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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

L-9 (SS-49)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Victor

L-1 Class Submarine: Laid down, 2 November 1914, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 27 October 1915; Commissioned, USS L-9, 4 August 1916; Designated (SS-49), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 4 May 1923, at Hampton Roads; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Final Disposition, scrapped , 28 November 1933.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 450 t., Submerged: 548 t..; Length 167' 5"; Beam 17' 5"; Draft 13' 7"; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 2 Officers, 26 Enlisted; Armament, four 18", torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine Co, diesel engine, HP 900, Fuel Capacity, 18,977 gal., Electro Dynamic Co, electric motor, HP 680, Battery Cells, 120, single propeller.
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 L 9 82k L-9 (SS-49) underway, probably while running trials in 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 63383. Photo added 08/28/06.
 Tonopah, L 9 & 11 96k View on the Tonopah's (M-8) foredeck, showing 12" guns and crewmen, taken while she was serving as submarine tender at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, circa 1917. Submarines alongside are L-11 (SS-51) and L-9 (SS-49). Note the workbench, with vise attached, in the left foreground.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 45438. Photo added 08/28/06.
L-9/ L-11 91k L-9 (SS-49) and L-11 (SS-51), along with two unidentified submarines, somewhere in Ireland, c.1918.
US Navy photo.
 L 9 - 11 100k Circa December 1917 - January 1918 photo of the L-9 (SS-49), L-10 (SS-50) & L-11 (SS-51) wearing the A.L. of WW I, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
US Navy photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
L-3/L-11/L-10/L-4/L-9 67k L-3 (SS-42), L-11 (SS-51), L-10 (SS-50), L-4 (SS-43) and L-9 (SS-49), alongside their tender in Great Britain during World War I.
They display the most important war modifications: the permanent open chariot bridge & retractable (housing) periscopes. L-10 shows three fixed-spot hydrophones forward, presumably comprising a K-tube.
Partial text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press. US Naval Historical Center # NH 60252.
 L-3 85k Prewar U.S. submarine bridges were very small to limit underwater drag. With her enlarged chariot bridge, L-3 (SS-42) contrasts with the more streamlined L-9 (SS-49) in this 1918 photo(which was less suited to protracted surface runs).
Photo & text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
SS-51,50,40, 49 & 4189k L-boats alongside Bushnell (AS-2) at Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1918. These submarines are, from left to right:
unidentified submarine;
L-11 (SS-51),
L-10 (SS-50),
L-1 (SS-40),
L-9 (SS-49)&
L-2 (SS-41).
Identification marks painted on these "boats"' fairwaters include the letter "A", to distinguish them from British L-boats .
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51172.
SS-51,50,40, 49 &  4184k L-boats alongside Bushnell (AS-2) at Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1918. These submarines are, from left to right:
unidentified submarine;
L-11 (SS-51),
L-10 (SS-50),
L-1 (SS-40),
L-9 (SS-49)&
L-2 (SS-41).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # 80-G-1024919.
SS-50,40, 49 &  4380k L-boats alongside Bushnell (AS-2) at Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1918. These submarines are, from left to right:
unidentified submarine;
L-1 (SS-40),
L-10 (SS-50),
L-4 (SS-43)&
L-9 (SS-49).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51171.
SS-50,40, 49 &  4387k L-boats alongside Bushnell (AS-2) at Bantry Bay, Ireland, in 1918. These submarines are, from left to right:
unidentified submarine;
L-1 (SS-40),
L-10 (SS-50),
L-4 (SS-43)&
L-9 (SS-49).
Note the smoke from the submarines' engines.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51170.
L-Boats101k Bushnell (AS-2) lifting L-2 (SS-41) partially out of the water, while in an Irish port during World War I. Moored to Bushnell's port side are (from left to right):
L-4 (SS-43),
L-1 (SS-40),
& L-9 (SS-49).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 61684.
L-9 133k L-9 (SS-49), during World War I at Bantry Bay, Ireland. The prefix "A" denoted "American" as the British also had L-Boats in the area.
L-9 shows typical war modifications: a chariot bridge and retractable (housing) periscopes.
Partial text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
US National Archives photo 80-G-1025041, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, contributed by Joe Radigan, MACM, USN Ret.
SS-4189k L-class class submarines tied up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, with a harbor tug outboard, circa February 1919. Submarines are (from left to right):
L-3 (SS-42);
L-9 (SS-49);
L-11 (SS-51); and
L-2 (SS-41).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51167.
 L-3 & 9 100k View of the L-9 (SS-49), at right and L-3 (SS-42) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, circa February 1919.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51166.
 L-3, 9 & 11 100k L-3 (SS-42) - left; L-9 (SS-49) - center; and L-11 (SS-51) - right, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, circa February 1919. "Homeward-bound" pennant flying from L-9's periscope indicates that this photo may have been taken as the submarines arrived home following World War I service in British waters.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 51168.

View the L-9 (SS-49)
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

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