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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-29 (SS-134)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Tango
S-29 served both the US and British Navies

S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 17 April 1919, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy MA.; Launched, 9 November 1922; Commissioned, USS S-29 (SS-134), 22 May 1924; Decommissioned, 5 June 1942; Transferred to the United Kingdom; Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS P 556; Returned to US Naval custody, and struck from the Naval Register, 26 January 1946; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 24 January 1947, H. G. Pound, Great Britain.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 854 t., Submerged: 1,062 t.; Length 219' 3"; Beam 20' 8"; Draft 15' 11"(mean); Depth Limit 200'; Speed, Surfaced 14.5 kts, Submerged 11 kts; Complement, 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine diesel engines, hp 1200, Fuel Capacity, 41,192 gals.; Ridgeway Dynamo & Electric Co., electric motors, hp 1500, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.
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SS 134 113k S-29 (SS-134) was laid down on 17 April 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, Mass.; launched on 9 November 1922; sponsored by Mrs. Ronan C. Grady.
Her husband, Captain Ronan C. Grady appears here on 28 April 1943 with sponsor Mrs. Margaret North Griswold preparing to christen the Griswold (DE-7) at the Boston Naval Shipyard.		 USN photo courtesy of maritimequest.com.
SS 132, SS 134 & SS 157 145k Inboard alongside pier are the S-27 (SS-132), S-46 (SS-157) and S-29 (SS-134) at the Groton CT, Navy Yard, 2 January 1924. USN photo # 19-N-10280, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS 134 229k S-29 (SS-134) entering the loch heading into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, probably circa 27 April to 30 May 1925. USN photo, probably by Tai Sing Loo, # 19-N-17207, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS 138 900k I included the original Mare Island Public Works photo (above) which show waterfront paving work at the yard on 25 June 1925 and a cropped view of the S class submarine on the far left of the photo.
"Prison labor" means that the prisoners from Mare Island Naval Brig were doing the work, another story of the yard not often told.
Shipyard journals of the period indicate that the submarine in the foreground is S-33 (SS-138) and she was in overhaul at the yard from 1 September 1924 until 3 October 1925. You will note the temporary access patch over her engine room. The six boats in the background are S-24 (SS-129), S-25 (SS-130), S-26 (SS-131), S-27 (SS-132), & S-28 (SS-133) & S-29 (SS-134), all arrived at the yard on 24 June 1925 along with Savannah (AS-8). It appears the photo was taken from the stern of the Savannah. 		Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
Savannah 114k Savannah (AS-8) at Portland, OR., during the 1920s. Submarines alongside are (from left to right): S-27 (SS-132), S-29 (SS-134) and S-25 (SS-130). Photo by Peck.
USN photo # NH 71012 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
Photo donated to the US Naval Historical Center by LT. Gustave Freret, USN (Retired), 1970.
S-9 731k All the boats in the image are S-boats.
On the left is the S-9 (SS-114). The next is probably S-24 (SS-129). All of the rest are 20 series boats. The boat in the background IS NOT the S-2 (SS-106). It is a 20 series like the others. The last digit in the boat's name is obscured by the torpedo davit on the boat in the middle.
As for a location, the pier in the background looks like some images I have seen of San Pedro, California. Although the fact that this came from the New York Daily News Archive seems to indicate the Brooklyn Navy Yard or some location in the city.
I can't see the stern of any of the boats. This helps in dating the photo. It appears that the aft skeg of the S-24 is still in place and there are no post S-4 (SS-109) safety modifications so this would indicate that the photo was taken in the mid to late 1920's, but this is only a rough guess. 		Photo & text i.d. courtesy of David Johnston
Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images, courtesy of gettyimages.com.
SS 134 966k S-29 (SS-134) visited Hawaii in the summers of 1927, 1928, and 1930. She is seen here in June 1927. Text courtesy of DANFS.
USN photo # 80G-413979 courtesy of Sean Hert.
SS 134 353k S-29 (SS-134) circa 1930's. The crew has pulled what appears to be a buoy up on deck and are securing it. Text courtesy of Ric Hedman / rddesign@rddesigns.com.
USN photo thanks to Jim Kurrasch @ Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center.
HMS P-556
SS 134 151k HMS P-556, the ex-S-29 (SS-134) after her transfer in 1942 to the Royal Navy who used her for training duties. Photos and text from A Century of Submarines by Peter Lawrence via Robert Hurst.
SS 134 476k HMS P-556, underway at speed, location unknown. Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Photo # FL 17224 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums via Robert Hurst.
SS 134 276k Five photo PDF of the present day S-29 (SS-134) at John Pounds Scrapyard, Great Britain. Photos courtesy of Ron Reeves (of blessed memory).
View the S-29 (SS-134)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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