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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

O-5 (SS-66)

O Class Submarine: Laid down, 8 December 1916, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 17 November 1917; Commissioned, USS O-5, 8 June 1918; Designated (SS-66), 17 July 1920; Rammed while entering Lemon Bay, Canal Zone, 28 October 1923, by United Fruit steamer Abangarez, sank in less than one minute with loss of 3 crewmembers; Struck from the Naval Register, 28 April 1924; Final Disposition, hulk raised to be sold for scrapping, sold, 12 December 1924, to R.K. Morris, Balboa, CZ.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 521 t., Submerged: 629 t.; Length 172' 4"; Beam 18' 0"; Draft 14' 5"; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Operational Depth Limit 200 ft; Complement 2 Officers 27 Enlisted; Armament, four 18", torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New England Ship and Engine Co, diesels, 880 hp, Fuel Capacity, 21,897 gal.; New York Navy Yard electric motors, 740 hp, Battery Cells 120, single propeller.
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O-5 148k O-5 (SS-66), off Provincetown, Massachusetts, on 14 April 1918, during her trials.
LOC photo # LC-F81-27036 courtesy of Tom Kermen. Text courtesy of USNHC photo # NH 44551.
O-5 72k In May 1918, Trever was ordered to the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Mass., to assist in fitting out O-5 (SS-66). He assumed command of the new 0-boat on 9 June 1918 and received the temporary rank of Lieutenant Commander on 1 July 1918. On 5 October 1918, during post-commissioning trials, an explosion occurred on board O-5 in which Trever and a crewman were injured. Nine days later, at the naval hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 14 October 1918, Lt. Comdr. George Arthur Trever died as a result of the severe and multiple injuries suffered in the shipboard tragedy. Photo courtesy of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association via Bill Gonyo.
O-5 & O-3 95k O-5 (SS-66), left and O-3 (SS-64), probably at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, circa 1918-1920.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 98061. Collection of Christopher Henry William Lloyd, donated by Virginia M. Agostini, 1990.
O-5 35k O-5 (SS-66), underway and undated.
USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
Solo 162k US Submarine base at Coco Solo, Panama 1923.
The R-26 (SS-103) is in the background with the white tarp over her fore deck.
The Submarine Chaser in the background is SC 285.
The O-3 (SS-64) & O-7 (SS-68) are in front of the R-26. The O-9 (SS-70) is next closest to the camera. The two boats in the foreground are the O-5 and a mystery "O" boat.
The O-5 reported to Coco Solo in January of 1923 and she sank 18 Oct 1923 with the loss of 2 lives. 		US Navy photo courtesy of Ric Hedman. Photo added 11/08/09.
O-5 76k The SS Abangarez, in San Francisco Bay, California, in late 1945 or early 1946. This United Fruit Company banana carrier was built in Ireland in 1909. She sank the O-5 (SS-66) on 28 October 1923. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 98764. Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Retired), 2003.
O-boats 85k Submarine Division 8, Commander Guy E. Davis commanding. Nine of the Division's ten O-boats at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 16 August 1921. Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 11 Portland Street, Boston. Submarines in the front row are (from left to right): O-3 (SS-64), O-6 (SS-67), O-9 (SS-70) and O-1 (SS-62). Those in the second row are (from left to right): O-7 (SS-68), unidentified (either O-2 or O-8), O-5 (SS-66), O-10(SS-71) and O-4 (SS-65). Large four-stacked ship in the left center distance is the U.S. Army Transport Mount Vernon.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 103193.
O-5 32k Commemorative photo in memory of the O-5 (SS-66).Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen. Dante's Prayer courtesy of Loreena McKennitt via quinlanroad.com.
O-5 121k Google Earth satellite photo of the eastern approach of the Panama Canal, showing Cristobal Panama, with Limon Bay, a part of the Caribbean Sea, where the O-5 (SS-66) sank.
View courtesy of Google Earth.
O-5 76k Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault, USN (center) receives the Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge, in ceremonies at the White House, Washington, D.C., on 8 March 1924. Captain Adolphus Andrews, Presidential Naval Aide, is at left. Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor for "heroism and devotion to duty" during the sinking of O-5 (SS-66) on 28 October 1923.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 52788.
Memorial plaque91kMemorial 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.
O-5 58k The Panama Canal owned the two largest floating cranes in the world, each able to lift 250 tons (275.5 mt). One, the Atlas, began sailing to the rescue. In this photo, the Canal-launch captain reaches out to help O-5 (SS-66) survivor Henry Breault aboard after the crane Atlas finally pulled the submarine to the surface, from 230 feet, rescuing two trapped crewmen, 28 October 1923.
As of June 2006 the Atlas is still operating in the Canal.

In Memorium:

In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th 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..."
Photo courtesy of czbrats.com., submitted by Jeffery G. Scism & Aldrin Alfonso Carranza Sanchez.
Partial text courtesy of czimages.com.
View the O-5 (SS-66)
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
On Eternal Patrol
Images from the Panama Canal of the O-5 (SS-66)
Through the Looking Glass, a Historic Look at Submarines
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Submarine Index

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