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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

L-5 (SS-44)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Romeo
L-5 Class Submarine: Laid down, 14 May 1914, at Lake Torpedo Boat Co., Bridgeport, CT.; Launched, 1 May 1916; Commissioned, USS L-5, 17 February 1918; Designated (SS-44), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 5 December 1922, at Hampton Roads; Struck from the Naval Register, 20 March 1925; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 21 December 1925, to Passaic Salvage & Reclamation Co., Newark, NJ.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

Specifications: Displacement, surfaced: 456 t., submerged: 524 t..; Length 165'; Beam 14' 9"; Draft 13' 3"; Speed, surfaced 14 kts, submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 2 Officers, 26 Enlisted; Armament, four 18", torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, Busch Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Co., diesel engines, 1,200hp, Fuel Capacity, 17,800 gal., Diehl Manufacture Co. electric motors, 800hp, Battery Cells 120, single propeller.
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L-5
0804410		 NR The L-5's (SS-44) Sponsor was Miss Rosalind Robinson, daughter of former Naval Constructor R. H. M. Robinson, the General Manager of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company. She was camera shy, he was not. (Note: The initials are reversed, RHM is listed as HRM. I am willing to bet that this is a typo.) Image and text provided by West Virginia University.
Photo & text by The Wheeling Intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 02 October 1915, Image 19, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
O-1 1.72k Related photo of Submarine Christening.
CPT Lawrence Stowell Adams (in uniform) is standing to the right of the lady with the bouquet of flowers, his wife, Cora Isabel Adams, Sponsor of the submarine O-1 (SS-62), just before christening the submarine, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, on 9 July 1918. Just to the right is Rear Admiral Clifford J. Boush, Commandant of the Navy Yard. To the left, in white uniform, is Rear Admiral Spencer S. Woods, Commandant of the First Naval District.
CPT Lawrence Stowell Adams was the Builder of Submarine L-5 (SS-44), the first submarine to be constructed in a government navy yard. 		USN photo # NH 46710 via history.navy.mil
L-5
0805600		 NR N-4 (SS-56), THE NEWEST LAKE SUBMARINE TO BE LAUNCHED
Coast defense Submersible To Be Ready for Water Next Monday.
With the submarine L-5 (SS-44) making its first trial spins about the harbor today in preparation of standing goverment, tests off Provincetown, Mass., within a few weeks time the Lake Torpedo Boat Co. announced today that the N-4 coast defense sub would be launched at 11 o'clock next Monday.		 Image and text provided by Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT.
Photo & text by The Bridgeport Evening Farmer.[volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 20 November 1916, Image 4 courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
SS-4482kL-5 (SS-44) on official trials at Provincetown, 4th run, speed 13.2 knots. 14 August 1917.USN photo from NARA # 19-N-13792, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS-4494kL-5 (SS-44) on official trials at Provincetown, 5th run, speed 13.3 knots. 14 August 1917.USN photo from NARA # 19-N-13793, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS-4485kL-5 (SS-44) on official trials at Provincetown, 15 August 1917.USN photo from NARA # 19-N-37-11-8, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS-4466kPort side view of the L-5 (SS-44), probably at Provincetown, 15 August 1917.USN photo courtesy of usssubvetsofwwii.org.
SS-4469k L-5 (SS-44) making 9.05 knots during submerged trials off Provincetown, Massachusetts, 15 August 1917.USNHC photograph # NH 51133.
Pennell 127k What looks to be L-class (SS-40/51) submarines in dry dock, by the artist Joseph Pennell, 1917. Photo # 3c19552v, LC-USZ62-119552. Photograph courtesy of memory.loc.gov.
L boat 750k The Alert (AS-4) and two of her 'pigs' in Bermuda, L-5 (SS-44), L-6 (SS-45), L-7 (SS-46) & L-8 (SS-48). Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman & David Johnston
Photo courtesy of Kristina Magill via Gary Priolo.
L boat 809k Most likely the L-5 (SS-44) in Bermuda. The bow of the Alert (AS-4) appears on the right. Photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston
Photo courtesy of Kristina Magill via Gary Priolo.
L- boats 753k Sack Time. Typical of the subject submarines, here men are stacked four high on canvas fold away bunks aboard an American L-boat in the European theater. Photo from Illustrated London News, 28 September, 1918, courtesy of Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver by Bill Lightfoot.
