Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster.
Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Pike / A-5 (SS-6)


Contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

Radio Call Sign: November - Quebec - Charlie
Adder Class Submarine Torpedo Boat: Laid down as Pike, 10 December 1900, at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 14 January 1903; Commissioned USS Pike, 28 May 1903, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Decommissioned, 28 November 1906; Recommissioned, 8 June 1908; Renamed USS A-5 (Submarine Torpedo Boat No.5), 17 November 1911; Decommissioned, 28 June 1912, at Puget Sound Navy Yard;; Laid up at Bermerton, WA.; Recommissioned, 17 April 1915, at Olongapo, PI; Designated (SS-6), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 25 July 1921; Struck from the Naval Register, 16 January 1922; Final Disposition, designated as a target, fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement; Surfaced, 107 t., Submerged, 123 t.; Length 63' 10"; Beam 11' 11"; Draft 10' 7"; Speed, Surfaced, 8 kts, Submerged, 7 kts; Depth Limit 150'; Complement, 1 Officer, 6 Enlisted; Armament, one 18" torpedo tube, 5 torpedoes; Propulsion, Otto Gas Engine Works gasoline engine, HP 160; Fuel Capacity 767 gal.; Electro Dynamic electric motors, HP 150; Battery Cells 60; single screw.
Click On Image
For Full Size		SizeImage DescriptionSource
Pike NR THE BUILDING OF A SUBMARINE BOAT.
Various views of Holland (SS-01) & Pike (SS-6). 		Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 13 April 1902, Image 14 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Pike102kThe Pike (SS-6) is launched at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, on 14 January 1903. Collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. USN photo # NH 58251, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Pike105kPike (SS-6), afloat immediately after her launching, at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, on 14 January 1903. Several Navy pulling boats are nearby, Collection of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. USN photo # NH 58252, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Pike 987k The submarine torpedo-boat Pike (SS-6) was launched yesterday morning at the Union Iron Works. Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 15 January 1903, Image 10 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Pike NR SUBMARINE TORPEDO-BOAT PIKE (SS-6) AND MEN WHO HANDLED HER. Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 02 April 1903, Image 3 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Grampus & Pike102kGrampus (SS-4) and Pike (SS-6) in the hydraulic lift drydock at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California, circa 1903. USNHC photograph # NH 53765.
Grampus & Pike28kGrampus (SS-4) and Pike (SS-6) photo taken April, 1903 with the in the background. Shown on deck are (in no special order) Frank Cable,William F.C. Nindemann, Harry H. Morrell, Henry S. Lathrop, Herman W.Noblett, Lawrence Spear, and Gunner Owen Hill, US Navy. From the personal collection of Ric Hedman TN(SS).
Grampus1.50kGrampus (SS-4), during her commissioning at Mare Island on 28 May 1903. Pike (SS-6) is inboard of the Grampus. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus & Pike164kGrampus (SS-4) at right Pike (SS-6) at left in drydock at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 23 September 1903. The Army Transport Lawton, freshly painted, is in the center. USNHC photograph # NH 65648.
Grampus & Pike590kGrampus (SS-4) at right Pike (SS-6) at left in drydock at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California. Photograph is dated 19 October 1903. The Army Transport Lawton is being painted in the right background. Text courtesy of USNHC photograph # NH 70600.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
Grampus682k From left to right Fortune (YT-11), Grampus (SS-4), Pike (SS-6), and Receiving Ship Independence at Mare Island on 23 April 1904. USN photo # MINSY 329-4-1904, courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Adder Class Diag.514k Tank layout of the Adder class submarine by Bureau of Construction and Repair, Navy Department August 1904.USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus & Pike82kAn early U.S. Navy submarine (probably) Grampus (SS-4) or Pike (SS-6) underway off the yard, circa early 1905. Gunboats Petrel and Princeton are in the center background. At left are the decommissioned gunboats Annapolis and Vicksburg. USNHC photograph # NH 100915. Courtesy of Ted Stone, 1986.
Pike275kThe Bennington (PG-4) is in Mare Island's dry dock #1 on 9 May 1905 with Dart (YFB-308) and Pike (SS-6) forward and the civilian ferry Vallejo aft. I can't ID the ship in the water outside the dry dock. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus202kA postcard by the Pacific Novelty Co., San Francisco. The photo is of from left to right Pike (SS-6), Fortune (YT-14) and Grampus (SS-4) in Dry Dock #1 at Mare Island. These vessels were in dock together from 13 to 20 August 1906 and based of the condition of their hull painting I would say the picture was taken either on the 19th or 20th of August. The stack and mast of the Wyoming (M-10) is in the background in the left hand corner. Photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus563kStern view of Pike (SS-6) in the background to the left and the Grampus (SS-4) are seen after being removed from the water via marine railway on 4 January 1907. Grampus was re-launched on 30 April 1908 and Pike followed on 2 May 1908. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Pike242kColor tinted post card of the Pike (SS-6) submerging at San Diego CA. Photo courtesy of Arnold A. Putnam via Gary Priolo.
