|
| Career |  USN Jack |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 3 March 1916 |
| Laid down: | 8 December 1916 |
| Launched: | 11 November 1917 |
| Commissioned: | 8 June 1918 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | sunk by a fruit ship |
| Stricken: | 28 April 1924 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 520.6 tons surfaced, 629 tons submerged |
| Length: | 172 feet 4 inches (53 m) |
| Beam: | 18 feet (5.5 m) |
| Draft: | 14 feet 5 inches (4.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced, 10.5 knots (19 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | two officers, 27 men |
| Armament: | one three-inch/50-caliber (76 mm/50) gun; four 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, eight torpedoes |
| Motto: | |
'USS ''O-5'' (SS-66)' was an
''O''-class submarine. Her keel was laid down on
8 December 1916 by the
Fore River Shipbuilding Company of
Quincy, Massachusetts. She was
launched on
11 November 1917, and
commissioned on
8 June 1918 with Lieutenant
George A. Trever in command.
During the final months of
World War I, ''O-5'' operated along the Atlantic coast and patrolled from
Cape Cod to
Key West, Florida. She departed
Newport, Rhode Island, on
3 November with a 20-sub contingent bound for
European waters; however, hostilities had ceased before the vessels reached the
Azores.
After the
Armistice with Germany, ''O-5'' operated out of the Submarine School at
New London, Connecticut, until
1923. ''O-5'' then sailed to
Coco Solo,
Panama Canal Zone, for a brief tour. On
28 October 1923, as ''O-5'' entered
Limon Bay, preparatory to transiting the
Panama Canal, she was rammed by
United Fruit steamer ''Abangarez'' and sank in less than a minute. Three men died; 16 others escaped. Two crewmembers,
Henry Breault and Lawrence Brown were trapped in the forward torpedo room, which they sealed against the flooding of the submarine. Local engineers and divers were able to rig cranes and other equipment and lift ''O-5'' far enough off the bottom that the bow broke the surface, exposing a hatch which led to the compartment were the two men were trapped, allowing them to be freed. Henry Breault was awarded the
Medal of Honor for his actions.
Struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on
28 April 1924, she was sold as a hulk to R.K. Morris in
Balboa,
Panama Canal Zone, on
12 December 1924.
References
External links
★
On Eternal Patrol: USS ''O-5''