USS S-22 (SS-127)

USS S-22 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, 21 November 1929
History
United States
Name:	USS S-22
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down:	6 January 1919
Launched:	15 July 1920
Commissioned:	23 June 1924
Decommissioned:	19 June 1942
Struck:	August 1945
Fate:	Transferred to the Royal Navy, 19 June 1942 Returned, 11 July 1944 Sold for scrap, 16 November 1945
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS P.554
Acquired:	19 June 1942
Fate:	Returned to the US Navy, 11 July 1944
General characteristics
Class and type:	S-class submarine
Displacement:	854 long tons (868 t) surfaced 1,062 long tons (1,079 t) submerged
Length:	219 ft 3 in (66.83 m)
Beam:	20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draft:	15 ft 11 in (4.85 m)
Speed:	14.5 knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) surfaced 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged
Complement:	42 officers and men
Armament:	1 × 4 in (102 mm) deck gun 4 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

USS S-22 (SS-127) was a first-group (S-1 or "Holland") S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 6 January 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 15 July 1920 sponsored by Mrs. Mark C. Bowman, and commissioned on 23 June 1924 with Lieutenant John H. Forshew, Jr., in command.

Service history

In addition to duty off the northeastern coast, out of New London, Connecticut, from 1924 through 1930, S-22 visited Hawaii from 27 April to 25 May 1925. S-22 operated in the Panama Canal Zone from February through April 1926, and visited Kingston, Jamaica, from 20 to 28 March 1927. She served again in the Panama Canal area in the late winter and early spring of 1928, 1929, and 1930. Sailing from New London on 5 January 1931, she cruised via the Panama Canal and California to Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 25 April. From then into 1938, S-22 operated in Hawaiian waters. Departing from Pearl Harbor on 15 October 1938, S-22 returned to New London on 11 December where she joined a test and evaluation division. Occasionally, the submarine was employed in training United States Naval Academy midshipmen at Annapolis, Maryland, and assisting the diving school at Piney Point, Maryland.

After duty at Key West, Florida, from December 1940 into May 1941 and overhaul during the latter half of 1941, S-22 served in the Panama Canal area from January into March 1942. Returning to New London on 17 April, she was decommissioned on 19 June 1942 and was transferred to the United Kingdom for service in the Royal Navy as HMS P.554. Returned to the United States Navy at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 11 July 1944, S-22 was subsequently used as a sonar target at New London and in tests at the U.S. Naval Experimental Facility, Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in August 1945. Her hulk was sold for scrapping on 16 November 1945 to North American Smelting Company in Philadelphia.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

S-class submarine
United States Navy	Prototypes S-1 (Holland design) S-2 (Lake design) S-3 (Navy design) Navy (S-3) Group S-4 S-5 S-6 S-7 S-8 S-9 S-10 S-11 S-12 S-13 S-14 S-15 S-16 S-17 Holland (S-1) Group S-18 S-19 S-20 S-21 S-22 S-23 S-24 S-25 S-26 S-27 S-28 S-29 S-30 S-31 S-32 S-33 S-34 S-35 S-36 S-37 S-38 S-39 S-40 S-41 Second Holland (S-42) Group S-42 S-43 S-44 S-45 S-46 S-47 Second Navy (S-48) Group S-48 S-49 S-50 S-51
Other operators  Polish Navy Jastrząb (ex-P551, S-25)  Royal Navy P551 (ex-S-25) P552 (ex-S-1) P553 (ex-S-21) P554 (ex-S-22) P555 (ex-S-24) P556 (ex-S-29)
Preceded by: R class Followed by: V-boats List of submarines of the United States Navy List of submarine classes of the United States Navy