Submarine USS R-2 (SS-79)

Submarine USS R-2 (SS-79) 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-2 (Submarine Number 79) was laid down on 16 October 1917 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts...under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company of New York. The submarine was christened by Mrs. Charles M. Cooke and launched on 23 September 1918. Commissioning took place at the Boston Navy Yard at Boston, Massachusetts, on 24 January 1919 with Lieutenant Commander Charles Maynard Cooke, Junior, 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.

After acceptance trials in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, USS R-2 was assigned to Submarine Division Nine of the United States Atlantic Fleet and based at the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut. The submarine departed that base on 4 December 1919 for Norfolk, Virginia, and winter division maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico. Returning to the submarine base on the Thames River in Connecticut on 28 May 1920, the submersible joined USS R-1 (Submarine Number 78) and USS R-3 (Submarine Number 80) for four months of summer exercises off southern New England.

Designated SS-79 during July of 1920, USS R-2 (SS-79) headed for Norfolk on 13 September 1920 for an overhaul.

USS R-2 was transferred to the Pacific on 14 April 1921, transited the Panama Canal on 28 May, and arrived on 30 June 1921 at her new base at San Pedro, California.

USS R-2 took part in fleet exercises off Central America from 5 February to 6 April of 1923.

Returning to San Pedro on 10 April 1923, USS R-2 was ordered to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii on 16 July 1923 with Submarine Division (SubDiv) Nine and based there for eight years developing submarine tactics with the Fleet. The submarine made an endurance cruise to Midway Island during July and August of 1924.

Leaving Pearl Harbor on 12 December 1930, USS R-2 was reassigned to the Atlantic and arrived at New London/Groton via the Panama Canal on 9 February 1931. She was attached to SubDiv Four, and, for the next ten years, served as a training boat for the Submarine School at the New London/Groton submarine base...and for the Yale University Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) unit at New Haven, Connecticut.

Assigned to SubDiv Twelve on 1 June 1941, USS R-2 departed New London/Groton on 16 June 1941, and, six days later, arrived at the United States Naval Station at Key West, Florida...her new homeport.

Based at Key West for the remainder of her naval career, USS R-2 was attached to the Fleet Sonar School, a tenant activity at the southernmost naval facility in the continental United States, and, periodically, was assigned to defensive patrols from 7 December 1941 (when the United States became an active participant in the Second World War), in keeping with her limited operational capabilities, until the spring of 1945. Then, with the approach of German capitulation, the submersible was ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for inactivation.

USS R-2 (SS-79) arrived at the City of Brotherly Love on 1 May 1945, was decommissioned there on 10 May 1945, and was struck from the Navy List on 2 June 1945.

On 28 September 1945, twenty-six days after the termination of the Second World War, the submarine was sold to the Rosoff Brothers of New York. The following month, the Rosoff Brothers sold the submarine to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia...for subsequent scrapping early the following year.

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