USS R-14

Given hull classification symbol "SS-91" on 17 July 1920, she transited the Panama Canal in the same month and arrived at Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii on 6 September 1920.

R-14 – under acting command of Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas – ran out of usable fuel due to seawater contamination, and lost radio communications in May 1921 while on a surface search mission for the seagoing tug Conestoga about 140 nautical miles (259 km; 161 mi) southeast of the island of Hawaii.

Seeing that this gave R-14 a speed of about 1 knot (1.2 mph; 1.9 km/h), as well as rudder control, a mainsail was made of six blankets, hung from the sturdy radio mast (the top sail in the photograph).

Proceeding via San Diego, California, and the Panama Canal, she returned to New London on 9 February 1931, and through the end of the 1930s conducted training exercises for the Submarine School.

On 29 June 1943, United States Army Coast Artillery Corps guns at Fort Zachary Taylor mistook R-14 for a German U-boat and opened fire on her while she was off Key West, but she suffered no damage.

Seen here are the jury-rigged sails used to bring R-14 back to port in 1921; the mainsail rigged from the radio mast is the top sail in the photograph, and the mizzen made of eight blankets also is visible. R-14 ' s acting commanding officer , Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas, USN, is at top left, without a hat.(Source: US Naval Historical Center). [ note 1 ]