USS R-14
USS R-14 , also known as "Submarine No. 91", was an R-1-class coastal and harbor defense submarines of the United States Navy commissioned after the end of World War I.
Due to space constraints, the boats built at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard, were laid down much later than the boats built at the Union Iron Works and the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yards. Because of this, none were commissioned before the end of WWI.
Design
The R-boats built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, through R-14, and the Union Iron Works, through, are sometimes considered a separate class, R-1-class, from those built by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, through, R-21-class.The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of, and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. The R-1-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of.
For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Electro-Dynamic Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the R-1-class had a range of at, or if fuel was loaded into their main ballast tanks.
The boats were armed with four American 21-inch torpedo| torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The R-1-class submarines were also armed with a single /50 caliber deck gun.
Construction
R-14s 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 Miss Florence Loomis Gardner, and commissioned on 24 December 1919.Service history
1919–1929
After a shakedown cruise off the New England coast, R-14 moved to Naval Submarine Base New London, in Groton, Connecticut, where she prepared for transfer to the Pacific Fleet. In May 1920, she headed south.When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-91.
She transited the Panama Canal in July, and arrived at Pearl Harbor, in the Territory of Hawaii, on 6 September 1920. For the next nine years, R-14 assisted in the development of submarine warfare and anti-submarine warfare tactics, and participated in search and rescue operations.
File:USS R-14 under sail.jpg|thumb|Seen here are the jury-rigged sails used to bring R-14 back to port in 1921; the mainsail rigged from the radio mast is the top sail in the photograph, and the mizzen made of eight blankets also is visible. R-14s acting commanding officer, Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas, USN, is at top left, without a hat..
R-14, under acting command of Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas, ran out of usable fuel due to seawater contamination, and lost radio communications on 10 May 1921, while on a surface search mission for the seagoing tug, about southeast of the island of Hawaii. Since R-14s electric motors did not have enough battery power to propel her to Hawaii, the ship's officers and chief petty officers came up with a novel solution to the problem. It was decided they should try to sail the submarine to the port of Hilo, Hawaii. A foresail was made of eight hammocks hung from a top boom made of pipe bunk frames lashed firmly together, all tied to the vertical kingpost of the torpedo loading crane forward of the submarine's fairwater. Seeing that this gave R-14 a speed of about, as well as rudder control, a mainsail was made of six blankets, hung from the sturdy radio mast. This added another to the speed. A mizzen was then 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 0.5 kn. Around 12:30, on 12 May 1921, the crew was able to begin charging the submarine's batteries by dragging the propellers through the water while under sail. The windmill effect of these slowly turning propellers turned the generators providing a small amount of voltage that was directed to the batteries. The crew worked together to solve their various problems, and the boat sailed slowly for Hilo. 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, Commander Chester W. Nimitz, USN.
1930–1946
On 12 December 1930, R-14 departed Pearl Harbor, for the last time, and headed back to the Atlantic. Proceeding via San Diego, California, and the Panama Canal, she returned to New London, on 9 February 1931, and through the end of the 1930s, conducted training exercises for the Submarine School.In the spring of 1941, she moved down the East Coast to Key West, Florida, her home port as of 1 June 1941. In the fall of 1941, she returned to New London, for overhaul, and on 22 November 1941, resumed operations from Key West.
On 29 June 1943, United States Army Coast Artillery Corps guns at Fort Zachary Taylor mistook R-14 for a German U-boat and opened fire on her while she was off Key West, but she suffered no damage.
Into April 1945, she conducted training exercises for the Sound School, and patrolled the Yucatán Channel and the Florida Straits.