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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-2 (SS-106)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Mike - Juliet
S-2 Class Submarine: Laid down, 30 July 1917, at Lake Torpedo Boat Co., Bridgeport, CT.; Launched, 15 February 1919; Commissioned, USS S-2, 25 May 1920; Redesignated USS S-2 (SS-106), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 25 November 1929; Struck from the Naval Register 26 February 1931; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 14 September 1931.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 854 t., Submerged: 1062 t.; Length 207'; Beam 19' 7"; Draft 16' 2"; Speed, surfaced 15 kts, submerged 11 kts; Complement 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Depth Limit 200'; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel electric, Busch Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Co., diesel engines, HP 1800, Fuel capacity, 26,458 gal.; Diehl Manufacture Co., electric motors, HP 1200, Battery cells 120, twin propellers.
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S-2 187k Simon Lake's S-2 (SS-106) was his last submarine design for the U.S. Navy. His other S-boats were built to C & R's design characteristics. In the inboard profile, the batteries are shaded. Major ballast tanks are indicated amidships, with trim tanks at the end.
Note the access tube connecting the motor room to the tiller room through the after trim tank. The arrow indicates the ends of the watertight part of the superstructure.
Of the three main ballast tanks, the after one could be used for reserve fuel oil. Fuel was also stored under the forward battery and under the engine room, with the forward two tanks there used for lubricating oil. Between the middle & aft main ballast tanks was an auxiliary ballast tank.
Officer's & crew's quarters were in the space immediately abaft the torpedo room, with crew's quarters & the galley in the next space aft.		 Drawing by Jim Christley.
Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
SS 99
0810627		NR BRANDEGEE AND MERRITT SEE
LARGEST LAKE SUB LAUNCHED
Almost 3,500 people gathered at the yard of the Lake Torpedo Ship-1 Building Company this morning to see the launching of the largest submarine yet built by the Lake Company. The boat is named the S-2 (SS-106).
Under the direction of Superintendent E. A. Eklund all details were carried out perfectly and the boat glided into the water without a hitch. Just previous to the signal, "Saw off," occurred what might have been a serious accident. About two hundred spectators were gathered on the scaffolding erected about another uncompleted sub in Slip No. 30. The great weight caused the structure to give under the strain. At the first sound of the cracking timbers the crowd heeded the warning and escaped to more solid parts. However, one man fell several feet but was not injured. At the cracking of the cables and the first movement of the ship toward the water Mrs. Philip B. Brill, wife of the General Manager of the ompany, broke a bottle of champagne over the. bow. Almost simultaneously with the breaking of the bottle old Sol peeped faintly through the dark rain clouds as if he were struggling to pay respects to the new ship.		 Image and text provided by Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT.
Photo from The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 15 February 1919, Image 1, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
SS 106
0810600		221k Sponsor: Mrs. Philip B. Brill (Chrystie Knox), wife of the General Manager of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Photo courtesy of findagrave.com
Partial text via Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, 1913—1923, by Anne Martin Hall (Editor), Edith Wallace Benham (Editor), pg. 199.
S-2 487k Simon Lake's S-2 (SS-106) sliding down the building ways at the Lake Torpedo Boat Company shipyard, Bridgeport, Connecticut, during her launching on 15 February 1919. This photograph was submitted by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company to the Superintending Naval Constructor, U.S. Navy, on 18 February 1919 for approval for publication. USNHC photograph # NH 41994.
R-21,22,23,27 & S-2 411k In port, pictured from left to right:
R-21 (SS-98)
R-23 (SS-100)
R-27 (SS-104)
S-2 (SS-106)
At Lake Torpedo Boat Co. Yard, Bridgeport CT., 2 April 1919. 		USN photo # 19-N-2584, from the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-2 79k View looking forward from the conning station, showing spray coming over the S-2's (SS-106) bow. Taken while the submarine was running trials on 11 September 1919. USNHC photograph # NH 2801.
S-2 267k S-2 (SS-106) backing at low speed, probably off Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the time of her builders' trials in September 1919. Many of the men standing on her deck are civilians. USNHC photograph # NH 41993.
S-2 49k S-2 (SS-106) underway, probably off Bridgeport, Connecticut, at the time of her builders' trials in September 1919. Many of the men on her deck are civilians. USNHC photograph # NH 41992.
