS-86) | 6 March 1918 | 24 May 1919 | 30 July 1919 | 25 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-10 (SS-87) | 21 March 1918 | 28 June 1919 | 20 August 1919 | 18 June 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-11 (SS-88) | 18 March 1918 | 21 July 1919 | 5 September 1919 | 5 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-12 (SS-89) | 28 March 1918 | 15 August 1919 | 23 September 1919 | N/A | Sank during training exercise 12 June 1943; wreck found 2011 | |
USS R-13 (SS-90) | 27 March 1918 | 27 August 1919 | 17 October 1919 | 14 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-14 (SS-91) | 6 November 1918 | 10 October 1919 | 24 December 1919 | 7 May 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-15 (SS-92) | Union Iron Works | 30 April 1917 | 10 December 1917 | 27 July 1918 | 17 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 |
USS R-16 (SS-93) | 26 April 1917 | 15 December 1917 | 5 August 1918 | 16 July 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-17 (SS-94) | 5 May 1917 | 24 December 1917 | 18 August 1918 | transferred to United Kingdom 9 March 1942 | Scrapped 1945 | |
USS R-18 (SS-95) | 16 June 1917 | 8 January 1918 | 11 September 1918 | 19 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 | |
USS R-19 (SS-96) | 23 June 1917 | 28 January 1918 | 7 October 1918 | transferred to United Kingdom 9 March 1942 | Rammed and sunk by HMCS Georgian 21 June 1942 | |
USS R-20 (SS-97) | 4 June 1917 | 21 January 1918 | 26 October 1918 | 27 September 1945 | Scrapped 1946 |
Ship name and hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USS R-21 (SS-98) | Lake Torpedo Boat Co. | 19 April 1917 | 10 July 1918 | 17 June 1919 | 21 June 1924 | Scrapped 1930 |
USS R-22 (SS-99) | 19 April 1917 | 23 September 1918 | 1 August 1919 | 29 April 1925 | Scrapped 1930 | |
USS R-23 (SS-100) | 25 April 1917 | 5 November 1918 | 23 October 1919 | 25 April 1925 | Scrapped 1930 | |
USS R-24 (SS-101) | 9 May 1917 | 21 August 1918 | 27 June 1919 | 11 June 1925 | Scrapped 1930 | |
USS R-25 (SS-102) | 26 April 1917 | 15 May 1919 | 23 October 1919 | 21 June 1924 | Scrapped 1930 | |
USS R-26 (SS-103) | 26 April 1917 | 18 June 1919 | 23 October 1919 | 12 June 1925 | Scrapped 1930 | |
USS R-27 (SS-104) | 16 May 1917 | 23 September 1918 | 3 September 1919 | 24 April 1925 | Scrapped 1930 |
Media related to R class submarines of the United States at Wikimedia Commons