USS S-29 (SS-134) was an S-18-class submarine, also referred to as an S-1-class or "Holland"-type, of the United States Navy. During World War II, she also served in the Royal Navy as .
Design The S-18-class had a length of overall, a beam of , and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. All S-class submarines had a crew of 4 officers and 34 enlisted men, when first commissioned. They had a diving depth of .
For surface running, the S-18-class were powered by two NELSECO diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Ridgway Dynamo & Engine Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater.
The boats were armed with four torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried eight reloads, for a total of twelve torpedoes. The S-18-class submarines were also armed with a single /50 caliber deck gun.
Construction S-29s keel was laid down on 17 April 1919, by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 9 November 1922, sponsored by Mrs. Ronan C. Grady, and commissioned on 22 May 1924.
Service history U.S. Navy After duties in the northeastern United States operating from New London, Connecticut, in 1924, S-29 visited the Territory of Hawaii, from 27 April to 30 May 1925. Operating mainly from Mare Island Navy Yard, San Diego, and San Pedro, California, until 1931, S-29 also served in the Panama Canal area from February to March 1926, visited Hawaii in the summers of 1927 and 1928, served in the Panama Canal area during February 1929, and again visited Hawaii during the summer of 1930.
Departing Mare Island, on 14 February 1931, S-29 arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 23 February 1931. S-29 then operated at Pearl Harbor, until 16 June 1939, when she departed bound for New London, which she reached on 23 August 1939. She then had duty in the northeastern United States and at Key West, Florida, from December 1940 to May 1941.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941, brought the United States into World War II, S-29 moved to the Panama Canal area in late December 1941. In March 1942 she headed back to New London, where she arrived on 1 April 1942. She decommissioned there on 5 June 1942.
Royal Navy
On the day of her decommissioning, S-29 was transferred the United Kingdom. In the Royal Navy she became . While in British service she suffered a battery explosion at Weymouth. The Royal Navy returned her to the US Navy on 26 January 1946.
Fate The US Navy struck S-29 from the Naval Vessel Register in 1946, and sold her in the United Kingdom, to H. G. Pound, on 24 January 1947, for scrapping. In 1982, her hulk, minus its conning tower, was still visible at the Pounds scrapyard near Portsmouth. She finally was scrapped in Spain, between 1986 and 1987.
Awards American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
References
Bibliography
Further reading After the Battle, issue no. 37, Plaistow Press, London, UK, 1982
External links