- USS R-18 (SS-95)
USS "R-18" (SS-95) was an "R"-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the
United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on16 June 1917 by theUnion Iron Works inSan Francisco, California . She was launched on8 January 1918 sponsored by Miss Marion S. Russell, and
commissioned on11 September 1918 with LieutenantCommander Felix X. Gygaxin command.Following shakedown, "R-18" was assigned, briefly, to the
Panama Canal Zone . At the end of the year,1918 , she returned toCalifornia . AtSan Pedro, California , from January to March1919 , she then underwent overhaul atSan Francisco, California , and on17 June got underway forHawaii . On25 June she arrived atPearl Harbor . Based there for over a decade, she served with the fleet, training personnel and testing new submarine equipment. In July1920 she was givenhull classification symbol SS-95."R-18" departed Hawaii
12 December 1930 , transited thePanama Canal , thence continued on the East Coast for inactivation. Arriving atPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania , on9 February 1931 , she was decommissioned13 May and berthed atLeague Island until after the outbreak ofWorld War II .Recommissioned
8 January 1941 , "R-18" was atNew London, Connecticut , for reconditioning and fitting out into May. On12 May she got underway for the Canal Zone where she patrolled into September. In October, she returned to New London, whence after overhaul, she conducted training exercises in submarine and antisubmarine warfare. In early January1942 , she shifted her training activities to theCasco Bay, Maine , area. Then, later in the month, she added patrols along a line betweenNantucket Light andBermuda to her schedule.Originally patrolling out of New London, she shifted to Bermuda in May. In August she moved further south and until December operated in a training capacity in the
Virgin Islands and atTrinidad .Then assigned, with others of her class, to training duties for the remainder of the war, "R-18" returned to New London on
24 December . She operated in the New London andPortland, Maine , areas until June1943 . The last six months of the year were spent at Bermuda. From January through March1944 , she was back in southernNew England ; then, in April she moved south for eight months atKey West, Florida , andPort Everglades, Florida .With the new year,
1945 , the submarine again began operations out of New London. During the following summer she made her last voyage toFlorida and back and in September she headed forNew Hampshire and inactivation. "R-18" arrived atPortsmouth, New Hampshire , on7 September and was decommissioned on19 September . Struck from theNaval Vessel Register the following month, she was sold for scrapping to the John J. Duane Company ofQuincy, Massachusetts , in1946 .References
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