USS R-22
USS R-22 , also known as "Submarine No. 99", was an R-21-class coastal and harbor defense submarines of the United States Navy commissioned after the end of World War I.
Design
The R-boats built by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, through, are sometimes considered a separate class, R-21-class, from those built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, through, and the Union Iron Works, through, R-1-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-21-class submarines had a crew of 3 officers and 23 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of.
For surface running, the boats were powered by two Busch-Sulzer diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Diehl Manufacture Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the R-21-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-21-class submarines were also armed with a single /50 caliber deck gun.
Construction
R-22s keel was laid down on 19 April 1917, by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She was launched on 23 September 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Agnes Eklund, and commissioned on 1 August 1919.Service history
Following commissioning, R-22 operated in the New London, Connecticut-Newport, Rhode Island, area for two months. On 1 November 1919, she headed south for Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, her homeport.When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-99.
She was based in the Canal Zone, with Submarine Division 1, through 1920. The following year she was transferred back to New London, for duty with Submarine Division 0, an experimental division. She was based at New London, for the rest of her active service, returning to Panama, only for the "1923 Fleet Problem". In the summer of 1922, a conversion was performed on her bow at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, to address concerns regarding reserve buoyancy.