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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

H-4 (SS-147)

H-4 Class Submarine: Built by the Electric Boat Company, Groton, CT., for Imperial Russian Govt; Acquired by US Navy; Laid down, 12 May 1918, at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA.; Launched, 9 October 1918; Commissioned, USS H-4, 24 October 1918; Redesignated USS H-4 (SS-147), 15 July 1920; Decommissioned, 25 October 1922, at Norfolk, VA.; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; Struck from the Naval Register, 26 February 1931; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 14 September 1931.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 358 t., Submerged: 467 t..; Length 150' 4" ; Beam 15' 10"; Draft 15' 10"; Speed, surfaced 14 kts, submerged 10.5 kts; Depth Limit 200'; Complement 2 Officers, 23 Enlisted; Armament, four 18" torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes; Propulsion, diesel electric, New London Ship and Engine Co., diesel engines, 960 hp, Fuel Capacity, 11,800 gal.; Electro Dynamic Co., electric motors, 600 hp, Battery Cells, 120, single propeller.
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H-4 72k Typical wartime H-boat launch on 9 Oct. 1918 at Bremerton Naval Shipyard. Everything is in readiness. The H-4 (SS-147) sponsoring party and bunting at the bow workmen along the runways tuning up the cradle, shoring in place, visitors and sailors on the deck. Note the circular Fessenden oscillator in the starboard bow of the pressure hull. US Navy photo provided by Rick Larson MMCM (SS) (ret.) courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Insert photo & text courtesy of Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver by Bill Lightfoot.
Photo added 05/14/13.
H-4 82k H-4 (SS-147) portside view under way, probably off San Pedro, CA., 1918. Stationed at San Pedro, Calif., first with SubDiv 6 and then SubDiv 7, H-4 participated in various battle and training exercises along the West Coast with her sister H-class boats. These exercises were interrupted by occasional patrol duty off Santa Catalina Island and periodic overhauls at Mare Island.
 		US Navy photo # 19-N-20296, from (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
Text courtesy of DANFS.
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.
H-4 53k H-4 (SS-147) at Mare Island for a refit, circa 1918-22. US Navy photo courtesy of subnet.com.
F-3 313k Glacier (AF-4) with YR-5 and Submarines H-4 (SS-147) and H-6 (SS-149), between Feb 1921 and April 1921 at Mare Island. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
graveyard shift977kStarting a 5,000-mile journey, which will end at their own graveyard,twelve H and L type submarines left the Navy base at San Pedro, CA, recently, bound for Hampton Roads, VA. through the Panama Canal. Upon arrival on the East coast they are to be decommissioned and cut up for scrap iron.
Ten of the boats were:
H-2 (SS-29),
H-3 (SS-30),
L-6 (SS-45),
L-7 (SS-46),
H-4 (SS-147),
H-5 (SS-148),
H-6 (SS-149),
H-7 (SS-150),
H-8 (SS-151),
H-9 (SS-152).
Image and text provided by University of Utah, Marriott Library.
Photo from The Lehi Sun. (Lehi, Utah) 1913-1949, 17 August 1922, Image 4, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
View the H-4 (SS-147)
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
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