USS R-23 (SS-100)

USS "R-23" (SS-100) was an "R"-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 25 April 1917 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut; the R-boats built by Lake Torpedo Boat (R-21 through R-27) are sometimes considered a separate class from those built by Fore River Shipbuilding (R-1 through R-14) and Union Iron Works (R-15 through R-20). She was launched on 5 November 1918 sponsored by Miss Ruth Jane Harris, and commissioned on 23 October 1919 with Lieutenant David R. Lee in command.

A little over a month after commissioning, "R-23" departed New London, Connecticut, for her homeport of Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. Given hull classification symbol SS-100 in July 1920, she was based in the Canal Zone, interrupting her service there only for overhaul periods at Balboa and on the East Coast. She returned to the United States for inactivation in the fall of 1924, arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1 December. "R-23" was decommissioned 24 April 1925 after only five-and-a-half years of service. She was berthed at League Island until struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 May 1930 and sold for scrap in July of the same year.

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