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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

R-7 (SS-84)

R-1 Class Submarine: Laid down, 6 December 1917, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 5 April 1919; Commissioned, USS R-7, 12 June 1919; Redesignated USS R-7 (SS-84), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 2 May 1931, at Philadelphia, PA; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; Recommissioned in ordinary, 22 July 1940; Shifted to New London, recommissioned in full, 14 March 1941; Decommissioned, 14 September 1945, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; Struck from the Naval Register, 11 October 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1946 to John J. Duane, Quincy, MA.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 569 t., Submerged: 680 t.; Length 186' 2" ; Beam 18'; Draft 14' 6"; Speed, Surfaced 13.5 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit, 200'; Complement 2 Officers, 27 Enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes forward, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel electric engines, New England Ship and Engine Co., diesel engines, 1200hp, Fuel Capacity, 18,880 gals., Electro Dynamic Co., electric motors, twin propellers.
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For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
SS-84 19k R-7 (SS-84) probably taken after her launching, 5 April 1919. US Navy photo courtesy of Hyperwar US Navy in WWII.
SS-84 3.20k Ours (R) us.
Ship's Company R-7 (SS-84) with the R-5 (SS-82) & R-10 (SS-87) molded into the background. Time frame could have been circa 1920 when she was operating with infamous SUBDIV 9; all the boats in the photo were part of that division including the R-2 (SS-79) (which may just be visible in the top of the photo).
The R-7 appears underway in the bottom of the photo. 		Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Photo courtesy of Jan Reid.
R-3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, S-3 & 4 191k R & S boats nested together, May 1920, alongside Submarine Tender Camden (AS-6). From inboard to outboard:
R-4 (SS-81),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-7 (SS-84),
R-3 (SS-80),
S-4 (SS-109)
and S-3 (SS-107).
Note that all the R-boats have gun platforms, but that guns are fitted only on R-10,
and R-3.
S-4 has a platform for a 4"/50 gun (but no gun is installed), while S-3 still has no gun platform.
US Navy photo # 19-N-9936, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham. Text i.d. courtesy of USNHC photo # NH 41855.
SS-84 & friends 87k R-boats off New York City, circa 1920. from inboard to outboard (left to right):
R-7 (SS-84),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-4 (SS-81).
 		Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 41746, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Image and text provided by Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA.
Photo from The Madison Journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 05 June 1920, Image 2, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
PDF added 02/04/13.
SS-84 & friends 79k The Submarine Tender Camden (AS-6) off New York City with twelve submarines alongside, circa 1920. Submarines are, from inboard to outboard (left to right):
R-1 (SS-78),
R-2 (SS-79),
R-4 (SS-81),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-7 (SS-84),
R-3 (SS-80),
S-4 (SS-109)
and S-3 (SS-107). 		Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 99892, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
SS-84 & friends 100k The Submarine Tender Camden (AS-6) off New York City with twelve submarines alongside, circa 1920. Submarines are, from inboard to outboard (left to right):
R-1 (SS-78),
R-2 (SS-79),
R-4 (SS-81),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-7 (SS-84),
R-3 (SS-80),
S-4 (SS-109)
and S-3 (SS-107). 		Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 59972, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
R-boats R- US 416k R-Boats tied to a tender. The cityscape in the background is New York City. Location is the 79th Street Boat Basin on the west side of Manhattan Island. They were in transit to Hawaii.
R-1 (SS-78),
R-2 (SS-79),
R-4 (SS-81),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-7 (SS-84) with the stern of another R-boat visible. It is quite possible that this photo is taken from a different angle from the one above with the same boats in order but only a partial view. 		Photo i.d. & text courtesy of Ric Hedman.
US Navy photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
BB-51 Montana132 This photo shows the submarines R-1 (SS-78), R-2 (SS-79), R-3(SS-80), R-4 (SS-81), R-5 (SS-82), R-7 (SS-84), R-8 (SS-85) & R-10 (SS-87) with Mud Scow #8 in Mare Island's Dry Dock #2 between 8 May and 10 June 1922. Note: The scaffold for the construction of the Montana (BB-51) can be seen above and to the right of the head of the dry dock. Seattle NARA photo; # USN photo 60-30, Record Group 181, 13th Naval District, Records of the Naval District & Shore Establishments, courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large. submitted by Darryl L. Baker.
L-6, F-2 & friends 90k San Pedro, Calif. submarine base. From inboard to outboard:
F-2 (SS-21), L-6 (SS-45), & what appears to be H-6 (SS-149)?, H-4 (SS-147), R-7 (SS-84). Photo is at or after 30 June 1921 through 1 July 1922. The R-7 had arrived from the Panama Canal then and the L-6 was placed in commission, in ordinary, 24 March 1922; returned to full commission 1 July; and sailed for the east coast the same month. All the H-class boats left on 25 July 1922 for the east coast as well.
Notice that the other boats seem higher out of the water, which is indicative of the H-class boats which had a higher beam than the F & L-classes. The boats behind this group are too far away to i.d. properly. 		US Navy photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
SS-84 316k R-7 (SS-84) underway on 23 July 1924. US Navy photo # NH 59789, courtesy of US Naval History and Heritage Command.
Sub Base Pearl Harbor152kThe crews of Submarine Divisions 9 & 14 line the decks of their boats (20 in all) at the Submarine base at Pearl Harbor on 12 December 1930.
R-1 (SS-78),
R-2 (SS-79),
R-3 (SS-80),
R-4 (SS-81),
R-5 (SS-82),
R-6 (SS-83),
R-7 (SS-84),
R-8 (SS-85),
R-9 (SS-86),
R-10 (SS-87),
R-11 (SS-88),
R-12 (SS-89),
R-13 (SS-90),
R-14 (SS-91),
R-15 (SS-92),
R-16 (SS-93),
R-17 (SS-94),
R-18 (SS-95),
R-19 (SS-96) &
R-20 (SS-97).
All the R-boats were to leave the base where they had been serving for upwards of 8 years and transfer to the East coast to be decommissioned over the next 3 years.
The only identifiable boat is the R-16. 		US Navy photo by Tai Sing Loo, courtesy of E. Little.
Navy Yard 91k These World War submarines, [R-boats] tied up in the Navy Yard in Philadelphia for a dozen years, are being reconditioned and some are already in active service again, it was announced 10 Jan. 1941. This picture shows them as they appeared before the repair program began. Photo & text courtesy of A.P. Wire courtesy of philly.com.
SS-84 95k Port side view of the R-7 (SS-84), taken between 24 July 1943 & 3 April 1945, probably while the boat was going to the sub base in Groton, CT. US Navy photo submitted by Peter Fernandez & taken by Lieutenant Junior Grade, Joseph A. Fernandez, Jr., while aboard the Schmitt (APD-76).
SS-84 29k R-7 (SS-84) underway, date and place unknown. US Navy photo.
SS-84 156k Starboard view of the R-7 (SS-84) underway at Pearl Harbor. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
Pompano 401k This air view of Portsmouth Navy Yard taken just after the end of WW II shows the main shipbuilding shed which enabled construction to continue unimpeded by the Maine winters. The shed was widened to add two ways in 1941, and a fifth was squeezed in a year later. Drydocks No. 1 (left) & 2 (far right) contain six fleet submarines, while three R-boats are moored in the foreground.
The Pompano (SS-491) would have been under construction in the first ways on the left hand corner of the main shipbuilding shed. 		Photo and partial text from The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History, by John D. Alden.
View the R-7 (SS-84)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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