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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

V-6 (SC-2)
Nautilus (SS-168)
Active Service / 1931 - 1941

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Charlie - Xray

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons


Presidential Unit Citation
To Additional Pages

Keel Laying - Launching
Fitting Out / Commissioning
WW II Service

Narwhal Class Submarine: Laid down, 10 May 1927, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.; Launched, 15 March 1930; Commissioned Cruiser Submarine USS V-6 (SC-2), 1 July 1930; Renamed Nautilus, 19 February 1931; Redesignated (SS-168), 1 July 1931; Decommissioned, 30 June 1945; Struck from the Naval Register, 25 July 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 16 November 1945, North American Smelting Co., Philadelphia, PA. Nautilus earned the Presidential Unit Citation and 14 battle stars for her service during World War II.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 2,730 t., Submerged: 3,960 t.; Length 371' ; Beam 33' 3"; Draft 15' 9"; Speed, Surfaced 17 kts, Submerged 8 kts; Depth Limit 300'; Complement 8 officers 80 enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes forward, two 21" torpedo tubes aft, four 21" torpedo tubes topside, 24 torpedoes; two single 6"/53 deck gun, two 30 cal. mgs.; Propulsion, diesel electric, Maschinfabrik - Augusburg- Nurnburg, New York Navy Yard diesel engines, hp 3175, Fuel Capacity, 182,778 gal., Westinghouse Electric Co., electric motors, hp 2168, Battery Cells 240, twin propellers.
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For Full Size Image		Size Image Description Source
SS 168 1.9m Commissioning ceremonies aboard the Nautilus (SS-168) at Mare Island on 1 July 1930. US Navy photo # 611-7-30 courtesy of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum and submitted by Darryl Baker. Photo added 07/09/09.
Nautilus 211kV-6 (SC-2) operated out of New London, conducting special submergence tests, until March of 1931. The boat is pictured here in New York City. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of San Francisco Examiner via David S. Smith. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
SS 168 188k Overhead view of the Nautilus (SS-168), circa June 1931.
U.S. Navy photo courtesy of San Francisco Examiner via David S. Smith.
SS 168 245k V-6 (SC-2) had by this time been renamed Nautilus (SS-168). She is pictured here underway during the early 1930s.
Text courtesy of US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 45666. Official US Navy photo courtesy of John L. Ross.
SS 168 94k Nautilus (SS-168), Argonaut (SS-166); and Narwhal (SS-167); (listed left to right) Tied up together in port, circa the early 1930s.
Courtesy of J.A. Casoly.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. USNHC # NH 45667.
SS 168 72k Nautilus (SS-168); Argonaut (SS-166); and Narwhal (SS-167); (listed left to right) Tied up together in port, circa the early 1930s.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph, USNHC # NH 45668. Courtesy of J.A. Casoly.
Winter & Pond 83k Tender and submarines at dock in Juneau, Alaska, July, 1934. At far left, tender Holland (AS-3), submarines (l to r) Bass (SS-164), Bonita (SS-165), Barracuda (SS-163), Nautilus (SS-168) and Narwhal (SS-167). The mill of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company is in the background. Photo by Winter & Pond courtesy of the Alaska State Library. Submitted by Joe Radigan.
SS-170,169,163,164,165,168 & 167 86k Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, in San Diego harbor, California, 24 December 1934. The submarines are (from left to right):
Cachalot (SS-170);
Dolphin (SS-169);
Barracuda(SS-163);
Bass (SS-164);
Bonita (SS-165);
Nautilus (SS-168); and
Narwahl (SS-167). 		Official U.S. Navy Photograph, NH # 80-G-63334, now in the collections of the National Archives.
SS-170,163,164,165,168 & 167 94k Holland (AS-3) in San Diego harbor, California, circa 1935. Submarines alongside are (from outboard to inboard):
