USS S-8

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USS S-8 (SS-113) was an S-3-class, also referred to as a "Government"-type, submarine of the United States Navy.

Design

The "Government"-type 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. All S-class submarines had a crew of 4 officers and 34 enlisted men, when first commissioned. They had a diving depth of Template:Cvt.

For surface running, the S-3-class were powered by two NELSECO diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Westinghouse Electric Corporation electric motor. They could reach on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater.

The boats were armed with four torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried eight reloads, for a total of twelve torpedoes. The S-3-class submarines were also armed with a single [[4"/50 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/50 caliber]] deck gun.

The Bureau of Construction & Repair (BuC&R) was given the job of correcting the "Government"-type's slow diving times. To accomplish this, starting with S-8 and , they moved the bow planes below the water line and rigged them to be permanently in the out position. Due to the success of these modification, to and to , would also be outfitted with the new planes.

Construction

S-8Template:'s keel was laid down on 9 November 1918, by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 21 April 1920, sponsored by Mrs. Garnett Ryden, and commissioned on 1 October 1920.

Service history

S-8 sailed from Newport, Rhode Island, on 7 December 1920, and was attached to Submarine Division 12 (SubDiv 12). After her division had rendezvoused with SubDiv 18 off Portsmouth, they proceeded via the Panama Canal and California, to Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor, on 15 April 1921. Departing Pearl Harbor, on 3 November, they arrived at Cavite, Luzon, in the Philippines, on 1 December. This voyage set a record for American submarines, at that time, as the longest cruise ever undertaken. Submarines which had previously served in the Asiatic Fleet, the , had been carried over tied to the decks of colliers.

The two divisions, which comprised Submarine Flotilla 3 (SubFlot 3), operated out of Cavite, for the next three years, with annual visits to ports in China. They finally departed Cavite, on 29 October 1924, and arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, on 30 December.

S-8 remained at Mare Island, through 1925, operated along the West Coast during 1926, and sailed on 10 February 1927, for the Panama Canal Zone. She operated at Coco Solo, from March into April, and then sailed for New London, Connecticut, arriving on 3 May.

S-8 spent the next three years operating along the New England coast, out of New London, with the exception of training cruises to the Panama Canal area from February–April 1928, January–April 1929, and January–March 1930.

Fate

Departing New London, on 22 October, S-8 sailed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned on 11 April 1931. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 January 1937.

Bibliography

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