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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

R-14 (SS-91)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Lima - Tango
R-1 Class Submarine: Laid down, 6 November 1918, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 10 October 1919; Commissioned, USS R-14, 24 December 1919, at Boston, MA.; Redesignated USS R-14 (SS-91), 17 July 1920; Ran out of fuel during the search for Conestoga (AT-54); set sails to Hilo during 5 days; Decommissioned, 7 May 1945, at Philadelphia, PA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 14 May 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 28 September 1945, to Rossoff Bros, New York, resold to Northern Metals Co., Philadelphia, and scrapped in 1946.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

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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R-14 110k R-14 (SS-91) launching, at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Plant, Quincy, Massachusetts, 10 October 1919. USN photo # NH 41811, courtesy USNHC.
R-14 73k Ship's Sponsor, Miss Florence Gardner (holding flowers) with her party during R-14's (SS-91) launching ceremonies at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company's Fore River Plant, Quincy, Massachusetts, on 10 October 1919. USN photo # NH 102848, courtesy USNHC. Collection of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy.
R-14 55k R-14 (SS-91) underway, probably during trials in late 1919 or early 1920. Note that her deck gun has not yet been installed. USN photo # NH 102849, courtesy USNHC. Collection of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy.
R-14 45k One of the crew of the R-14 (SS-91) working on the port dive plane as the boat enters Pearl Harbor, circa 1920. Photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
R-14 29k During a search for the sea-going tug Conestoga (AT-54) in May 1921. R-14 (SS-91) ran out of fuel southeast of Hawaii. Sails were made from blankets and mattresses, and the submarine arrived at Hilo on 15 May after 5 days under sail. Courtesy of Sid Harrison@sid-ss.net.
USN photo courtesy of "The American Submarine" by Norman Polmar.
Published by Nautical and Aviation Publishing Company, courtesy of Ric Hedman.
R-boats 412k Subs R U.S.
From right to left:
R-16 (SS-93),
R-18 (SS-95),
R-19 (SS-96),
R-12 (SS-89),
R-13 (SS-90),
R-11 (SS-88),
R-17 (SS-94),
R-20 (SS-97),
R-14 (SS-91) &
R-15 (SS-92)
Photo courtesy of David Wright.
R-14 72k R-14 (SS-91) departing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa 1930. The original photograph is in U.S. National Archives' Record Group 19N, Box 59, Folder A. Photographed by Tai Sing Loo. USN photo # NH 102850, courtesy USNHC.
Sub Base Pearl Harbor292kThe 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. 		USN photo by Tai Sing Loo, courtesy of E. Little.
R-14 165k US Navy's R-14 (SS-91) submarine showing its diving plane behind its propeller while being prepped for launching, in dry dock at submarine base New London, CT, September 1939. Photographer: Carl Mydans, courtesy of Life.
R-14 148k Navy crewmen sleeping & resting in 18 bunks hanging out fr. overhead alongside torpedo racks as one reads bk. w. cup of coffee in hand, in the torpedo room of R-14 (SS-91). Photographer: Carl Mydans, courtesy of Life.
R-14 187k Two Navy crewmen manning the two six-cylinder diesel engines, of 440 h.p. each, which run the submarine on the surface & are also used to charge the storage batteries that propels the boat under water. Photographer: Carl Mydans, courtesy of Life.
R-14 160k The Captain and his assistant working on paperwork in their quarters, 1939. Photographer: Carl Mydans, courtesy of Life.
R-14 781k Men working in the control room on the submarine R-14 (SS-91). Photo by Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images courtesy of gettyimages.com.
R-14 579k 13 photo PDF of various shots of the R-14 (SS-91) operating out of Portsmouth Navy Yard in Portsmouth New Hampshire in 1939. Source: LIFE Magazine Archives - Carl Mydans Photographer, shared by Peter DeForest via Mike Green.
R-14 419k Loading a torpedo aboard the R-14 (SS-91), with the R-10 (SS-87) operating out of Portsmouth Navy Yard in Portsmouth New Hampshire in 1939. Source: LIFE Magazine Archives - Carl Mydans Photographer, shared by Peter DeForest via Mike Green.
R-14 116k R-14 (SS-91) in port, with the tug W.F. Dalzell beyond her bow, 1941. Photographed by Ted Stone. USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org. Text courtesy of USNHC.
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-14 (SS-91)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
PigBoats.COM TM A Historic Look at Submarines
Carl Mydans & Life photos aboard the R-14 (SS-91)
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