USS ''S-51'' (SS-162) was a fourth-group (''S-48'') S-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

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 ...

, known for a 1925 accident that killed 33 of its crew.

Construction and commissioning

''S-51''′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 22 December 1919 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. She was launched on 20 August 1921, sponsored by Mrs. R. J. Mills, and commissioned on 24 June 1922.

Operations

The new submarine was based at

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 1 July 1922 as a unit of Submarine Division 4 (SubDiv 4) and followed a normal peacetime training cycle, operating out of her home port with visits to

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 ...

, and

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. She departed from New York City on 4 January 1924 for the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

to participate in winter fleet maneuvers off

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. During this cruise, she visited

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, Guantanamo Bay, Culebra, and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. After returning to New York City on 30 April, she resumed type training off

Block Island Block Island is an island of the Outer Lands coastal archipelago in New England, located approximately south of mainland Rhode Island and east of Long Island's Montauk Point. The island is coterminous with the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Isl ...

and in

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 ...

coastal waters.

Sinking

On 25 September 1925, ''S-51'' was operating on the surface near Block Island, with her running lights on. The merchant steamer ''City of Rome'' spotted a single white masthead light but was unable to determine its course, speed, or intentions. The ship altered her course away from the unknown light to give whatever it might be greater leeway. Meanwhile, ''S-51'' spotted the ship's masthead and green sidelights and held her course as she was required to do by the Rules of the Road then in effect. Shortly after altering course, ''City of Rome'' spotted the submarine's red sidelight and realized that they were on collision courses. She turned and backed her engines, but it was too late. Twenty-two minutes after first spotting the submarine's masthead light, the steamer rammed her at the position . Only three of the 36 men in the submarine (Dewey G. Kile, Michael E. Lira, and Alfred Geier) were able to abandon ship before she sank. The courts found ''City of Rome'' at fault for not reducing her speed when in doubt as to the movement of ''S-51'' and for not signaling her change of course. However, both the district court and the Circuit Court of Appeals found ''S-51'' at fault for having improper lights. The United States Navy argued that it was not practicable to have submarines of this class comply with the letter of the law and that, as a special type of warship, ''S-51'' was under no legal compulsion to do so. The court responded by saying if these statements were correct, then submarines "should confine their operation to waters not being traversed by other ships."

Salvage

''S-51'' was raised on 5 July 1926 by a team led by then- Lieutenant Commander Edward Ellsberg with Lieutenant

Henry Hartley Henry Hartley (8 May 18846 March 1953) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy who reached the rank of rear admiral. A veteran of both World Wars, he began his career as Apprentice seaman and rose to the rank of commodore durin ...

assisting (both reached the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

). The entire salvage operation was commanded by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

(later

Fleet Admiral An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

) Ernest J. King. While being towed to the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

, she ran aground on Man-o'-War Reef in the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

on 8 July 1926. 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 27 January 1930 and sold for scrap on 23 June to the Borough Metal Company of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. ''S-51s bell was removed and taken to the

Submarine Force Library and Museum The United States Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum is located on the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut. It is the only submarine museum managed exclusively by the Naval History & Heritage Command division of the Navy, and this makes it a ...

at Groton, Connecticut.

In Culture

The sinking of USS S-51 is memorialized in the popular song, "Sinking of the Submarine S-51," by Maggie Andrews. For solo guitar and mouth harp accompaniment, the song was recorded by tenor Al Craver (pseudonym for

Vernon Dalhart Marion Try Slaughter (April 6, 1883 – September 14, 1948), better known by his stage name Vernon Dalhart, was an American country music singer and songwriter. His recording of the classic ballad " Wreck of the Old 97" was the first country son ...

) on Columbia 78 RPM record 15044-D (141099), on October 9, 1925.

References

External links

The S-51 Memorial web site"COURAGE!"
''Popular Mechanics'', March 1933 – detailed article on salvage operation {{DEFAULTSORT:S-51 (SS-162) Ships built in Bridgeport, Connecticut S-51 S-51, USS United States submarine accidents Submarines sunk in collisions Maritime incidents in 1925 1921 ships Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast