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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-4 (SS-109)

S-4 Class Submarine (Government Type): Laid down, 4 December 1917, at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, NH; Launched, 27 August 1919; Commissioned, USS S-4, 19 November 1919; Redesignated USS S-4 (SS-109), 15 July 1920; Decommissioned, 19 March 1928; Recommissioned, 16 October 1928; Decommissioned 7 April 1933 and laid up in the reserve fleet; Struck from the Naval Register, 15 January 1936; Final Disposition, destroyed by sinking, 15 May 1936.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 876 t., Submerged: 1092 t.; Length 231' ; Beam 21' 10"; Draft 13' 1"; Speed, surfaced 14.5 kts, submerged 11 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel electric engines, New London Ship and Engine Co. diesel engines, 2000 hp, Fuel Capacity, 36,950 gal.; Westinghouse Electric Co., electric motors, 1,200 hp, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
93k	Interior view of the S-4 (SS-109), looking aft in the Crew's Quarters (Battery Room), 25 December 1919. Taken by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. Note folding chairs and tables, coffee pot, Christmas decorations and door to the Control Room.	US Navy photo # NH 41847, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
106k	Interior view of the S-4 (SS-109), Crew's Quarters (Battery Room), 25 December 1919. Taken by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. Note folding chairs, table, benches and berths; also Christmas decorations.	US Navy photo # NH 41848, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
108k	View on deck, looking aft from the S-4's (SS-109) bow, 25 December 1919. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. Israel (DD-98) is partially visible at right.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 41839.
102k	View on deck, looking forward from the S-4's (SS-109) stern, 25 December 1919. Taken at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. Israel (DD-98) is partially visible at left.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 41840.
104k	One of the S-4's (SS-109) officers and several crew members pose on deck, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine, on 26 December 1919. Destroyer in the immediate background is Israel (DD-98). Note that *S-4's* 4"/50 deck gun has not yet been installed.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 41837.
154k	S-4 (SS-109) underway, circa 1920.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Robert M. Cieri.
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.
191k	The Submarine Tender Camden (AS-6) *R & S boats* of Submarine Division 9, circa November or very early December 1920, tied up at dock at Norfolk VA. 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.
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.
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.
62k	*S boats* at the Cavite Navy Yard, Philippines, in 1923-1924. These submarines are (from left to right): S-17 (SS-122): S-4 (SS-109): S-15 (SS-120); and S-14 (SS-119).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 90306. Courtesy of Captain A.L. Prosser, USN (Retired), 1979.
103k	The Submarine Tender Holland (AS-3) in port, with several *S-boats* type submarines alongside, circa 1926. Note the Submarine Division Eleven insignia on the fairwaters of the two inboard subs. Submarines present are (from inboard to outboard): unidentified; S-25 (SS-130): S-7 (SS-112): S-4's (SS-109): S-6 (SS-111) & S-8 (SS-113).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 53436.
74k	The S-8 (SS-113); S-3 (SS-107); S-4 (SS-109) & S-6 (SS-111) at Portsmouth, NH. The boat on far left can't be identified.	US Navy photo courtesy of Milne Special Collections, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, N.H. Photo and text contributed by by Ric Hedman/rddesigns.com.
129k	Portsmouth Times newspaper PDF file on the sub's sinking and the death of one of the S-4's (SS-109) crew, in particular; Commissary Victor Haney.	Contruibuted in his memory by his nephew, Raleigh Haney.
44k	Roy Kehlor Jones, Lieutenant Commander (Commanding Officer) of the S-4 (SS-109) at the time of her loss.	USN photo courtesy of oneternalpatrol.com.
90k	S-4 (SS-109), being refloated and raised.	Courtesy of Ric Hedman.
141k	S-4 (SS-109) in dry dock at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 19 March 1928, following salvage. The original caption reads: "*S-4* in drydock, with bodies of eight seamen still sealed in one of its compartments .... The *S-4* as she slowly emerged from the water in dry dock today, disclosing the huge hole in her side." The submarine sank after colliding with *USCGC Paulding* on 17 December 1927. The hole from the collision was in her starboard hull side, just forward of her deck gun, and is not visible in this photograph, which was taken from off *S-4's* port quarter. Salvage pontoons *YSP-10* and *YSP-6* are visible in the background. Several diving support rafts are alongside the submarine.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 41819.
102k	*USCGC Paulding* on the Marine Railway at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 26 December 1927, showing damage to her bow from her collision with S-4 (SS-109) on 17 December 1927.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 69120. Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, California, 1969.
68k	Chief Gunner's Mate Thomas Eadie, USN Wearing the Medal of Honor, which had just been presented by President Calvin Coolidge in ceremonies at the White House, January 1928. He received the medal for heroism in rescuing another man during diving operations on S-4 (SS-109) on 18 December 1927. Among his other medals are the Navy Cross and the World War I Victory Medal. Standing behind him are Secretary of the Navy Curtis Wilbur (left) and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Charles F. Hughes.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89419. Photo courtesy of Bill Gonyo. Photo added 02/12/08.
115k	Interior view of the Battery Room of the S-4 (SS-109), looking aft and to port, 23 March 1928. Taken while she was in dry dock at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, after being salvaged off Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she had been sunk in collision with *USCGC Paulding* on 17 December 1927. The irregular object running the length of the compartment, just above the lockers on the right (port) side, is the collapsed ventilator duct through which water entered the Control Room. Into this duct water forced the curtain and flag, which clogged the valve on the after side of the bulkhead, preventing it from closing. It was this water which forced the abandonment of the Control Room. *S-4* flooded through a hole, made by *Paulding's* bow, in the forward starboard side of the Battery Room.	US Navy photo # NH 41833, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
59k	S-4 (SS-109), in dry dock following her raising.	Courtesy of Ric Hedman.
98k	A view of the S-4 (SS-109) after her salvage, looking into the upper level of the battery room, which had been the crew's berthing. I believe this photo is looking aft.	U.S Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker, text courtesy of David Johnston, USNR.
100k	S-4 (SS-109), after commissioning for trial of saftey devices, at New London, Connecticut, 16 Oct. 1928.	USN photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
105k	S-4 (SS-109), with Falcon (AM-34), 14 December 1928. The original caption reads: "The submarine *S-4* just one year after she sank with a loss of forty lives. The repaired craft will be sent to the bottom without anyone aboard at Block Island, New London, Connecticut, to test out various safety devices developed as a result of the *S-4* and S-51 (SS-162) disasters."	US Navy photo # NH 68837, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, California, 1969.
43k	Commemorative photo in memory of the crew of the S-4 (SS-109).	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
91k	Memorial 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.
94k	View amidships of the S-4 (SS-109), taken soon after entering dry dock at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, on 19 March 1928. Note flag flying at half-mast, in honor of crewmen who lost their lives when *S-4, collided with USCGC Paulding* on 17 December 1927. In Memoriam: In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 19th 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..."	US Navy photo # NH 41820, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.