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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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  • Boats-Ships--Submarine
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R-10
(Submarine No. 87: displacement 569 (surfaced), 680 (submerged); length 186-2-; beam 18-; draft 14-6-; speed 13.5 knots (surfaced), 10.5 knots (submerged); complement 33; armament 1 3-, 4 21- torpedo tubes; class R-1)

R-10 (Submarine No. 87) was laid down 21 March 1918 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass.; launched 28 June 1919; sponsored by Mrs. Philip C. Ransom; and commissioned 20 August 1919, Lt. Comdr. John A. Brownell in command.

Fitted out at Boston during the fall of 1919, R-10 joined Submarine Division 9 with the new year, 1920, and departed for winter maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico 15 January. Based at Pensacola, she completed final trials during March and in mid-April returned to New England. On 18 May she arrived at Newport and, designated SS-87 in July, operated out of there and New London. With the fall she proceeded south again, underwent overhaul at Norfolk, remaining until April 1921. She then headed for the Panama Canal and duty in the Pacific.

R-10 arrived at San Pedro on 30 June for a 2-year tour. Toward the end of September, she added salvage operations to her record as she assisted Cardinal in raising R-6 from the bottom of San Pedro Harbor 13 October, then resumed individual and squadron exercises. In July 1923, the R-boat shifted to Pearl Harbor where, for the next 7 1/2 years she conducted training operations, including fleet problems, made occasional runs as far west as Midway and as far east as the west coast, and participated in air-sea rescue operations for planes initiating transpacific air travel. Ordered back to the Atlantic in 1930, R-10 cleared Pearl Harbor for the last time on 12 December. On 9 February 1931, she arrived at New London and assumed training duties for the Submarine School there. During the spring, she underwent overhaul at Portsmouth, N.H., and in the summer added ASW destroyer training and NROTC cruises to her mission. Through the decade she continued her role as a training submarine and operated primarily off the New England coast with occasional temporary duty at stations on the mid-Atlantic seaboard, including the Diving School at Piney Point, Md., in May 1937.

In September 1940, R-10 participated in Bureau of Ordnance tests at Norfolk, then returned to New London. The following year she was transferred to Key West. From 1941 until the winter of 1943, she alternated patrols in the Yucatan Channel and the Florida Straits with operations for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West. Then, for the remainder of World War II, she concentrated on training duties. During February and into March of 1945 she operated out of Port Everglades then returned to Key West where she remained until 4 June. On that date R-10 headed north for Philadelphia and inactivation. Arriving on the 8th, she decommissioned on the 18th and was struck from the Navy list 11 July. In January 1946 she was sold for scrap to the North American Smelting Co., Philadelphia, Pa.

Published: Wed Aug 26 07:59:59 EDT 2015