USS R-19

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USS R-19 (SS-96), also known as "Submarine No. 96", was an R-1-class coastal and harbor defense submarines of the United States Navy commissioned before the end of World War I.

She was recommissioned before the US entered World War II and later transferred to the Royal Navy. She sunk with all hands after a collision on 21 June 1942.

Design

The R-boats built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, through , and the Union Iron Works, through , are sometimes considered a separate class, R-1-class, from those built by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, through , R-21-class.Template:Sfn

The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of Template:Cvt, and a mean draft of Template:Cvt. They displaced on the surface and Template:Cvt submerged. The R-1-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of Template:Cvt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Electro-Dynamic Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater. On the surface, the R-1-class had a range of at Template:Cvt, or Template:Cvt if fuel was loaded into their main ballast tanks.Template:Sfn

The boats were armed with four torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The R-1-class submarines were also armed with a single [[3"/50 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/50 caliber]] deck gun.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Construction

R-19Template:'s keel was laid down by the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco, California, on 23 June 1917. She was launched on 28 January 1918,Template:Sfn sponsored by Mrs. Janet Irvine,Template:Sfn and commissioned on 7 October 1918.Template:Sfn

Service history

1918–1931

After commissioning, which was one month before the Armistice with Germany ending World War I took effect, R-19 remained on the West Coast for nine months at San Pedro Submarine Base, San Pedro, until March 1919, and then at San Francisco, undergoing overhaul, until June 1919. On 17 June 1919, R-19 sailed for the Territory of Hawaii. Eight days later, she reached Pearl Harbor, and began almost 12 years of training submarine crews and testing equipment.Template:Sfn

When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-96.Template:Sfn

On 12 December 1930, R-19 left Pearl Harbor, for the Philadelphia Navy Yard. En route she called at San Diego; voyaged south to the Panama Canal Zone; negotiated the Panama Canal; then voyaged north through the Caribbean Sea, and the coastal waters of the US East Coast; and, finally, up Delaware Bay and the Delaware River to Philadelphia.Template:Sfn

On 15 May 1931, R-19 was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and placed in the Reserve Fleet, where she remained berthed at League Island for the next nine years.Template:Sfn

1941–1942

R-19 was recommissioned on 6 January 1941, then went to the Submarine Base, at Groton, Connecticut, where she was reconditioned. During May 1941, R-19 headed south. For the remainder of the spring, summer, and into the fall of 1941, she patrolled and conducted training exercises in the Virgin Islands, and off the Panama Canal Zone. In October 1941, R-19 returned to Groton, and continued her role as a training submarine.Template:Sfn

On 9 March 1942, R-19 was decommissioned again.Template:Sfn

For her service in the United States Navy, R-19 was eligible for the World War I Victory Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

Royal Navy service

File:Swinbrook StMaryV MonumentPhillimore.JPG

Church monument at Swinbrook, England, to Lt. Phillimore and the crew of HMS P.514

R-19 was transferred to the United Kingdom, under the terms of Lend-Lease, on 9 March 1942. Commissioned into the Royal Navy, she was renamed HMS P.514.Template:Sfn

In June 1942, she sailed for St. John's, Newfoundland. At 03:00, on 21 June 1942, while on surface, P.514 encountered a Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper, , off St. Shotts, Newfoundland. Unaware of any friendly submarines in the area and receiving no reply to her challenge, Georgian rammed P.514, which sank with the loss of all hands.Template:Sfn

A Board of Inquiry ruled that GeorgianTemplate:'s commanding officer had acted correctly.Template:Sfn

There is a memorial to P.514Template:'s officers and men in the Church of England parish church of St. Mary the Virgin in Swinbrook, England.

Wreck location: Template:Sfn

Bibliography

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