Pike142k This is a post card. Caption on the card read "Submarine boat in action, Vallejo Harbor, California." She appears to be going from Mare Island Navy Yard to the Vallejo side of the harbor. The card was post marked (back) in Vallejo on 6 December 1907 and post marked again 19 December 1907 in San Antonio, Texas. Pike (SS-6) was moderized at Mare Island between 1906 and 1908. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
SHIPS NR SHIPS SAN FRANCISCO HAS ADDED TO THE NAVY.
Gunboats: Wheeling (PG-14) & Marietta (PG-15),
Cruisers: Charleston (C-2) & San Francisco (C-5),
Armored Cruisers: South Dakota (ACR-9), Milwaukee (C-21), California (ACR-6),
Battleships: Oregon (BB-3), Wisconsin (BB-9) & Ohio (BB-12),
Destoyers: Preble (DD-12), Perry (DD-11) & Paul Jones (DD-10)
Torpedo Boat: Farragut (TB-11),
Monitors: Wyoming (BM-10) & Monterey (BM-6)
Submarines: Pike (SS-6) and Grampus (SS-4). 		Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 26 April 1908, Image 8, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Grampus
0800623		336kGrampus (SS-4) & Pike (SS-6) on marine railway at Mare Island Navy Yard on 19 September 1908.Photo courtesy of Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum via Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus
0800624		395kGasoline fire on Grampus (SS-4) & Pike (SS-6) on marine railway at Mare Island Navy Yard on 19 September 1908.Photo courtesy of NH 98616 via Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus 1.05k Fifty Men of the Submarine Floatilla Are Trapped by Blazing Gasoline at Mare Island
NAVAL MEN CAUGHT IN FIERY SEA
Three Perish and Many Are Injured in Flames Off Mare Island
 Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside.
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 19 September 1908, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Pike177kPike (SS-6), at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA., circa 1908. Two Paul Jones class destroyers are in the center background. Ship in the right distance is the hospital ship Relief (AH-1). USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Pike710k1949 reprint of the torpedo room aboard Pike (SS-6) circa 1909. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Pike238kPost card, no copyright info on the card. Pike (SS-6) departs dry dock #1 at Mare Island on 3 August 1909. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus 3.39k Little Submarines Ready To Begin Series of Tests.
Submarine boats Pike (SS-6) and Grampus (SS-4). 		Image and text provided by University of California, Riverside;
Photo from The San Francisco Call. (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 12 September 1909, Image 22, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Grampus 1.22k UNCLE SAM BUSY UNDER WATER ON PACIFIC.
Uncle Sam wants to know just what the bottom of the ocean is like outside the Golden Gate, the famous entrance to the bay of San Francisco. That is why in the early morning mists a few days ago, two under water fighting ships, the U.S. submarines Pike (SS-6) and Grampus (SS-4) were engaged in maneuvers with in the bay. Just why Uncle Sam wants to become acquainted with the ocean floor out beyond the "heads" of course he is not saying. A glance at a map of San Francisco harbor and its approaches and location of Its defenses, however, will indicate clearly that if in time of war it should become necessary to defend San Francisco from an attack by sea and if submarines should take a part in resisting such an attack, the field of submarine activity would be outside the gate. 		Image and text provided by Washington State Library; Olympia, WA.
Photo from The Tacoma Times. (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 11 October 1909, Image 6, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Pike80kPike (SS-6), hauled out on a marine railway, at San Diego, California, circa 1910. USN photo # NH 77181, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Pike255kPost Card bow view of Pike (SS-6) on a marine railway in San Diego circa 1910. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker. Partial text i.d. courtesy of Jim Christley.
Pike67kPike (SS-6), redesigned conning tower and free-flooding fairwater. This is merely a free flooding fairwater that surrounds an extended access trunk. These boats were very wet on the surface in anything other than glass calm waters. To keep waves from washing over the hatch and flooding the boat, the access trunk was modified and the fairwater was built around it. All of the A-Class boats received this modification, with minor variations.
The photo was taken from a glass slide, so this in an original. 		Partial text courtesy of David Johnston & Jim Christley.
USN photo courtesy of Bob Vanderveen & ramonacafe.com.
Pike853kThis photo of the Pike (SS-6) appears to have been taken about the same time as the above photo but from a different angle. The photo carries a date of July 1910 at San Diego & autographed by a former commanding office, Kirkwood Harry Donavin. Text i.d. via your local webmaster at pigboats.com.
USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Grampus NR U.S. SUBMARINES GRAMPUS (SS-4) & PIKE (SS-6) IN SAN PEDRO HARBOR Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo from Deseret Evening News. (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 16 July 1910, Last Edition, Part Two, Image 22, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
Who Am I? 528k SUBMARINE THAT TOOK PART IN GREAT RECORD SWIM Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston
Image and text provided by University of Hawaii at Manoa; Honolulu, HI.
Photo from Evening Bulletin. (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii) 1895-1912, 22 July 1911, 3:30 EDITION, Image 17, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
View the Pike / A-5 (SS-6)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable to this Vessel
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
PigBoats.COM TM, a Historic Look at Submarines
Back To The Main Photo IndexBack To the Submarine Index
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster
This page is created by Gary Priolo and maintained by Michael Mohl
All Pages © 1996 - 2024 NavSource History