A VISUAL GUIDE TO THE S-CLASS SUBMARINES
1918-1945
PART 2: THE GOVERNMENT BOATS
BY
DAVID L. JOHNSTON
© 2008

Of the three S-boat prototypes, EB's S-1 and the government's S-3 were picked for series production. The Navy strongly desired an in-house design and construction capability, thus the S-3, while flawed, was satisfactory enough to warrant follow on boats. The first group consisted of S-4 through S-9 and all were built by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. They were direct copies of the S-3 prototype.

Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H.

Photo from NAVSOURCE

In an effort to preserve surface buoyancy, the government design split the main ballast tanks into upper and lower sections, each with their own vents and flood ports. This had the unfortunate side effect of making the government design very slow divers. The upper tanks would not begin to flood until the boat had settled enough to submerge the upper flood ports.

Photo from NAVSOURCE

The later boats had additional upper flood ports added, but this only resulted in a minor decrease in dive times. The government boats were rated at 100 seconds from fully surfaced to periscope depth, as compared to the EB boats at 75 seconds. In an apparent attempt to further alleviate this problem, S-8 and S-9 were modified during construction, moving the bow planes to below the water line and making them non retractable.

Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H.

An angle iron guard was built around the planes to prevent them from being damaged by tugs or by contact with the pier.

Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H

This photo of S-8 gives a good view of the characteristic "chisel" stern of this group. You can also see the fairly unique arrangement of the stern diving planes, one large plate suspended on its own pivot posts above the rudder.

The 2nd major subgroup consisted of S-10 through S-13. They were also to have been direct follow ons of the government S-3 design (although with the S-8 bow plane mod). However, studies of German submarines left the Bureau designers very impressed with the U-boat's stern torpedo tubes. Accordingly, S-10 through 13 were redesigned during construction with a single 21 inch tube, with the breech letting into the large motor room that this design already had.

From the Private collection of Ric Hedman
This altered the characteristic chisel stern and made this group easy to spot.


From NAVSOURCE
As stated, these four boats all had the S-8 bow plane mod and this photo of S-10 gives a good shot of the plane and guard arrangement.


From NAVSOURCE
This next photo of S-10 is a good view of the stern plane and rudder arrangement of the government type. You can also see how the stern was rearranged to accommodate the stern torpedo tube for the S-10 group.


From NAVSOURCE

Electric Boat had been strongly criticized for the poor performance of the diesel engines made by their subsidiary NELSECO. These engines were license built derivations of the German Maschinenfabrik-Augsberg-Nurnberg (MAN) company designs. Inferior American metallurgy and manufacturing processes of the time made these copies less than perfect. They suffered from excessive torsional vibrations that frequently broke crankshafts. Unfortunately, at the time the NELSECO engines were the only ones that would provide the necessary horsepower in a package small enough and light enough to fit into a submarine hull. The Bureau was forced to purchase NELSECO designs and a navy-built version was installed in the S-3 group boats. Thus, these boats battled engine problems throughout their career. However, the S-10 group was engined with a MAN design that was built directly by the New York Navy Yard, eliminating the NELSECO middleman. These engines, while still not perfect, were tremendous improvements and were considered quite reliable.

Simon Lake's S-2 was the last of his in-house designs to be purchased by the Navy. Due to its numerous flaws and Lake's lack of large-scale production capacity, he was not awarded a contract for S-2 follow ons. However, the Navy had a keen interest in maintaining a commercial competitor to EB and offered a contract to Lake to build copies of its own Bureau design. Lake, his pride stinging a little from the rejection of S-2, took the contract and built S-14 through S-17 at his Bridgeport, CT. yard. These boats were straight copies of the original S-3 design, without the S-10 stern tube and reverting to the above water retractable bow planes.

From NAVSOURCE
The only major difference is not apparent externally. In a timely development, Simon Lake chose engines built by the Busch-Sulzer subsidiary of the famous Busch Brewing Company. These 4-cycle engines, although considered to be underpowered, were well liked and quite reliable, making the S-14 to 17 the most successful of the government boats.


From NAVSOURCE
These four boats, along with the S-11, 12, 13 and 48 were the only government boats to serve all the way through World War II, the rest having been discarded in the 1930's to meet treaty requirements. Refitted during the war, these boats received more powerful MAN diesels (which required larger mufflers, necessitating raising the after deck to accommodate them), rescue/marker buoys, and the removal of the ready service ammo locker on the forward edge of the conning tower fairwater.


From NAVSOURCE

The last of the government design S-boats was the S-48 through 51 group. These four boats were also built by Lake and proved to be the last boats the Lake Torpedo Boat Company would build for the Navy.

From the Private Collection of Ric Hedman
The S-48 group design was a derivative of the S-10, but was the most altered of all the government S-boat subgroups.


Drawing by Jim Christley, courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
Lengthened by 9 feet, they had a separate Maneuvering Room added aft of the Engine Room which contained the electric controls for the main motors. This also provided more space in the After Torpedo Room. The S-3 style chisel stern returned, but with the torpedo tube jutting through the center of the chisel.


From the Private Collection of Ric Hedman
The base of the conning tower fairwater was changed to incorporate a full gun access trunk with a hatch leading into the Control Room. This replaced the smaller ammo storage locker on all the previous groups. These boats also reverted once again to the below water, fixed bow planes with guards as seen on the S-8 through S-13. They also had a different arrangement for the stern planes and rudder, a design that would presage the arrangement on the later Fleet Boats. They were powered by a heavier, 2-cycle version of the Busch-Sulzer diesel.

By 1925 it was becoming apparent to the Navy Department that the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean would be a prime operating area for our submarines. Unfortunately, the S-boats lacked sufficient range to make adequate patrols in the Pacific. Several ideas were bandied about, including the construction of a submarine tanker to refuel S-boats during patrol. However, it was feared that the loss of the tanker sub would seriously hamper operations of the attack boats. The scheme that was decided on was a complete rebuilding of the government design S-boats (the EB single hull boats were not capable of being heavily modified). This plan called for lengthening the boats by 26 feet, adding a stern tube to the boats that didn't have them, re-engining the boats that didn't already have MAN engines, and a complete redesign and rebuild of the interior. Initially, this plan seemed like a real bargain, as it would cost about a quarter of what a brand new 1,250 ton boat would cost.

S-48 ran aground in January, 1925 and was heavily damaged. She was quickly salvaged, but it was decided to take her in hand and make her the prototype for the General Board's modification scheme. She was lengthened by 25 ft. 6 in., new MAN engines were installed, and she was completely rebuilt internally. The most significant internal change was the splitting of the main battery. Previously, the government design had the battery all in one large compartment forward of the Control Room. The S-48 rebuild split the battery into two compartments, forward and aft of the Control Room, with the crew's and officer/chief's berthing split as well. Additional buoyancy tanks were added and she received one of the first air conditioning plants installed in submarines. In this configuration, she was a precursor to the later Fleet Boats.

U.S. Navy Photo
All these modifications, while generally successful, failed to correct the basic deficiencies of the design. The cost of the modifications had spiraled upward, reducing the economic advantages versus a new design, and when compared to the estimated remaining life span for the boats (2-5 years), it was becoming rapidly apparent that the program wasn't going to work. The Submarine Officers Conference of 1927 successfully argued against any further modifications of the S-boats and pushed for a new construction program, which would eventually become the Fleet Boats.

The S-48 served well through the end of World War II, providing training services to submarine crews and ASW forces. S-11 through 17 also served during the war, making patrols in the Caribbean. S-4 was lost in a collision in 1927. It was subsequently raised, reconditioned, and used as a test ship to develop new salvage techniques.

U.S. Navy Photo
S-5 was lost in a diving accident and was not recovered. S-51 sank in 1925 after a collision with a steamer. She was salvaged, but never recommissioned and was eventually sold for scrap. The remainder of the government S-boats, having failed to live up to the Navy's expectations, were discarded under the terms of the London Naval Treaty in the early 1930's.

The S-49 clung to life after decommissioning. She was purchased by a civilian firm, rendered incapable of diving, and used as an exhibition boat, touring the Great Lakes and many other U.S. ports, attracting scores of visitors. In this guise, she had a large "C" painted on her bow, which apparently designated her as a Civilian vessel.

U.S. Navy Photo
Eventually reacquired by the Navy, she was used as a test hulk in experimental work until she accidentally foundered in the Patuxent River, Maryland in 1942.

Final honors go to the USS S-15 (SS-120).

U.S. Navy Photo
She was the last operational government design S-boat, serving the Navy well until 11 June 1946, when she was finally decommissioned and her name struck from the Navy register. This closed the book on an elegant and iconic, albeit flawed chapter in our submarine history.