Cachalot (SS-170);
Barracuda(SS-163);
Bass (SS-164);
Bonita (SS-165);
Nautilus (SS-168); and
Narwahl (SS-167).
Closest ship in the nest of destroyers at far right is Yarnall (DD-143).
Photograph NH # 82789, from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
Navy Day 78k Commemorative postal cover marking:
Bass (SS-164);
Dolphin (SS-169);
Porpoise (SS-172);
Argonaut (SS-169);
Nautilus (SS-168);
Cuttlefish (SS-171)
Barracuda (SS-163);
Narwahl (SS-167)
Bonita (SS-165); &
Cachalot (SS-170)
on Navy Day, 27 October 1935.
Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
Memorial Day 17k Commemorative postal cover marking Memorial Day at sea aboard the Nautilus (SS-168), 30 May 1935. Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
SS 168 24k Commemorative postal cover marking issued on the occasion of Nautilus's (SS-168) 600th dive, 14 July, 1936.
 Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
SS-172 119k Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, circa 1936-1939. These "boats" are, from left to right:
Nautilus (SS-168);
Narwhal (SS-167);
Shark (SS-174), marked "P3";
Dolphin (SS-169), marked "D1";
Porpoise (SS-172), marked "P1";
Pike (SS-173), marked "P2"; and
Tarpon (SS-175), marked "P4". 		NH # 3036, courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center.
SS-172 82k Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, circa 1936-1939. These "boats" are, from left to right:
Nautilus (SS-168);
Narwhal (SS-167);
Shark (SS-174), marked "P3";
Dolphin (SS-169), marked "D1";
Porpoise (SS-172), marked "P1";
Pike (SS-173), marked "P2"; and
Tarpon (SS-175), marked "P4". 		NH # 3037, courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center.
SS-172 90k Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, circa 1936-1939. These "boats" are, from left to right:
Nautilus (SS-168);
Narwhal (SS-167);
Shark (SS-174), marked "P3";
Dolphin (SS-169), marked "D1";
Porpoise (SS-172), marked "P1";
Pike (SS-173), marked "P2"; and
Tarpon (SS-175), marked "P4". 		NH # 3038, courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center.
SS-172 96k Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside, circa 1936-1939. These "boats" are, from left to right:
Nautilus (SS-168);
Narwhal (SS-167);
Shark (SS-174), marked "P3";
Dolphin (SS-169), marked "D1";
Porpoise (SS-172), marked "P1";
Pike (SS-173), marked "P2"; and
Tarpon (SS-175), marked "P4". 		NH # 3039, courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center.
Fleet Maneuvers 17kCommemorative postal cover marking Fleet Maneuvers of the following subs off Midway, 5 April 1937:
Argonaut (SS-166), Nautilus (SS-168), Dolphin (SS-169), Porpoise (SS-172), Pike (SS-173), & Shark (SS-174) . 		Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
SS 168 116k The Navy's greatest undersea cruisers will depart from San Diego sometime early next week,18 March 1938 with squadrons of the U.S. Fleet on the six week spring war games in the Hawaiian - Alaska sector. The Nautilus (SS-168) is shown here photographed from her sister ship, the Narwhal (SS-167).
U.S. Navy photo courtesy of San Francisco Examiner via David S. Smith. Text courtesy of Wide World Photo.
SS 168 152k Nautilus (SS-168), off the coast of Mare Island, circa 1940. U.S. Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org
Argonaut134kSubmarines at Pearl Harbor include the Pollack (SS-180) at far left, Nautilus (SS-168) & Argonaut (SS-166) and unidentified S-boat, 1940. Photographer: Carl Mydans, courtesy of time.com. via / images.google.com & Life. Partial photo i.d. courtesy of David Johston (USNR).
SS 16850k A cachet of the Nautilus (SS-168) by Alton Arrington, 28 January 1941.
Courtesy of Universal Ship Cancellation Society, uscs.org.
View the V-6 (SC-2) / Nautilus (SS-168)
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
Through the Looking Glass, A Historic Look at Submarines.
Carlson's Raiders

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