Home     Next Boat                             Previous Boat
 
 
USS F-4 (SS-23)
 
 
 
During submarine maneuvers off Honolulu on 25 March 1915, she sank in 51 fathoms, 1 1/2  miles from the harbor.  Despite valorous efforts of naval authorities at Honolulu to locate the missing boat and save her crew, all 21 perished.
 
A diving and engineering precedent was established with the Navy's raising of the submarine on 29 August 1915.Courage and tenacity marked the efforts of divers who descended to attach cables to tow the boat into shallow water, while ingenuity and engineering skill characterized the direction of Naval Constructor J. A. Furer, Rear Admiral C. B. T. Moore, and Lieutenant C. Smith who accomplished the feat with the aid of specially devised and constructed pontoons.
 
The investigating board subsequently conjectured that corrosion of the lead lining of the battery tank had permitted seepage of sea water into the battery compartment and thereby caused the commanding officer to lose control on a submerged run.

 


GM1 George T. Ashcroft

GM2 Clark G.  Buck

MM2 Ernest C.  Cauvin

EMC Harley  Colwell

MM1 Walter F. Covington

EM1 George L.  Deeth

LT(CO) Alfred L.  Ede

GM1 Frederick  Gilman

EMC Aliston H.  Grindle

EM2 Frank N.  Herzog

MM1 Edwin S.  Hill

MM1 Francis M.  Hughson

EM2 Albert F.  Jennie

GM2 Archie H.  Lunger

MM1 Ivan L.  Mahan

GM1 Horace L.  Moore

MMC William S.  Nelson

ENS(XO) Timothy A.  Parker

GMC Frank C.  Pierard

MM2 Charles H.  Wells

GM1 Henry A.  Withers