S-16
0810611		1.20k Launching party for S-16 (SS-121) is on S-2 (SS-106). Mrs. Archibald McNeil, Jr. was the sponsor of S-16 which was launched at the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, Bridgeport, Connecticut, 24 December 1919. Image NH 108403 and text courtesy of history.navy.mil
SS 106 301k S-1 (SS-105) and S-2 (SS-106) submarine alongside Bushnell(AS-2) sub tender, Boston, approximately 15 August 1920. Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection via Sean Hert & flickr.com.
R-24 134k PDF entitled "How the Diesel engine came to America." Photo courtesy of subvetpaul.com.
S-2 47k At the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, on a snowy day, circa winter 1920-1921, just before S-2 (SS-106) received an enlarged bow and other modifications. Note the railroad boxcar at left, wearing Navy Yard markings ("N.Y.P.N.H.") reflecting the contemporary understanding that the Portsmouth Navy Yard was located in New Hampshire. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 100105.
S-2 87k In drydock at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Hawaii, in October 1921. Note torpedo tube openings in S-2's (SS-106) underwater hull, and recently enlarged above-water bow superstructure. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 100117.
S-2 381k Raised bow view of the S-2 (SS-106) at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. USN photo # 19-N-14682, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-2 427k Raised bow view, starboard side of the S-2 (SS-106) at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. USN photo # 19-N-7606, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-2 & S-10 374k Raised bow view, port side of the S-2 (SS-106) at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. The S-10 (SS-115) is pictured inboard.
Further inboard is the armored cruiser Huntington (CA-5). She had been decommissioned on 1 September 1920. 		USN photo # 19-N-7607, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham. Photo i.d. courtesy of Tom Bateman.
S-2 300k Raised bow view, port side of the S-2 (SS-106) submerging at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. Note: On the other side of the pier, just to the left of the enclosure, is the conning tower of the U-111 , a German U-boat taken over by the USN for study. After an extensive series of trials, it was decommissioned in April, 1920. USN photo # 19-N-7608, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham. Partial text courtesy of David Johnstonand Ric Hedman.
S-2 279k Raised bow view, port side of the S-2 (SS-106) coming up at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. USN photo # 19-N-7609, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-2 353k Raised bow view, port side of the S-2 (SS-106) at her dock trials at the Navy Yard, Portsmouth New Hampshire, 4 June 1921. USN photo # 19-N-7610, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-2 80k At the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, on 22 July 1921, "about an hour before leaving ... for Cavite, P.I." Note the S-2's (SS-106) 4"/50 deck gun in the center of the view. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101010.
S-2 93k S-2 (SS-106) officers and crew, 1921. Chief Gunner's Mate (Torpedoman) David J. Lohr standing just to the left of the three officers. Note the armored cruiser in the background. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101009.
S-2 77k Seven crew members pose on S-2's (SS-106) deck, circa 1921. The man in the center of the group is Gunner's Mate David J. Lohr. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101007.
S-2 56k S-2's (SS-106) Chief Petty Officers, 1921. Chief Gunner's Mate David J. Lohr is at right. Machinist's Mate Turkette is at left. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101008.
S-2 72k View looking forward from S-2's (SS-106) bridge, while she was underway in the Caribbean Sea, August 1921. S-2 had recently been fitted with an enlarged bow structure, as seen here, to improve her sea keeping. Note the sealed breech mechanism of her "wet" type 4"/50 deck gun. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101014.
S-2 68k "Putting her nose into them" while en route from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Cavite, Philippine Islands, in August 1921. S-2 (SS-106) had recently been fitted with an enlarged bow structure for improved surface sea keeping, as seen here. Note 4"/50 deck gun in the foreground. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101012.
S-2 55k "The only dry place topside". Crewmen pose atop the S-2's (SS-106) fairwater, while she was en route from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Cavite, Philippine Islands, in August 1921. Note the periscope and bell. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101015.
S-2 57k Scene in the close confines of S-2's (SS-106) bridge, while she was underway between Pearl Harbor and Guam, circa late 1921. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101018.
S-2 52k "Jenkins and Dillon flirting with a salt water bath" on the S-2's (SS-106) after deck, while she was en route from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Cavite, Philippine Islands, in August 1921. Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101011.
S-2 62k Chief Torpedoman's Mate David J. Lohr leaning over the gash in S-2's (SS-106) after hull plating, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 6 October 1921. The damage resulted when she was rammed by S-116 (SS-121). Lohr commented on the original print: "Note waterline along top of hole. The punctured (compartment) was isolated within 30 seconds after it was pierced." Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. USNHC photograph # NH 101016.
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