Submarine USS R-17 (SS-94)

Submarine USS R-17 (SS-94) was authorized to be built by the United States Congressional Act of 29 August 1916 which stated in part: "....The President of the United States is hereby authorized to undertake prior to July first, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the construction of....

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"Nine fleet submarines." Fifty-eight coast submarines, of which number three to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each, to cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not to exceed $1,200,000 each, and twenty-seven, which shall be the best and most desirable and useful type of submarine which can be procured at a cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not to exceed $700,000 each, shall be begun as as soon as practical; and the sum of $8,217,000 is hereby appropriated for the construction of said submarines, to be available until expended. Not less than twelve of the submarines herein authorized to be begun as soon as practical shall be built on the Pacific coast: PROVIDED, That the cost of construction on the Pacific coast does not exceed the cost of construction on the Atlantic coast, plus the cost of transportation from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

The keel of USS R-17 (Submarine Number 94) was laid down on 5 May 1917 by the Union Iron Works at San Francisco, California...under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company of New York. The submarine was christened by Miss Bertha F. Dew and launched on 24 December 1917. Commissioning took place on 17 August 1918 with Lieutenant Commander William R. Munroe in command.

When commissioned, the R-1 Class coastal and harbor defense submarine was 186'2" in length overall; had an extreme beam of 18'; had a normal surface displacement of 569 tons, and, when in that condition, had a mean draft of 14'6". Submerged displacement was 680 tons. The submarine was of riveted construction. The designed compliment was two officers and twenty-seven enlisted men. The boat could operate safely to depths of 200 feet. The submarine was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes installed in the bow. Eight torpedoes were carried. One 3-inch/50 caliber deck gun was installed. The full load of diesel oil carried was 18,880 gallons, which fueled 1,200 designed brake horsepower diesel engines manufactured by the New London Ship and Engine Company at Groton, Connecticut...which could drive the boat via a direct drive system at 13.5 knots on the surface.

Submerged propulsion was provided by a 120-cell main storage battery manufactured by the Electric Storage Battery Company (EXIDE) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...which powered 934 designed brake horsepower main propulsion electric motors manufactured by the Electro Dynamic Company at Bayonne, New Jersey...which turned propeller shafts ...which turned propellers...which could drive the submarine at 10.5 knots for a short period of time when operating beneath the surface of the sea. Slower submerged speeds resulted in greater endurances before the batteries needed to be recharged by the engines and generators.

Commissioned toward the end of the First World War, USS R 17 operated briefly off the California Coast, then patrolled off the Panama Canal Zone in the water approaches to the Canal.

On 11 November 1918, the conditions of the Armistice went into effect...thus ending the shooting portion of the First World War. The following month USS R-17 was back in California.

During March of 1919, USS R-17 commenced an overhaul at San Francisco.

On 17 June 1919, with her overhaul completed, USS R-17 departed the west coast of the United States and commenced a transit to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii. The submarine completed her transit on 25 June 1919. For the next eleven-and-a-half years, the R-boat operated with fleet units and tested equipment being developed for submarines.

During July of 1920, the designation of USS R-17 was changed from "Submarine Number 94" to "SS-94."

On 27 October 1930...Navy Day...USS R-17, while still moored to a pier at the naval base at Pearl Harbor, submerged in her slip before a large crowd attending the festivities on Theodore Roosevelt's birthday.

On 12 December 1930, USS R-17 (SS-94) departed Pearl Harbor and transited to San Diego, California; then transited south to the Panama Canal Zone. After negotiating the Canal, the submarine proceeded north to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...and arrived there on 9 February 1931. On 15 May 1931, the submarine was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet in the Back Basin at that Navy yard. She remained berthed there until after the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe (September of 1939).

USS R-17 (SS-94) was recommissioned at the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut, on 25 March 1941.

The R-boat headed south on 14 May 1941; patrolled in the Virgin Islands during June; in the approaches to the Panama Canal during July, August, and September; then, in October, returned to New London/Groton. For the next four months, the submarine conducted training exercises out of the Connecticut submarine base.

On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked civilian and military installations in the Territory of Hawaii, thus causing the United States to become an active Second World War participant.

On 9 March 1942, USS R-17 (SS-94) was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under the Lend-Lease Agreement.

Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS P.512, the submarine was employed at Bermuda as a training ship for the Royal Canadian Navy until 6 September 1944...when she was returned to the United States Navy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and retained for use as a target until after the end of the Second World War in Europe (May of 1945).

USS R-17 (SS-94) was struck from the Navy List on 22 June 1945.

The Second World War ended on 2 September 1945 with the signing of the instruments of surrender by the Japanese on the deck of battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

On 16 November 1945, the submarine was sold to the North American Smelting Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That company subsequently scrapped the R-boat.

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