USS R-17 (SS-94)

USS R-17 (SS-94) was an R-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California, on 5 May 1917. She was launched on 24 December 1917 sponsored by Miss Bertha F. Dew, and commissioned on 17 August 1918 with Lieutenant Commander William R. Munroe in command.

A tinted photograph of USS R-17
History
United States
Name: USS R-17
Ordered: 29 August 1916
Builder: Union Iron Works, San Francisco, California
Laid down: 5 May 1917
Launched: 24 December 1917
Commissioned: 17 August 1918
Decommissioned: 15 May 1931
Recommissioned: 25 March 1941
Decommissioned: 9 March 1942
Stricken: 22 June 1945
Fate: Transferred to United Kingdom, 9 March 1942
United Kingdom
Name: HMS P.512
Acquired: 9 March 1942
Fate:
  • Returned to U.S. Navy, 6 September 1944
  • Sold for scrap, 6 November 1945
General characteristics
Type: R-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 569 long tons (578 t) surfaced
  • 680 long tons (691 t) submerged
Length: 186 ft 2 in (56.74 m)
Beam: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Draft: 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion: Diesel-electric
Speed:
  • 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) surfaced
  • 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Complement: 29 officers and men
Armament:

Service history

1919–1931

Commissioned toward the end of World War I, R-17 operated briefly off the California coast, then patrolled off the Panama Canal Zone, returning to California in December 1918. In March 1919, she arrived at San Francisco, California, for overhaul, after which she moved west to Pearl Harbor. Departing the West Coast 17 June, she arrived in Hawaii on 25 June and for the next 11½ years operated with fleet units and tested equipment being developed for submarines.

The submarine, given hull classification symbol SS-94 in July 1920, departed Pearl Harbor 12 December 1930, called at San Diego, California, thence continued on to the East Coast for inactivation. Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 9 February 1931, she was decommissioned 15 May and berthed at League Island until after the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

1941–1946

Recommissioned at New London, 25 March 1941, R-17 headed south on 14 May, patrolled in the Virgin Islands during June; off the Canal Zone in July, August, and September; then, in October, returned to New London. For the next four months she conducted training exercises.

On 9 March 1942, she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under the lend-lease agreement. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS P.512, she was employed at Bermuda as a training ship for the Royal Canadian Navy until 6 September 1944 when she was returned to the U.S. Navy at Philadelphia. Retained for use as a target ship until after the end of the war in Europe, R-17 was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 June 1945. She was sold, 16 November 1945, to the North American Smelting Company in Philadelphia, for scrapping.

References
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