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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-16 (SS-121)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Charlie

S-4 Class Submarine (Government-type): Laid down, 19 March 1918, at Lake Torpedo Boat Co., Bridgeport, CT.; Launched, 23 December 1919; Commissioned, USS S-16 (SS-121), 17 December 1920; Decommissioned, 25 May 1935, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; Recommissioned, 2 December 1940; Decommissioned, and struck from the Naval Register, 4 October 1944; Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 3 April 1945, 18 miles off Key West, FL.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 876 t., Submerged: 1092 t..; Length 231' ; Beam 21' 10"; Draft 13' 1"; Speed, surfaced 15 kts, submerged 11 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Armament, five 21" torpedo tubes, 14 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel electric engines, Maschinfabrik - Augsburg - Nurnburg, New York Navy Yard diesel engines, 2,000 hp, Fuel Capacity, 36,950 gal.; Westinghouse Electric Co., electric motors, 1,200 hp, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
146k	All dressed up at Lake Torpedo Boat Co., Bridgeport, CT., 23 December 1919, S-16 (SS-121) lies at dock after launching.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
70k	S-14 (SS-119), alongside Beaver (AS-5) at the Panama Canal Zone, circa the 1920s. S-16 (SS-121) is inboard of *S-14*.	Courtesy of the USS Nautilus Museum, Groton, Connecticut, 1991. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 99184.
139k	S-16 (SS-121) & next to her is possibly the S-50 (SS-161) with another unknown *S-boat* and 4 unidentified *R-boats* alongside their tender, Shawmut (CM-4) probably in the Panama Canal area, circa 1924.	US Navy photo # 80-G-1024884, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
67k	These O type and S type submarines which were used during the World War have since been decommissioned and are now laid up in the Phila. Navy Yard. The peaceful surroundings are quite a contrast to those of their active war days. They are pictured here on 17 July 1936. The S-10 (SS-115) was decommissioned on the day this photo was taken at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA. and laid up in the Reserve Fleet. Pictured also are any of the following boats that were at the PNY during this time. The O boats:O-1 (SS-62), O-2 (SS-63), O-3 (SS-64), O-6 (SS-67), O-7 (SS-68), O-8 (SS-69), O-9 (SS-70),O-10 (SS-71). The S boats: S-6 (SS-111), S-7 (SS-112),S-8 (SS-113), S-9 (SS-114),S-11 (SS-116), S-12 (SS-117),S-13 (SS-118), S-14 (SS-119),S-15 (SS-120),S-16 (SS-121),S-17 (SS-122) & S-48 (SS-159).	Photo & text courtesy of A.P. Wire courtesy of philly.com. Photo added 06/09/09.
34k	A Pen and ink drawing with wash, by the artist Vernon Howe Bailey, entitled "Deck Gun (Preparing for Sea)," depicts an *S-boat* at dock, possibly the S-16 (SS-121) in 1941.	Deck Gun (Preparing for Sea) Vernon Howe Bailey #30 Pen and ink drawing with wash, 1941 Courtesy of the USNHC, painting # 88-165-AD.

View the S-16 (SS-121)
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
Welcome to the S Boats Gallant Ladies of the Past
Through the Looking Glass A Historic Look at Submarines

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