USS ''R-8'' (SS-85) was an ''R''-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Construction and commissioning

''R-8''′s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 4 March 1918 by the

Fore River Shipbuilding Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. I ...

Company,

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

. She was launched on 17 April 1919, sponsored by Ms. Penelope Potter, and commissioned on 21 July 1919.

Service history

1919–1929

''R-8'' fitted out at

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, during the fall of 1919, proceeded to

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

on 5 December, joined other boats of Submarine Division 9 ( SubDiv 9), and continued south for winter exercises in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. She operated out of

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, until returning to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

in April. Given

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

"SS-85" in July, she departed

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

on 13 September and two days later arrived at Norfolk for overhaul prior to transfer to the Pacific Fleet. Sea trials in early April 1921 followed, and on 21 April she headed south. Transiting the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

in May, she arrived at

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

, her new homeport on 30 June, and for the next two years conducted exercises — individual, divisional and fleet — off the coasts of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. On 16 July 1923, ''R-8'' sailed west for

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, her base for almost eight years — during which she engaged in training and operations with fleet units. In late October 1925, she collided with the

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

, suffering the loss of her

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

s, the destruction of her

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, and damage to her radio antenna supports. In August 1927, she searched for missing Dole Air Race aviators.

1930–1936

Ordered back to the East Coast for inactivation in 1930, ''R-8'' departed Pearl Harbor on 12 December, transited the Panama Canal in mid-January 1931, and arrived at

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, on 9 February 1931. Decommissioned on 2 May 1931, she was berthed at Philadelphia as a unit of the Reserve Fleet until 1936. On 26 February 1936, while still in a state of preservation, she sank. Later raised, she was struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 12 May 1936 and on 19 August 1936 she was used as a target vessel for an aerial bombing test. Four near-misses with bombs sank her off Cape Henry, Virginia.

Wreck

Her wreck was initially not found. Per Eastern Search and Survey "Our research effort began to bear fruit after several iterations of requests to the National Archives. Station logs for the Philadelphia Navy Yard identified the USS CORMORANT (AM-40) as the vessel that towed the 1936 Sub out to be scuttled. CORMORANT’s log provided the sinking location as being far offshore from the VA-NC border in ~4,300’ of water: nearly 70 miles south of where it was previously thought to be. However, in December 2020, the remains of ''R-8'' were discovered off the coast of

Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic resort city in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County, Maryland, along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 United States c ...

. The vessel sank there in 1936, after being used for target practice by bombers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:R-08 (SS-85) United States R-class submarines United States submarine accidents Maritime incidents in 1925 Maritime incidents in 1936 Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1919 ships Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group