USS R-19

USS R-19 (SS-96) was an R-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down by the Union Iron Works[?], of San Francisco, California on June 23, 1917. She was launched on January 28, 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Robert L. Irvine, and commissioned on October 7, 1918, with Lieutenant Commander William F. Callaway in command.

Following commissioning, which occurred one month before the Armistice ending World War I took effect, R-19 remained on the west coast of the United States for nine months at San Pedro, California, until March 1919 then at San Francisco, California, undergoing overhaul, until June 1919. On June 17, 1919, R-19 got underway from the United States and commenced a transit to the Territory of Hawaii. Eight days later the submarine arrived at Pearl Harbor and commenced almost twelve years of training submarine crews and testing equipment.

During July of 1920, the hull classification symbol of R-19 was changed from "Submarine Number 96" to "SS-96."

On December 12, 1930, R-19 departed Pearl Harbor and commenced a transit to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. En route, the submarine called at San Diego, California; moved south to the Panama Canal Zone; negotiated the Canal; then moved north through the Caribbean Sea and the coastal waters of the east coast of the United States; and, finally, on up the Delaware Bay and River to Philadelphia.

On May 15, 1931, R-19 was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and placed in the reserve fleet at that yard where she remained for the next nine years.

On January 6, 1941, R-19 was recommissioned then transited to the United States Naval Submarine Base at Groton, Connecticut, where she reconditioned. During May of 1941, R-19 headed south. During the remainder of the spring, summer, and into the fall, the R-boat patrolled and conducted training exercises in the Virgin Islands and off the Panama Canal Zone. During October of 1941, R-19 returned to Groton and continued her role as a training submarine.

On March 9, 1942, R-19 was decommissioned and transferred to Great Britain, under the terms of Lend-Lease. Commissioned into the Royal Navy, the former R-19 was renamed HMS P.514[?].

P.514 was rammed by HMCS Georgian[?], a unit of the Canadian Navy[?], in the Western Atlantic Ocean, on June 21, 1942, and was lost with all hands.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 569 tons surfaced, 680 tons submerged
• Length: 186 feet
• Beam: 17.5 feet
• Draft: 13'8"
• Speed: 13.5 knots surfaced, 10.5 knots submerged
• Test Depth: 200 feet
• Armament: 1 3"/50 gun, four 21-inch bow torpedo tubes, eight torpedoes
• Complement: 2 officers, 27 enlisted men
• Propulsion: 880 hp diesel engines surfaced, 934 hp electric motors submerged
• Range: 3700 miles at 10 knots surfaced; 100 miles at 10 knots submerged