Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

K-5 (SS-36)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Juliet
K Class Submarine: Laid down, 10 June 1912, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 17 March 1914; Commissioned, USS K-5, 22 August 1914; Designated (SS-36), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 20 February 1923, at Hampton Roads (Submarine Base); Struck from the Naval Register, 18 December 1930; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 3 June 1931.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 392 t., Submerged: 521 t.; Length 153' 7"; Beam 16' 8"; Draft 13' 1"; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Operating Depth, 200'; Complement, 2 Officers, 26 Enlisted; Armament, four 18" torpedo tubes, eight torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine Co., diesel engines, HP 960, Fuel Capacity, 18,126, Electro Dynamic Co., electric motors, HP 960, Battery Cells, 120, single propeller.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		SizeImage DescriptionContributed By/
Source
K-5143k K-8 (SS-39) tied up alongside K-5 (SS-36), prior to World War I.
Fine-screen halftone reproduction, published in "Sea Power" magazine, May 1917. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 76058.
K-5, K-6111kK-5 (SS-36) and K-6 (SS-37) alongside, the monitor Tallahassee in 1916. US Navy photo from DANFS, submitted by Joe Radigan, MACM USN Ret.
K-5134kPortside view of the K-5 (SS-36) off Pensacola, Florida on 12 April, 1916, underway with "zebra" camoflouge, US National Archive photo # 80-G-451709, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
K-551kK-5 (SS-36) in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 13 December 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph, # NH 52377.
K-575kPort side view of the K-5 (SS-36) in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 13 December 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph, # NH 52376.
K-557kK-5 (SS-36) underway, 13 December 1916, in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
US Navy Bureau of Ships, US National Archives photo # 19-N-1888.
K-1, K-2, K-5, K-6 57k "American submarines of the K-class fitted out with machinery & equipment of the latest type to be used in case of hostile descent on our coast".
Pictured in no particular order are probably the K-1 (SS-32), K-2 (SS-33), K-5 (SS-36), and K-6 (SS-37) alongside the tender Bushnell (AS-2), Ponta Delgada, Azores, circa 1918.		 Photo by Central News, courtesy of memory.loc.gov. Partial text from "The War of the Nations" (New York), December 31, 1919. Photo added 02/21/08.
K boats & BB-30 Florida88 USN subs K-1 (SS-32), K-2 (SS-32), K-6 (SS-37) & K-5 (SS-36) prior to going to Europe after the US entered WW I. The Florida (BB-30) is seen at rear. Notice that the K-5 is being painted with "Dazzle paint".
 USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedmen.
K-596k K-5 (SS-36) underway, during her 1919 Mississippi River cruise.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. USNHC photo # 80-G-1025096.
K-5111k K-5 (SS-36) underway, during her 1919 Mississippi River cruise.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52382.
K-5102k K-5 (SS-36) underway on the Mississippi River, 1919. Photographed from the mast of an escorting Navy ship.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52384.
K-598k K-5 (SS-36) underway on the Mississippi River, 1919. Photographed from the mast of an escorting Navy ship.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52385.
K-5123kK-5 (SS-36), the first submarine to navigate the Mississippi River, arriving at St Louis, 14 June 1919. US Navy photo # NR&L (Mod) 4733 from DANFS, submitted by Joe Radigan, MACM USN, Ret.
K-570k K-5 (SS-36) underway on the Mississippi River, 1919. Photographed from on board an escorting Navy ship.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52381.
K-564k K-5 (SS-36) underway on the Mississippi River, 1919, with crewmen relaxing on deck. Photographed from on board an escorting Navy ship.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52386.
K-579k K-5 (SS-36) preparing to dock, during her 1919 Mississippi River cruise.
She displays some standard WW I modifications: passive sound gear forward (the three "rats" of a Y-tube forward of the outward planes & an SC tube forward of the forward hatch); a permanent chariot bridge; and housing periscopes.
A submarine chaser (SC) is astern of the K-5.
Partial text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman.Naval Institute Press.
K-571k K-5 (SS-36) taking a party of St. Louis businessmen down for a dive in the Mississippi River, 1919.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52378.
K-550k K-6 (SS-37) underway in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 13 December 1916. Her sister, K-5 (SS-36) is in the distance, beyond K-6's bow.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 2904.
K-565k "Y-Tube" hydrophone mounted on the K-5's (SS-36) bow, 1919.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 52379.
K-572k E.B.'s K-5 (SS-36) is shown as built, with faired periscope shears. The shaded circle under her fore planes is a Fressenden oscillator, the replacement for the earlier signal bell.
Drawing by Jim Christley. Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
K-5134kK-5 (SS-36) underway, starboard side view, date and location unknown. US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13877, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
View the K-5 (SS 36)
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
Through the Looking Glass, a Historic Look at Submarines
Back To The Main Photo IndexBack To the Submarine Index

Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster.
This page is created and maintained by Michael Mohl
© 2008, Michael Mohl © 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.