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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

H-6 (SS-149)

Radio Call Sign: November - Echo - Foxtrot - Charlie
H-4 Class Submarine:Built by the British Pacific Construction and Engineering Company, Vancouver, Canada for Imperial Russian Government; Acquired by US Navy 20 May 1918; Reassembled at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA.; Laid down, 14 May 1918, Launched, 26 August 1918; Commissioned, USS H-6, 9 September 1918; Redesignated USS H-6 (SS-149), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 23 October 1922, at Norfolk, VA.; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; Struck from the Naval Register, 26 February 1931; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 28 November 1933.
Partial data submitted by Yves Hubert & Thomas Lee, Managing Editor Undersea Warfare Magazine

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, twin propellers.
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SS 149
0814905		NR The H-6 (SS-149) was sponsored by Miss Catherine Ely, daughter of Capt Clarence Francis Ely, M. C., U. S. Navy. Medical Aide to the Commandant of the 13th Naval District. She was 15 at the time & would eventually marry Lieut. Richard P. Glass, U. S. N., a nephew of Senator Carter Glass. Courtesy of Ships of the United States Navy and Their Sponsors, 1913—1923, pg 86.
Compiled by Anne Martin Hall & Edith Wallace Benham. COPYRIGHT, 1925 BY THE SOCIETY OF SPONSORS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY
H-4 489k 4 photo PDF showing H-4 (SS-147) with General Arrangement, Outboard Profile; Superstructure, Inboard Profile; Battery Deck & Various Sections, 1918.National Archives Identifier: 75841758
Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
4 Hs 673k H-boats in frame at Bremerton Naval Shipyard, approximately 23 May 1918.
From the back right; H-4 (SS-147). In front is the H-5 (SS-148). To the left of the H-4 is the H-7 (SS-150). To the left of the H-5 is the H-6 (SS-149). H-8 (SS-151) and H-9 (SS-152) are not seen. Under the boom of the crane is the just about finished O-2 (SS-63), soon to be launched.		This is from a negative from the personal collection of Ric Hedman and acquired through Bill Lightfoot's research library, which he gave to me; he is the author of Beneath the Surface: World War I Submarines Built in Seattle and Vancouver.
H-6 21k H-6 (SS-149) just prior to being launched on the ways at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA. 1918. USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
H-6 55k H-6 (SS-149) starboard view under way, 1918 off San Pedro, Calif. As part of SubDiv 6 and later 7, H-6 was based at San Pedro, Calif. From there she operated along the West Coast, participating in various battle and training exercises with her sister submarines. Occasional patrol duty off Santa Catalina Island and overhauls at Mare Island varied this effective training routine. USN photo # 19-N-20300, from (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
Text courtesy of DANFS.
H-boats 2.84k Two views of an unidentified H boat at Johnson Wharf. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Photos # CVA 260-80 & 260-94 courtesy of James Crookall via searcharchives.vancouver.ca courtesy of John Hummel, USN (Retired).
4 Hs 410k Four unknown H-boats at San Pedro, California, late 1910s. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
Photo by Mark Jay Goebel/Getty Images, courtesy of gettyimages.com.
H-7 236k H and L class submarines berth in San Pedro.
From Back to front & L-R: H-6 (SS-149), L-5 (SS-44), H-7 (SS-150), H-3 (SS-30) in back berth. The H-4 (SS-147) is moored alongside the pier, ahead of her is a row with at least 2 submarines, the H-5 (SS-148) on the left & what might be either the L-6 (SS-45) or L-7 (SS-46) alongside.
The photo appeared in the LA Times on 20 February 1920. The LA Water & Power states that the San Pedro submarine base closed in 1923. 		Text i.d. courtesy of Ric Hednan .
Photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
H-5, 6 & 9 31k H-9 (SS-152), H-6 (SS-149) & H-5 (SS-148) at San Pedro, CA. circa early 1920's. The two left hand boats can't be positively identified as H-class submarines. The men have been doing their laundry and it is drying in the sunshine. The notation on the back of the photo says these boats are moored at "Berth 'M' Pedro". USN photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
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. 		USN photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri.
Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
F-3 313k Glacier (AF-4) with YR-5 and Submarines H-4 (SS-147) and H-6 (SS-149), between February 1921 and April 1921 at Mare Island. Photo i.d. courtesy of Ric Hedman.
USN photo courtesy of Darryl L. Baker.
SS 149
0814906		NR The H-6 (SS-149) moored at San Pedro 1920s. Photo courtesy of David Wright.
H-6 216k H-6 (SS-149) with three battleships. USN photo courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com.
L-5
0804409		 NR WIRELESS SAYS SUBMARINES ARE ACCOUNTED FOR
A1l twelve of the submarines en route from Los Angeles to Hampton Roads, Va., under convoy of the tender Beaver (AS-5), were said at the local submarine base to be accounted for this morning. 		Image and text provided by University of Florida.
Photo & text by The Lakeland Evening Telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 29 July 1922, Image 1, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
graveyard shiftNRStarting 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.
Eleven of the boats were:
H-2 (SS-29),
H-3 (SS-30),
L-5 (SS-44),
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 Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA
Photo from The Weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 19 August 1922, Image 2, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
H-5 37k Starboard view H-6 (SS-149), circa 1930. Courtesy of LT. Gary P. Priolo, USN Ret.
View the H-6 (SS-149)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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