USS S-5
Submarine · United States · Lost 1920 · The New Jersey Coast
A Navy submarine that flooded during a 1920 test dive off Cape May, becoming the scene of a remarkable 37-hour rescue before sinking for good under tow.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS S-5 was the Navy's largest submarine when commissioned in 1920. During a crash-dive test off Cape May, New Jersey, a crewman failed to close the main induction valve and the boat flooded and sank. The entire 38-man crew survived by cutting an air hole near the surface and signaling a passing ship after some 37 hours. While under tow for salvage, the hull broke free and sank a second time; NOAA located the wreck by sonar in 2001.
Vessel
- 1919
- SS-110
- Portsmouth Navy Yard
- Kittery, Maine
- Steel
- 231 ft
- 22 ft
- 875
- Diesel-electric, twin screw
- United States Navy
Loss
- September 1, 1920
- Mechanical failure
- About 50 miles off Cape May, New Jersey
- Atlantic Ocean
- Baltimore, Maryland (recruiting mission)
- Not established
- 38
- 0
- Lt. Cmdr. Charles "Savvy" Cooke Jr.
The Wreck Today
- 180 ft
- Located by NOAA side-scan sonar survey in 2001
- Not established
- 2001
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position withheld to protect the site
- Cape May, New Jersey
Checked NOAA Ocean Explorer's 2001 'Search for the USS S-5' pages; they state the wreck was located by the NOAA Ship Whiting via side-scan sonar about 15 nautical miles off Cape May, NJ, but no numeric coordinate was published in the material reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)
The exact present-day condition and precise coordinates of the wreck are not established in the sources reviewed.
Loss circumstances, rescue narrative, and 2001 discovery.
U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine
Detailed rescue account.
