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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Contributed by Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

S-18 (SS-123)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Foxtrot
S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 15 August 1918, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy MA.; Launched, 29 April 1920; Commissioned, USS S-18 (SS-123), 3 April 1924; S-18 patrolled the frigid waters of Alaska from mid-January 1942 to 4 February 1943; Back to San Diego, CA., she provided training services for the West Coast Sound School; Decommissioned: 29 October 1945; Struck from the Naval Register, 13 November 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping on 9 November 1946 to Salco Iron and Metal Co., San Francisco, CA. S-18 earned one battle star during World War II.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 854 t., Submerged: 1062 t.; Length 219' 3" ; Beam 20' 8"; Draft 15' 11"(mean); Speed, Surfaced 14.5 kts, Submerged 11 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 4 officers, 34 enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel electric. New London Ship and Engine Co, diesel engines, 1200 hp; Fuel Capacity, 41,921 gal.; Ridgeway Dynamo and Electric Co. electric motors, 1500 hp, Battery Cells 120, twin propellers.
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SS 123
0812309		 901k Sponsor: Miss Virginia Belle Johnson, daughter of Senator E. S. Johnson.
A close knockout: The United States Navy's largest submarine is launched at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy MA., 29 April 1920. She was sponsored by Miss Virginia Bell Johnson, daughter of Senator Edwin S. Johnson of South Dakota.
FYI, the Virginia Bell Johnson that appears here is not the one that sponsored the S-23 (SS-128) , details, details.		 Photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection via Sean Hert & flickr.com.
Image & text courtesy of Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from the Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 09 May 1920, Image 68 via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
S-18, 22, & 24 60k From left to right: 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.
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-18, 47, & 44 200k From left to right: S-18 (SS-123), S-47 (SS-158), & S-44 (SS-155) tied up at Groton, CT., 8 April 1924. The 3 subs are moored to the self propelled barge Isaac L. Rice. EB used it for submarine testing and acted as a tender for subs under construction or undergoing maintenance while at EB. USN photo # 19-N-10282, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
Text courtesy of Ric Hedman.
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.
S-boats 115k The Submarine Tender Camden (AS-6) photographed circa the middle or later 1920s, with ten S-boats alongside. The submarines are (on Camden's starboard side, from left to right):
S-18 (SS-123) & unidentified Electric Boat type S-boat;
S-19 (SS-124);
S-12 (SS-117); and an unidentified Government type S-boat.
On Camden's port side, from left to right:
Unidentified Government type S-boat;
S-7 (SS-112);
S-8 (SS-113);
S-9 (SS-114); and
S-3 (SS-107). 		USNHC photograph NH 100459. Collection of Vice Admiral Dixwell Ketcham, USN.
S-18 50k S-18 (SS-123) taking a towline, off Taboga Island, Bay of Panama, sometime during 1920s. USN photo courtesy of Dave Wright.
S-18 93k S-18 (SS-123) starboard view underway, date and location unknown. USN photo # 19-N-17945, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
S-18 197k Mountains & radio antennae rise in the background of the S-18 (SS-123) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, circa 1927. Note crew members on deck, "E" award on her fairwater. Photo i.d. courtesy of Robert Hurst.
USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
S-23 73k An 1942 oil painting on board, by the artist William F. Draper entitled "Sub and Yippy Tie Up."
In a quiet inlet of the Bering Sea in 1942, a YP boat gets a coat of paint and an S-boat ties up for fuel and provisions. The short Alaskan day is ending and lights may be seen in the barracks until total darkness requires a blackout.
The S-boats that served in the Aleutians theater were:
S-18 (SS-123),
S-23 (SS-128),
S-27 (SS-132),
S-28 (SS-133),
S-30 (SS-135),
S-31 (SS-136),
S-32 (SS-137),
S-33 (SS-138),
S-34 (SS-139),
S-35 (SS-140),
S-36 (SS-141),
S-40 (SS-145),
S-41 (SS-146),
S-42 (SS-153),
S-44 (SS-155),
S-45 (SS-156),
S-46 (SS-157), &
S-47 (SS-158). 		Sub and Yippy Tie Up by William F. Draper.
Painting #13 / 88-189-N. Courtesy of the USNHC.
S-18 43k Watercolor painting by the artist Jim Christley entitled "S-Boat Surfacing".
Slowly breaking the surface the S-18 (SS-123) pumps her ballast tanks in calm water. 		Photo & text courtesy of subart.net.
S-18 64k S-18 (SS-123), probably at San Diego, for overhaul and assignment to training duty anytime from 4 February 1943 till the remainder of World War II, where she remained providing training services for the West Coast Sound School. USN photo courtesy of CTM Russel Rau, former COB of SS-238 Wahoo, submitted by Bill Rau & Paul Crozier. Text courtesy of DANFS.
S-18 288k S-18 (SS-123) sailing off the coast of San Diego (Point Loma), California. Dated 1945. Photo courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
View the S-18 (SS-123)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
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