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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-22 (SS-127)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Lima
S-22 served both the US and British Navies

S-22 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 6 January 1919, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 15 July 1920; Commissioned, USS S-22 (SS-127), 23 June 1924; Decommissioned, 19 June 1942; Transferred to the Royal Navy, renamed HMS P-554; Returned to US Naval custody, 11 July 1944, at Philadelphia, PA.; Struck from the Naval Register in August 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 16 November 1945, to North American Smelting Co., Philadelphia, PA.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 854 t., Submerged: 1,062 t.; Length 219' 3" ; Beam 20' 8"; Draft 15' 11"(mean); Depth Limit 200'; Speed, Surfaced 14.5 kts, Submerged 11 kts; Complement, 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine diesel engines, hp 1200, Fuel Capacity, 41,192 gals.; Ridgeway Dynamo & Electric Co., electric motors, 1500 hp, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.
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S-22
0812700		 228k Always a better half: Sponsor: Mrs. Mark C. Bowman (Nannie Rice), wife of Lieutenant Commander M. C. Bowman, U. S. Navy, submarine assistant to Bureau of Steam Engineering. Partial text via Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, 1913—1923, by Anne Martin Hall (Editor), Edith Wallace Benham (Editor),pg 204.
T-2 885k AA-2 (SS-60),
S-22 (SS-127), S-21 (SS-126) & S-23 (SS-128) at Fore River Ship Yard, 4 January 1921. 		US National Archives photo # 19lc 3 from NARA, College Park, Maryland, courtesy of Sean Hert.
S-18, 22, & 24 60k From left to right:
The newly commissioned S-22 (SS-127), S-24 (SS-129) &
S-18 (SS-123) tied up along the dock at Groton, CT., 5 July 1923. 		USN photo # 19-N-10272, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS 127 54k S-22 (SS-127), taken in 1923, probably at Groton, CT. USN photo courtesy of USNI.
S-18, 22, & 23 105k From left to right:
S-18 (SS-123), S-22 (SS-127), & S-23 (SS-128) tied up along the dock at Groton, CT., 1 October 1923. 		USN photo # 19-N-10277, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-18, 22, & 42 89k From left to right:
S-18 (SS-123), S-22 (SS-127), & S-42 (SS-153) tied up along the dock at Groton, CT., 2 January 1924. 		USN photo # 19-N-10279, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-9 731k All the boats in the image are S-boats.
On the left is the S-9 (SS-114). The next is probably S-24 (SS-129). All of the rest are 20 series boats. The boat in the background IS NOT the S-2 (SS-106). It is a 20 series like the others. The last digit in the boat's name is obscured by the torpedo davit on the boat in the middle.
As for a location, the pier in the background looks like some images I have seen of San Pedro, California. Although the fact that this came from the New York Daily News Archive seems to indicate the Brooklyn Navy Yard or some location in the city.
I can't see the stern of any of the boats. This helps in dating the photo. It appears that the aft skeg of the S-24 is still in place and there are no post S-4 (SS-109) safety modifications so this would indicate that the photo was taken in the mid to late 1920's, but this is only a rough guess. 		Photo & text i.d. courtesy of David Johnston
Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images, courtesy of gettyimages.com.
US Fleet Problem Number VI 1.72k Control Force Employment Schedule, 4 January to 1 March 1926. US Fleet Problem Number VI. Photo courtesy of Steve Ireland.
SS 127 368k S-22 (SS-127), at Portsmouth Navy Yard, NH, 21 November 1929, showing changes in superstructure, including marker buoy, escape hatch and lifting eyes. Text courtesy of Ric Hedman. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
SS 127 121k View of the S-22's (SS-127) bow, taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929, showing the newly installed marker buoy with its telephone in operation. Note the drydock caisson in the background. Official USN photo # NH 42091, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 100k View of the S-22's (SS-127) fore deck, taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929, showing the newly installed escape hatch. USN photo # NH 42094, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
Portsmouth Navy Yard 743k S-22 (SS-127) at Portsmouth navy yard on 21st November 1929 showing changes in superstructure, including marker buoy, escape hatch and lifting eyes. S-22's 4"/50 deck gun is trained out on her port quarter, with barrel elevated to clear torpedo loading slide installed between the gun and the escape hatch. Text courtesy of USN photo # NH 46339.
Photo courtesy of flickr.com.
