Submarine USS R-18 (SS-95)

Submarine USS R-18 (SS-95) 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-18 (Submarine Number 95) was laid down on 16 June 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 Marion S. Russell and launched on 8 January 1918. Commissioning took place on 11 September 1918 with Lieutenant Commander Felix X. Gygax 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.

Following shakedown, USS R-18 was assigned to patrol the water approaches to the Panama Canal during the final months of First World War fighting...which ended on 11 November 1918 when the terms of the Armistice went into effect. Then, the R-boat transited back to her base in California...arriving there during December of 1918.

The R-boat was at San Pedro, California, from January to March of 1919, then underwent overhaul at San Francisco. On 17 June 1919, she got underway and commenced a transit to the Territory of Hawaii. Eight days later, the R-boat arrived at Pearl Harbor. Based there for over a decade, the submarine served with the fleet...training personnel and testing new submarine equipment.

During July of 1920, the designation of USS R-18 was changed from "Submarine Number 95" to "SS-95."

USS R-18 (SS-95) departed Hawaii on 12 December 1930; transited the Panama Canal; then continued north through the Caribbean and on up the east coast of the United States to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The submarine arrived at the City of Brotherly Love on 9 February 1931.

On 13 May 1931, USS R-18 (SS-95) was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. There the submarine remained until after the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe during September of 1939.

Recommissioned on 8 January 1941, USS R-18 was at the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut, for reconditioning and fitting out...into May.

On the 12th of May 1941, the submarine got underway for the Panama Canal Zone. Upon arrival, the R-boat patrolled the water approaches to the Canal into September of 1941. The following month, the submersible returned to New London/Groton, where, after overhaul, she conducted training exercises in submarine and antisubmarine warfare (ASW).

The Japanese attacked civilian and military installations in the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941...thereby plunging the United States into the Second World War as an active participant.

In early January of 1942, USS R-18 shifted her training activities to the Casco Bay, Maine, area. Then, later in the month, the submarine took on the additional duty of conducting patrols along a line between Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and Bermuda.

Originally patrolling out of New London/Groton, the submarine shifted her base of operations to Bermuda during May of 1942. Three months later, the R-boat moved further south and, until December of 1942, operated in a training capacity in the Virgin Islands...and at Trinidad.

Then, assigned with other R-boats to training duties for the remainder of the Second World War, USS R-18 returned to New London/Groton on 24 December 1942. The submarine operated in the New Londonand Portland, Maine, operating areas until June of 1943. The last six months of that year were spent at Bermuda. From January through March of 1944, the submersible was back in southern New England; then, in April of 1944, she moved south for eight months...operating out of the United States Naval Station at Key West, Florida...and out of the naval facility at Port Everglades, Florida.

With the new year, 1945, the submarine again began operating out of New London/Groton. During the summer of 1945, she made her last voyage to Florida, and back to the Connecticut submarine base.

With the Japanese signing the instruments of surrender on board battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, the Second World War officially ended. Shortly thereafter, USS R-18 (SS-95) headed for New Hampshire/Maine for inactivation. On 7 September 1945, the submarine arrived at the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine.

She was decommissioned, there, twelve days later. During October of 1945, the submarine was struck from the Navy List. The following year, the submersible was sold to the John J. Duane Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. That company subsequently scrapped the R-boat.

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