USS S-11
USS S-11 was a part of the second-group of S-3-class, also referred to as a "Modified Government"-type, submarine of the United States Navy.
Design
With lessons learned with the earlier boats, and studies on German U-boats, changes were incorporated into the remaining "Government"-type boats that had not been laid down yet. A stern mounted torpedo tube was added in the aft of the boat, along with the modified bow planes first tested on and.The "Modified Government"-type had a length of overall, a beam of, and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. All S-class submarines had a crew of 4 officers and 34 enlisted men, when first commissioned. They had a diving depth of.
For surface running, the "Modified Government"-type were powered by two MAN S6V45/42 diesel engines built by the New York Navy Yard, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Westinghouse Electric Corporation electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the modified S-3-class had a range of at, or at, if fuel was loaded into their main ballast tanks.
The boats were armed with four [American 21-inch torpedo|] torpedo tubes in the bow and one the stern. They carried 9 reloads, for a total of fourteen torpedoes. The "Modified Government"-type submarines were also armed with a single /50 caliber deck gun.
The Bureau of Construction & Repair was given the job of correcting the "Government"-type's slow diving times. To accomplish this, starting with S-8 and S-9, they moved the bow planes below the water line and rigged them to be permanently in the out position. Due to the success of these modification, to and to, would also be outfitted with the new planes.
Construction
S-11s keel was laid down on 2 December 1919, by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 7 February 1921, sponsored by Miss Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, daughter of former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and future President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and commissioned on 11 January 1923, with future Vice Admiral, Lieutenant Wilder D. Baker in command.Service history
1923–1936
Supplementing duties along the coast of the Northeastern United States, S-11 visited Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1923, and Saint Thomas, in the United States Virgin Islands, Trinidad, and Coco Solo, in the Panama Canal Zone, in 1924. Departing New London, Connecticut, on 29 September 1924, transiting the Panama Canal, and stopping in California, along the way, she visited Hawaii, from 27 April to 25 May 1925, before returning to New London, on 12 July 1925.S-11 operated in the Panama Canal area, from January through April 1926, visited Kingston, Jamaica, from 20 March to 28 March 1927, and served again in the Panama Canal area, from February into April 1928. From 1929 until 1936, S-11 operated almost exclusively in the Panama Canal area, but was in Miami, Florida, on 31 March 1930, and visited Washington, D.C., from 15 May to 5 June 1933.
Departing Coco Solo, on 13 June 1936, S-11 arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 22 June 1936. She was decommissioned there on 30 September 1936.
1940–1945
S-11 was recommissioned on 6 September 1940, at Philadelphia. After voyages from New London to Philadelphia, Bermuda, and St. Thomas, in 1941, S-11 arrived at the Coco Solo submarine base, in the Panama Canal Zone, on 5 October 1941, and was based there when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II, on 7 December 1941. On 16 August 1942, a US Navy yard patrol boats mistakenly depth-charged her off Cape Mala, on Panama's Pacific coast, after they mistook her for a Japanese submarine. She suffered minor damage.S-11 continued to serve in the Panama Canal area until June 1943, and next at Trinidad, until February 1944. Following overhaul in the Panama Canal area, she proceeded in July 1944, via Aruba to Trinidad, where she operated until October 1944. Arriving at Guantanamo Bay, on 26 October 1944, she served there until January 1945. After a voyage to the Panama Canal area, she departed the Panama Canal Zone, on 8 February 1945, and arrived at New London, on 24 February 1945, and at Philadelphia, on 28 March 1945.