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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Tuna / G-2 (SS-27)

Radio Call Sign: November - Xray - Zulu

G-2 Class Submarine: Laid down, as Tuna, 20 October 1909, at Lake Torpedo Boat Co., Bridgport, CT.; Renamed G-2, 17 November 1911; Launched, 10 January 1912; Commissioned USS G-2, 6 February 1915, at New York Navy Yard, New York, NY; Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 2 April 1919, and designated as a target; Final Disposition, sunk at her moorings at Two Tree Channel near Niantic Bay in 134 fathoms, drowning three men.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced 400 t., Submerged 516 t.; Length 161'; Beam 13' 1"; Draft 12' 6"; Speed, surfaced 14 kts, submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 1 Officer 23 Enlisted; Armament, four 18" torpedo tubes, four torpedoes; Propulsion, gasoline electric, White & Middleton Co, gasoline engines, 1,200 hp, Fuel Capacity 12,000 gals., Diehl Manufacture Co. electric motors, 520 hp, Battery Cells 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
87k	Although conceived as a duplicate Seal (SS-19½), Tuna (SS-27) dispensed with trainable tubes in favor of fixed tubes at her ends. The shutters of her paired stern tubes are visible in this pre-launch photograph.	Photo courtesy of Neweport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
86k	Tuna (SS-27) was Lake's second submarine for the U.S. Navy. Note Lake's trademark features: his midships and bow diving planes (each with its guard below it), his ship-shaped stern (unlike E.B.'s) and his paired conning towers, one for the commanding officer and a seperate one for the navigator. Lake's watertight superstructure accommodated both torpedo tubes and a torpedo storage fore & aft. Another pair of bow tubes (not visible in the inboard profile) were blistered out from the pressure hull. Note also the tandem gasoline engines.	Photo courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
67k	*G-2* fitting out on 2 April 1912.	US Navy photo # NH 42005 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
106k	G-2 (SS-27) in port, prior to World War I.	US Navy photo # NH 42004 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
77k	G-2 (SS-27) underway on the surface, prior to World War I, with crewmen on deck "getting a little fresh air". Photographed by E. Muller and N. Moser, New York. Note this submarine's 13-star "boat" flag.	US Navy photo # NH 102651 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Collection of Christopher H.W. Lloyd.
49k	Halftone reproduction of a photograph by Enrique Muller, showing the G-2 (SS-27) underway, circa 1916. It is printed on an advertising blotter.	US Navy photo # NH 77468 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of Commander Donald J. Robinson, USN(MSC), 1973.
88k	G-1(SS-19½) right and G-2(SS-27) left, alongside Fulton (AS-1) at the Norfolk Navy Yard, VA., circa 1915. Note the 13-star "boat flag" flying at *G-2's*stern.	US Navy photo NH # 101548, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Photo from the Collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold.
54k	G-2 (SS-27) underway, circa 1915, probably photographed from Fulton (AS-1). The original print includes the following comment: "at sea on trip between Norfolk Va and Charleston S.C. 447 miles, she made the entire trip under her own power."	US Navy photo # NH 101547 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold.
85k	Halftone photo of the G-2's (SS-27) conning tower and periscopes, circa 1915. Note the submarine warning flag atop one of the periscopes.	US Navy photo # NH 85931 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of Alfred Cellier, 1977.
52k	G-2 (SS-27) underway, circa 1916, with Fulton (AS-1) following astern.	From the publication "The United States Navy", courtesy of Roy C. Thomas.
99k	The crew of N-1 (SS-53) "horsing" a 2,000-pound torpedo through the loading hatch, 1918, probably at New London CT. The stowable davit with head sheave and hand winch is a necessary part of this exercise unless a shore side crane can be used. Note: There are other submarines that can be seen moored in the background. The submarine G-2 (SS-27) is the only boat readily identifiable.	Photo & text courtesy of Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver by Bill Lightfoot. Photo courtesy of John Parker.
35k	N-3 (SS-55) & N-7 (SS-59) are outboard abd closest to the camera in this Winter 1918 photo at New London, CT. Other boats are H-1 (SS-28), G-2 (SS-27), & E-2 (SS-25).	Courtesy of John Hummel.
84k	G-2 (SS-27) in a floating drydock at the Thames Towboat Company, New London, Connecticut, 1918.	US Navy photo # NH 80587 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
91k	G-2's (SS-27) crew, circa early 1918. Her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Joseph E. Austin, is in the center of the front row, with the dog. He is flanked by her six Chief Petty Officers, with seventeen of the submarine's eighteen other enlisted men standing behind. Note comment written on the photo: "The 'Chiefs' Ran the Boat!"	US Navy photo # NH 80587 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
107k	*G-4* at the New London Submarine Base, Groton, Connecticut, about February 1918. The "boats" are (from left to right): *G-4 (SS-26); G-2 (SS-27); and L-8 (SS-48)*.	US Navy photo # NH 80743 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
81k	G-2's (SS-27) starboard White & Middleton gasoline engine, photographed circa 1918.	US Navy photo # NH 80747 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
79k	*G-4* tied up alongside a dock, presumably at the New London Submarine Base, Groton, Connecticut, circa 1918. *G-4* is inboard of *G-2*.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 80585. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
172k	Starboard side view of the G-2 (SS-27) underway, date and location unknown.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
71k	G-2 (SS-27) grounded on Bartlett's Reef, 1 October 1918.	US Navy photo # NH 80745 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
82k	G-2 (SS-27) "On the rocks" at Bartlet's Reef, circa 1 October 1918.	US Navy photo # NH 80599 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.
96k	Commemorative photo in memory of the crew of the G-2 (SS-27).	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
91k	Memorial plaque at Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia PA, July 2006 for the crews of United States submarines lost during peace time accidents: F-1 (SS-20), F-4 (SS-23), G-2 (SS-27), H-1 (SS-28), O-5 (SS-66), O-9 (SS-70), S-4 (SS-109), S-51 (SS-162), Squalus (SS-192), Scorpion (SSN-589) & Thresher (SSN-593).	Photo courtesy of Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr. Photo added 05/13/07.
80k	*G-2* "On the rocks" at Bartlet's Reef, circa 1 October 1918. In Memoriam: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 19th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay..."	US Navy photo # NH 80597 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Lieutenant O.E. Wightman.