New Shoreham, Rhode Island, USA (Block Island)
1925 - U.S. SUBMARINE S-51 SUNK, 37 LIVES LOST; HIT BY STEAMSHIP OFF BLOCK ISLAND WHILE SUBMERGED ON PRACTICE CRUISE

PROVIDENCE, R. I., Sept. 25 (AP) — The steamship "City of Rome" was in collision and sunk the submerged submarine S-51, twenty miles east of Block Island, at about 7:30 o'clock tonight. Thirty-seven men aboard the submarine are reported drowned. Three men were picked up by the "City of Rome," which sent a message to the submarine base at New London, reporting the accident.

Lieutenant H. Dobson was the commander of the submarine. Lieutenant Dobson is from New York State, according to the naval records. The S-51 is of the first line of that class of ships in the Navy. She was attached to the patrol force operating in the Atlantic under the flagship "U.S.S Camden," and was a member of Division 2, stationed at New London.

The "City of Rome" was on her way from Savannah to Boston and was due in the latter city today. The S-51 was in Providence on Oct. 26, 1922, and took a party including former Governor Emery J. San Souei and Mayor Joseph H. Gainer on a trip from the State Pier down Providence harbor. Hundreds of residents of this city and vicinity took advantage of the opportunity offered by the Navy officers to view the vessel while here in connection with the observance of "Navy Day."

Boston Yard Awaits Word

BOSTON, Mass. (Saturday), Sept. 26 — Up to 3:20 this morning, the Boston Navy Yard had no details of the sinking of the S-51. It was said that a radio message by one station to the "City of Rome" brought the reply that there was no information to give out at present.

New London Has Different Time

The Naval Submarine Base at New London reported by telephone to THE NEW YORK TIMES early this morning that the only information it had received on the disaster was the fact of its occurrence, about 10:24 P. M., and the news that three men had been saved.

It was not known there now many men were aboard the ill-fated craft, and officials at the base were looking up the muster roll to find out. The submarine, it was said, was on its regularly scheduled manoeuvres, involving engine tests principally.

Informed that the submarine was reported to have been running submerged when struck, it was said at the base that no information on this point had arrived, but that it was doubtful.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The Navy Department early today has received no official confirmation of the reported sinking of the submarine S-51 off Block Island.

The ship left New London Sept. 20 on what was understood to be a practice cruise.

The submarine S-51 was one of four submarines of that type built by the Lake. Torpedo Boat Company in 1921. It was built to carry a crew of 38 men and 14 torpedoes.

The S-51 was 240 feet long. It had a beam of 212 feet She was propelled by two sets of 750 horse-power engines. The S-51 was of 1,500 tons burden, when submerged, and of 1,200 tons burden when running on the surface.

Lieutenant R. H. Dobson was the commanding officer of the submarine. The roster sent out in July mentioned the other officers as Lieutenant G. Bannerman and Lieutenant (Junior Grade) H. M. Pino.

The "City of Rome" is a 3,000-ton steel steamship, which has been engaged in coastwise and West Indian trade from Savannah, Ga. It is owned by the Ocean Steamship Company and was built in Camden, N. J. by the New York Shipbuilding Company, being launched in March 1911.

Other disasters to submarines this vear occurred on Jan. 13 when the S-19 with forty men grounded off Nauset Beach Light, Cape Cod and gave the Coast Guard an all-day battle with heavy seas to effect a rescue, and on Jan. 30 when the S-38 went on the rocks off Portsmouth, N. H., in a blinding snowstorm, imperiling the lives of thirty-five men.

Lieutenant C. F. Martin was in command of the S-19. The lifesavers struggled all night in vain to launch boats in the surf and to get out a line for a breeches buoy. The next day, after a desperate battle in which one boat was capsized and smashed, the Coast Guardsmen reached the submarine.

The New York Times
New York, New York
September 26, 1925

Visit New Shoreham, Rhode Island, USA (Block Island)
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.