USS ''R-2'' (SS-79) was an R-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Construction and commissioning

''R-2''s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 16 October 1917 by the

Fore River Shipbuilding Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

Company in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

. She was launched on 23 September 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Charles M. Cooke, and commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, on 24 January 1919 with

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Charles Maynard "Savvy" Cooke, Jr., in command.

Service history

After acceptance trials in

Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

, ''R-2'' was assigned to Submarine Division 9 of the

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

and based at ew London,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. She departed New London on 4 December 1919 bound for

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, and winter division maneuvers in the

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. Returning to New London on 28 May 1920, she joined her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s and for four months of summer exercises off southern

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. Given

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

SS-79 on 17 July 1920, ''R-2'' headed for Norfolk on 13 September 1920 for an overhaul. ''R-2'' was transferred to the

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

on 14 April 1921, transited the

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on 28 May 1921, and arrived on 30 June 1921at her new base, San Pedro,

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. She took part in fleet exercises off

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from 5 February to 6 April 1923. Returning to San Pedro on 10 April 1923, ''R-2'' was ordered to

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on 16 July with submarine Division 9 and remained there for eight years, developing submarine tactics with the Pacific Fleet. She made an endurance cruise to

Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

in the

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in July and August 1924. Leaving

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, Hawaii, on 12 December 1930, ''R-2'' was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet and arrived at New London via the Panama Canal on 9 February 1931. She was attached to Submarine Division 4 and for the next ten years served as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

for the Submarine School at New London and for the

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Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit. Assigned to Submarine Division 12 on 1 June 1941, ''R-2'' departed New London on 16 June and arrived on 22 June 1941 at

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, her new home port. Based there for the remainder of her career, she was attached to the

Fleet Sonar School The Fleet Sonar School was a United States Navy facility located at Naval Station Key West, Florida for the training of Service personnel in Sonar techniques and equipment, and Anti-submarine warfare. The facility opened in 1940, after personnel w ...

, and assigned periodically to defensive patrols in keeping with her limited operational capabilities. On 25 August 1942, the United States Coast Guard Cutter mistakenly opened gunfire on ''R-2'' near Key West. ''R-2'' sustained no damage.Hinman & Campbell, p. 160. In the spring of 1945, with the approach of German capitulation, ''R-2'' was ordered to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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, for inactivation. Arriving there on 1 May 1945, she was decommissioned on 10 May 1945 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 June 1945. She was sold to Rosoff Brothers of

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on 28 September 1945, resold to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia in October 1945, and scrapped in early 1946.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Blair, Clay, Jr. ''Silent Victory''. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975.
Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.
.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:R-02 (SS-79) United States R-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1918 ships Friendly fire incidents of World War II Maritime incidents in August 1942