USS R-9

Template:Infobox ship/subboxTemplate:Infobox ship/subboxTemplate:Infobox ship/subboxTemplate:Infobox ship/subbox

USS R-9 (SS-86), also known as "Submarine No. 86", 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-9Template:'s keel was laid down on 6 March 1918, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 24 May 1919,Template:Sfn sponsored by Mrs. Mary Stowe,Template:Sfn and commissioned on 30 July 1919.Template:Sfn

Service history

1919–1931

Following fitting out and shakedown, R-9, operated along the northeast coast primarily in the New London, Connecticut—Newport, Rhode Island.Template:Sfn

When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-86.Template:Sfn

Ordered to the Pacific, in March 1924, she arrived at Pearl Harbor, her new homeport, on 4 May. Operations and exercises, from individual to fleet in scope, occupied the next six and a half years, and on 12 December 1930, she got underway for return to the Atlantic. Retransiting the Panama Canal in mid-January 1931, she arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 9 February, and reported for inactivation. Decommissioned on 2 May 1931, R-9 remained at Philadelphia, berthed with the Reserve Fleet.Template:Sfn

1940–1946

In September 1940, R-9 was placed in reduced commission, then moved up the coast to New London, where she completed activation and was placed in full commission, on 14 March 1941.Template:Sfn

Within two months R-9 was en route to the Caribbean Sea, and duty under Commander, Panama Sea Frontier. Arriving at Coco Solo, on 27 May, she patrolled the approaches to the vital inter-ocean canal with SubRon 3, into October, then returned north to New London, for overhaul, arriving on 23 May. During December, she was attached to the Submarine School, but with the new year, 1942, the submarine proceeded to Casco Bay, Maine, for operational training. From mid-month on, through the U-boat offensive of 1942 and early 1943, she rotated between New London and Bermuda, to patrol the shipping lanes which transited the Eastern Sea Frontier and the Bermuda Patrol Areas. She shifted to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training programs, in the spring of 1943, and operated primarily in the New London area for most of the remainder of World War II. In late March 1945 she moved south again, trained with destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers, off Cuba, and southern Florida. Then, in mid-May, she returned to New London.Template:Sfn

Fate

On 20 September 1945, R-9 proceeded to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she decommissioned on 25 September 1945. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 October 1945, she was scrapped in February 1946.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

1. REDIRECT Template:Source-attribution