G-1
08019a22		 1.06k Port bow of G-1 (SS-19½) with crew on deck, c 1918.
Note another submarine on the left side of the photo marked with the number 25. Most likely the photo is of the L-5 (SS-44) & was taken sometime in the fall of 1918.
According to DANFS, she departed for the West Coast in October 1918 via the Panama Canal.		 Photo i.d. courtesy of Dave Johnston & Ric Hednan.
Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships, 1940 - 1966.
National Archives Identifier: 513028
Local Identifier: 19-N-18245
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
L-boats 623k L-5 (SS-44), L-6 (SS-45), L-7 (SS-46) & L-8 (SS-48) at San Pedro, circa 1919 - 1922. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman & David Johnston
Photo courtesy of Carlos Manuel Estrela via Fabio Peña.
Lake type97kSubmarines at a West Coast port, circa 1919-1922. The Lake type L-8 (SS-48) is at the outboard (left) end of the nest, with her sister, L-7 (SS-46), in the middle (3rd from left). H-3 (SS-30) is between them, with another Electric Boat Company submarine second from right. The inboard (right) "boat" and that in the foreground are the other two units of the Lake-designed L-5 class; L-5 (SS-44) and L-6 (SS-45). Note piloting station details, periscope, and wide deck of the Lake type L-boat in the foreground. USNHC photo # NH 103256. Collection of Chief Engineman Virgil Breland, USN. Donated by Mrs. E.H. Breland, 1979.
Lake type89kSubmarines at a West Coast port, circa 1919-1922. The Lake type L-8 (SS-48) is at the outboard (left) end of the nest, with her sister, L-7 (SS-46), in the middle (3rd from left). H-3 (SS-30) is between them, with another Electric Boat Company submarine second from right. The inboard (right) "boat" and that in the foreground are the other two units of the Lake-designed L-5 class; L-5 (SS-44) and L-6 (SS-45). Note the "Y-tube" hydrophone mounted on the bow of the submarine in the foreground. USNHC photo # NH 103255. Collection of Chief Engineman Virgil Breland, USN. Donated by Mrs. E.H. Breland, 1979.
SS-44723kPanoramic photograph of the submarine L-5 (SS-44) underway, with officers and crew members on deck, circa 1919-1921. Note the Lewis light machine gun on deck, just forward of the men standing beside the fairwater.Donation of Charles Hafner, 2010. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph # NH 107495 submitted by Robert Hurst.
H-8 & L-5 483k L-5 (SS-44), H-8 (SS-151) & 2 unknown H-boats between 1919 & 1922. USN photo courtesy of David Buell.
H-7 236k H and L class submarines berth in San Pedro.
From Back to front & L-R: H-6 (SS-149), L-5 (SS-44), H-7 (SS-150), H-3 (SS-30) in back berth. The H-4 (SS-147) is moored alongside the pier, ahead of her is a row with at least 2 submarines, the H-5 (SS-148) on the left & what might be either the L-6 (SS-45) or L-7 (SS-46) alongside.
The photo appeared in the LA Times on 20 February 1920. The LA Water & Power states that the San Pedro submarine base closed in 1923. 		Text i.d. courtesy of Ric Hednan .
Photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
R-24 134k PDF entitled "How the Diesel engine came to America." Photo courtesy of subvetpaul.com.
L-5
0804409		 NR WIRELESS SAYS SUBMARINES ARE ACCOUNTED FOR
A1l twelve of the submarines en route from Los Angeles to Hampton Roads, Va., under convoy of the tender Beaver (AS-5), were said at the local submarine base to be accounted for this morning. 		Image and text provided by University of Florida.
Photo & text by The Lakeland Evening Telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 29 July 1922, Image 1, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
graveyard shiftNRStarting a 5,000-mile journey, which will end at their own graveyard,twelve H and L type submarines left the Navy base at San Pedro, CA, recently, bound for Hampton Roads, VA. through the Panama Canal. Upon arrival on the East coast they are to be decommissioned and cut up for scrap iron.
Eleven of the boats were:
H-2 (SS-29),
H-3 (SS-30),
L-5 (SS-44),
L-6 (SS-45),
L-7 (SS-46),
H-4 (SS-147),
H-5 (SS-148),
H-6 (SS-149),
H-7 (SS-150),
H-8 (SS-151),
H-9 (SS-152).
Image and text provided by Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA
Photo from The Weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 19 August 1922, Image 2, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
L-5
0804408		 NR SINKING SUBMARINE SAVED BY SUNEWCO
Submarine L-5 (SS-44) Picked Up Forty Miles Off Cape Hatteras and Towed to Safety		 Image and text provided by University of Florida.
Photo & text by The Pensacola Journal.(Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 05 October 1922, Image 8 courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
View the L-5 (SS-44)
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

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