USS S-24 (SS-129)

USS S-24 (SS-129) was a first-group (S-1 or "Holland") S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 1 November 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 27 June 1922 sponsored by Mrs. Herbert B. Loper, and commissioned on 24 August 1923 with Lieutenant Commander Louis E. Denfeld in command.

USS S-24 in the 1920s.
History
United States
Name: USS S-24
Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down: 1 November 1918
Launched: 27 June 1922
Sponsored by: Mrs. Herbert B. Loper
Commissioned: 24 August 1923
Decommissioned: 10 August 1942
Stricken: 25 August 1947
Fate:
  • Transferred to the UK, 1942
  • Returned 1944
  • Sunk as target on 25 August 1947
United Kingdom
Name: HMS P555
Acquired: 10 August 1942
Commissioned: October 1942
Decommissioned: May 1944
Fate: Returned to the US Navy, December 1944
General characteristics
Class and type: S-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 854 long tons (868 t) surfaced
  • 1,062 long tons (1,079 t) submerged
Length: 219 ft 3 in (66.83 m)
Beam: 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draft: 15 ft 11 in (4.85 m)
Speed:
  • 14.5 knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) surfaced
  • 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged
Complement: 42 officers and men
Armament:

Operating from New London, Connecticut, in 1923 and 1924, S-24 served at Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in February 1924. She visited Trinidad from 6–13 March, the Panama Canal area in April of that year and Hawaii from 27 April to May 1925. Next, into 1930, she served principally at San Diego, California, San Pedro, California, and Mare Island, California. In addition to service in the Panama Canal area in February and March 1926 and again in February 1929, S-24 visited Hawaii in 1927 and 1928 and twice in 1929. Sailing from San Diego on 1 December 1930, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 12 December. From then into 1938, S-24 operated at Pearl Harbor. Departing from Pearl Harbor on 15 October, she returned to New London on 4 January 1939.

After serving with a partial crew at New London from 1 April of that year, S-24 resumed full duty on 1 July 1940. Following duty out of New London during that year and into 1941, S-24 served next in waters near the Panama Canal from late December into May 1942. Returning to New London on 21 May, S-24 decommissioned there on 10 August 1942, and was transferred on that date to the United Kingdom. In the Royal Navy she was commissioned as HMS P555 in October 1942 and was assigned to the 7th Submarine Flotilla based at Holy Loch. This was a non-operational unit and the boats were used for training new crews and officers and for training surface ships in anti-submarine warfare. Among the officers who commanded her was Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Lt Edward Preston Young making the boat the first Royal navy submarine to be commanded by a British RNVR officer.[1]

Decommissioned by the Royal Navy in May 1944 she was returned to the United States Navy in December 1944, S-24 was struck from the Navy List and was intentionally sunk in the Pacific Ocean off Portland, Oregon, as a sonar target on 25 August 1947.

References
  1. van der Dat, Dan (4 February 2003). "Edward Young (obituary)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 December 2011.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.



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