USS R-7

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USS R-7 (SS-84), also known as "Submarine No. 84", was an R-1-class coastal and harbor defense submarines of the United States Navy commissioned after the end of World War I.

Due to space constraints, the boats built at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard, were laid down much later than the boats built at the Union Iron Works and the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yards. Because of this, none were commissioned before the end of WWI.

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-7Template:'s keel was laid down on 6 December 1917, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 5 April 1919,Template:Sfn sponsored by Mrs. Florence Bass,Template:Sfn and commissioned on 12 June 1919.Template:Sfn

Service history

1919–1931

Completed and fitted out at the Boston Navy Yard, during the summer and early fall of 1919, R-7 got underway for New London, Connecticut, and duty with SubDiv 9 on 21 October. Through November, she conducted training exercises off the Connecticut coast. In December, she headed south for Norfolk, Virginia, and winter exercises in the Gulf of Mexico. Into April 1920, she operated out of Pensacola, Florida, before returning to New England, in May.Template:Sfn

When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-84.Template:Sfn

On 13 September 1920, she again headed south, this time for overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard, until April 1921. Then, reassigned to the Pacific Fleet, she continued south and transited the Panama Canal.Template:Sfn

Arriving at San Pedro, California, her new homeport, on 30 June, she engaged in individual, divisional, and fleet exercises, off the coasts of California and Mexico, for the next two years. On 11 July 1923, she departed California, and 11 days later arrived at Pearl Harbor, her base for the next eight years. R-7Template:'s operations included fleet problems and regular patrols which, with increased air traffic from 1925 on, occasionally involved air-sea rescue operations.Template:Sfn

Toward the end of 1930, R-7 was ordered back to the East Coast for inactivation. Underway on 12 December, she arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 9 February 1931, and decommissioned on 2 May.Template:Sfn

1940–1946

She remained in the Reserve Fleet until recommissioned in ordinary, 22 July 1940. R-7 shifted to New London, and completed activation and recommissioned in full, on 14 March 1941. Ready for sea in early April, she moved south in May, and conducted patrols in the Virgin Islands and off Panama, into the fall. On 8 October, she returned to New London, underwent overhaul, and at the end of November, began a series of anti-submarine patrols in the shipping lanes between Bermuda and the northeastern coast. She maintained those patrols through the German anti-shipping offensive of 1942, alternately basing her operations at Bermuda and New London. Once, in May 1942, she sighted a U-boat and launched four torpedoes, but lost contact while reloading.Template:Sfn

From the spring of 1943, until the end of World War II, R-7 shifted the emphasis of her anti-submarine warfare mission and concentrated on training destroyers and destroyer escorts in ASW tactics.Template:Sfn

Fate

She arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on 6 September 1945, decommissioned on 14 September, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 October 1945. In September 1946 she was sold for scrap to John J. Duane, of Quincy, Massachusetts.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

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