sail powered submarine - moved by moderator

[Kevin]

 

On 1 May 1921 USS R-14 (SS-91) Runs out of fuel at sea. Makes port with makeshift sails of sheets, underway on sail power for 4 days.

 

 

[Kevin]

"SUBMARINE 5 DAYS DISABLED REACHES HILO 

With Fuel Exhausted Diver Rigged Sails From Mattresses and Canvas.


Rigged out with jurymasts built of steel bunk rods and(missing text) sails made out of Mattre (missing text) and canvas hammocks (missing text) Submarine (missing text) arrived at Hilo yesterday afternoon out of oil but still with electrical power in her storage batteries. As a cross between a three masted windjammer and an undersea boat she made a weird appearance. 

The R-14 was one of a flotilla of submarines sent out to search for the missing navy tug Conestoga, long overdue here from San Diego and virually given up for lost. In turn she herself has been on the missing list for the last five days. 


Reserve Tanks Empty

On the night of May 10 in lat. 18 north, logitude 153.33 her fuel oil gave out it was found out that the reserve tanks when called on were empty. Lieut. A. D. Douglas, in command, sent out a general wireless call, which Rear Admiral Shoemaker, commandant of the Pearl Harbor Naval station, said today had been received by the R-12 and relayed to Pearl Harbor. But no answer was ever recieved by the R-14. Lieutenant Douglas today told the Star-Bulletin's correspondent at Hilo that he was unable to account forthe reserve fuel tank being empty and could not understand why his call for help had not been answered. The sub carried 10,000 gallons of fuel when she left Pearl Harbor. 

Not knowing whether his call for help had been heard or not the commander of the helpless submarine rigged two jurymasts and with thier aid and that of the wireless mast managed to spread enough canvas to make headway toward land. On the slow voyage to Hilo he sighted the Matson liner Enterprise and mistook her for a SHIPOP bringing succor, but no other vessels were seen. 


Food Supply Low


Within five miles of Hilo the storage batteries were switched on and the R-14 rounded the breakwater and came into port on her own power. She had left only suficient rice and bully beef to last her crew of 27 men and two officers four days more. 

This morning the R-12 also arrived at Hilo to give the R-14 fuel. Informed by the Star-Bulletin this morning that the R-14 was at Hilo, Rear Adimeral Shoemaker said he had been expecting news of her arrival there at any moment. No anxiety had been felt, he said, because from her reported position it was evident that she would have enough power left in her storage batteries to make Hilo. The power he supposed, had been held in reserve in case the vessel got into difficulties on a lee shore and needed it to work into safe water again. Why the reserve tank was empty he did not know." 

 

Edited May 2, 2013 by Kevin

[Kevin]

Evidently the incident did not hurt the young Skipper's career. In fact he was awarded a letter of commendation for the episode. The letter of commendation was from then CDR. Chester Nimitz.

[trippwj]

That is a neat story, Kevin - thank you!  Just think about the consternation if you had used that photo in the Name That Ship game!!!!

[realworkingsailor]

Of course you'd have to photoshop that big R-14 off the conning tower first

[Kevin]

BUT - Andy would have told me after 12 hours that he was bored off it - lol 

[trippwj]

Just need to send some wabbits to keep him company.....

[Kevin]

me wabbits - Andy groundhogs 

[Kevin]

lol - every thread i post to - Andy follows me - talking about wabbits, i going to keep elephants next

[figuerres]

wow, what a story that must have been for the guys on that sub to tell others...  and how many would not believe it on hearing it.

[WackoWolf]

Thank you Kevin, that is a wonderful story.

[Jim Lad]

I bet someone got it in the neck over that empty reserve tank!  Strangely enough, that photo Kevin posted is the only one I can find of the R14 under sail - you'd think that such an unusual incident would have bred more photos.

 

John

[S.Coleman]

Great story! 10 out of 10 for making do with limited resources. I wonder how fast she was going with all that drag.

[Kevin]

SS R-14 (SS-91) was an R-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts on 6 November 1918. She was launched on 10 October 1919 sponsored by Ms. Florence L. Gardner and commissioned on 24 December 1919, with Lieutenant Vincent A. Clarke, Jr., in command.

[edit]Service history [edit]1919–1929

After shakedown off the New England coast, R-14 moved to New London, Connecticut, where she prepared for transfer to the Pacific Fleet. In May, she headed south. Given hull classification symbol "SS-91" in July, she transited the Panama Canal in the same month and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 6 September. There, for the next nine years, she assisted in the development of submarine and anti-submarine warfare tactics, and participated in search and rescue operations.

1930–1946R-14 — under acting command of Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas – ran out of usable fuel and lost radio communications in May 1921 while on a surface search mission for the sea-going tugConestoga about 100 nmi (120 mi; 190 km) southeast of the island ofHawaii. Since the submarine's electric motors did not have enough battery power to propel her to Hawaii, the ship's engineering officerRoy Trent Gallemore came up with a novel solution to their problem. Lieutenant Gallemore decided they could try to sail the boat to the port of Hilo, Hawaii. He therefore ordered a foresail made of eighthammocks hung from a top boom made of pipe bunk frames lashed firmly together, all tied to the vertical kingpost of the torpedo loadingcrane forward of the submarine's superstructure. Seeing that this gaveR-14 a speed of about 1 kn (1.2 mph; 1.9 km/h), as well as rudder control, he ordered a mainsail made of six blankets, hung from the sturdy radio mast (top sail in photo). This added .5 kn (0.58 mph; 0.93 km/h) to the speed. He then ordered a mizzen made of eight blankets hung from another top boom made of bunk frames, all tied to the vertically placed boom of the torpedo loading crane. This sail added another .5 kn (0.58 mph; 0.93 km/h). Around 12:30 pm on 12 May, Gallemore was able to begin charging the boat's batteries.^[2]After 64 hours under sail at slightly varying speeds, R-14 entered Hilo Harbor under battery propulsion on the morning of 15 May 1921. Douglas received a letter of commendation for the crew's innovative actions from his Submarine Division Commander, CDR Chester W. Nimitz, USN.^[3]

[edit]

On 12 December 1930, R-14 cleared Pearl Harbor for the last time and headed back to the Atlantic. Proceeding via San Diego, and the Panama Canal, she returned to New London on 9 February 1931, and through the end of the decade conducted training exercises for the Submarine School. In the spring of 1941, she moved down the coast to Key West, Florida, her homeport as of 1 June. In the fall, she returned to New London for overhaul and on 22 November resumed operations out of Key West. Into April 1945, she conducted training exercises for the Sound School and patrolled the Yucatan Channel and the Florida Straits. On 25 April, she headed north and in early May arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

R-14 was decommissioned on 7 May, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 May, and sold on 28 September to Rossoff Brothers of New York City. She was later resold to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and scrapped in 1946.

[augie]

Too bad she couldn't fly.  Oh, excuse me, wrong thread

[Garward]

To reach home all ways approach!

[augie]

Amen, Garwood.

[Garward]

Amen, Garwood.

 

And what it has to mean?

[augie]

The word Amen is generally used at the end of a prayer in the Christian faith.  Used the way I did,   it means 'absolutely right'.

[Garward]

Augie, thanks for the explanation. In general I know that where the word "amen" is usually used.