USS S-1 SS 105

The USS S-1 SS 105 was the lead ship in her S-class of submarines that was originally launched on October 26th, 1918 from the Fore River Shipbuilding out of Quincy, Massachusetts. The submarine was sponsored by a Mrs. Emory S. Land and was finally commissioned on June 5th, 1920 under the command of Lieutenant Thomas G. Berrien. In July on 1920 the S-1 set sail on her maiden voyage heading to Bermuda to join the Submarine Division 2 while carrying out various operations off the coast of New London, Connecticut where she remained until 1923.

On January 2nd, 1923 the S-1 became the newest addition to the infamous Submarine Division Zero which was a special operations division dedicated to experimental naval work and she began to conduct Caribbean Sea winter maneuvers and then moved north to New London to continue the training exercises with her division. Following experiments to mainly solve problems they faced during World War I, she became the flagship for her Submarine Division 2 until July of 1927 when she was transferred to Submarine Division 4.

She operated in and around the Panama Canal and the Caribbean Sea until 1930 and the following year she transited the Panama Canal and moved to her new home port at Pearl Harbor arriving in January of 1931. The USS S-1 remained there at Pearl Harbor until May of 1937 when she departed the Pacific Ocean heading back to the eastern seaboard of the United States arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she was deactivated and given a complete overhaul on July 22nd. She was then decommissioned on October 20th. On October 16th, 1940 she was re-commissioned at Philadelphia and made two voyages to Bermuda while training fellow submarine servicemen and preparing them for war, departing for the second of those trips on December 7th, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

The USS S-1 SS 105 was officially decommissioned on April 20th, 1942 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on June 24th, 1942. She was then transferred to the British Royal Navy on loan and then formally sold to the British Government on September 14th, 1945. Although in January of 1944 she collided head on while in Durban Harbor and suffered severe damage and was declared unseaworthy and later scrapped for metal.

The USS S-1 SS 105 and her crew faced many dangers during their service, but unfortunately the sailors faced a danger they were unaware of at the time. Their submarine had been constructed with asbestos used as an insulator around many of its pipes and installations. We now know that workers exposed to asbestos are at risk for the development of lung and breathing problems including a type of asbestos cancer called mesothelioma. Veterans who have reason to believe they may have come in contact with asbestos while aboard the S-1 or other submarine should go to see a physician for an evaluation.

Last modified: December 09 2009.