SS 127 89k View of the S-22's (SS-127) port side amidships, taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929, showing newly installed lifting eyes on the hull side. USN photo # NH 42093, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 127k View in the S-22's (SS-127) torpedo room, looking aft, showing the new bulkhead stiffening, lung stowage, oxygen flask, emergency ration stowage, piping to escape hatch and salvage piping. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929. Also visible are torpedo cradles, torpedo handling equipment, and bunks for crewmen. USN photo # NH 42097, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 101k View in the S-22's (SS-127) forward battery room, looking aft and port, showing new bulkhead door partly open. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929. USN photo # NH 42092, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 105k View in the S-22's (SS-127) motor room, looking forward, showing new bulkhead stiffners. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929. USN photo # NH 42095, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 108k View in the S-22's (SS-127) motor room, looking aft, showing the compartment's escape hatch skirt. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, 21 November 1929. USN photo # NH 42096, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy Rear Admiral Ridley McLean, USN, 1935.
SS 127 & 168 723k Nautilus (SS-168), along with S-22 (SS-127) left and the Aaron Ward (DD-132) behind Nautilus are seen in dry dock 2 at Mare Island Navy Yard in July 1930. Shipyard records indicate Nautilus was in overhaul from 1 July to 15 October 1930; S-22 in overhaul from 6 April to 29 July 1930; and Aaron Ward in overhaul from 31 May to 8 August 1930. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
SS 127 685k S-22 (SS-127), circa 1930's. Photo shows her modified superstructure and escape trunk. USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
SS 127 383k Submarines at New York City, circa the 1930s: These "boats" are, from left-to-right:
R-11 (SS-88),
R-13 (SS-90),
R-4 (SS-81) and
S-22 (SS-127). 		Text courtesy of # NH 68898.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
SS 127 200k S-22 (SS-127), at New York City, circa the 1930s. Inboard submarines are (left-to-right):
R-1 (SS-78);
R-13 (SS-90) and
R-4 (SS-81). 		Text courtesy of # NH 68899.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
refleting 140k S-boats top and bottom as in a reflecting pool, probably at Pearl Harbor when they operated with Division 7, circa 1931-33. S-21 (SS-126), S-22 (SS-127), S-23 (SS-128) & what was thought to be S-24 (SS-129).
On 25 April 1931, S-22 & S-23 arrived together at Pearl Harbor.
If you look closely at the outboard one (on the far left) the fairings that cover the bow plane pivots are rounded. On the other boats in this photo these fairings are angular in shape. The angular fairings are a distinctive characteristic of the Quincy built 20 series S-boats (S-18) to (29). For the Union Iron Works built boats (S-30) to (41) this fairing is rounded and smaller in size. The only exception to this rule is the (S-19). She alone amongst the Quincy boats had the rounded fairings of the UIW boats (why I don’t know yet). Therefore, the outboard boat in this photo can not be the (S-24). It has to be (S-19) or (30) to (41). 		Text & photo i.d. courtesy of David Johnston
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
SS 127 14k S-22 (SS-127), arrives at the Battery, Manhattan, on 29 April, 1939 for the World's Fair. USN photo & text courtesy of Warship Int. Edition # 3, 1986.
SS 127 30k S-22 (SS-127) returned to New London on 11 December 1938 where she joined a test and evaluation division. Occasionally, the submarine was employed in training Naval Academy midshipmen at Annapolis, and assisting the diving school at Piney Point, Md through November of 1940, circa this photo. USN photo courtesy of Robert Hurst. Text courtesy of DANFS.
SS 127 & 134 38k S-22 (SS-127) is shown after a refit in Philadelphia, June 1941. She had already been modified for greater safety (completed in Portsmouth in November 1929) with special escape hatches fore & aft, & with two marker buoys (the forward buoy, nearly abeam the forward escape hatch, is shown in dashed lines.
The scrap view shows the after end of S-34 (SS-139) as it was in April 1932, after her safety refit.
Boats differed slightly in the way their skegs were cut down aft. On deck forward, note that a JK passive sonar was installed on top of the older SC; many boats had this modification either during the late 1930's or as refitted for war service. Many, but not all "Holland" S-boats were refitted for increased safety from 1929 on. Other boats were refitted in 1940-41, many at Philadelphia. 		Drawing & Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
SS 127 104k S-22's (SS-127) complement, at New London, Connecticut, Summer 1941. Officers, seated in front center, are (left-to-right): Lieutenant Joseph F. Enright, USN; Lieutenant Commander George H. Wales, USN, Commanding Officer; Lieutenant Ernest S. Friedrick, USN; and Ensign Alvin E. Kirstein, USNR. USNHC photograph # NH 90515, courtesy of Captain Joseph F. Enright, USN (Retired), 1979.
HMS P 554
SS 127 1.18k ex-S-22 (SS-127), in Royal Naval service as P-554 in Placentia Sound, Newfoundland, in April 1943. Note harbor defense net in the background. Official USN photo # 80-G-66813 now in the collections of the National Archives.
View the S-22 (SS-127)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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