USS S-51
Submarine · United States · Lost 1925 · Long Island & the New York Approaches
A U.S. Navy S-class submarine sunk in a 1925 nighttime collision off Block Island near the Long Island Sound approaches, later raised in a landmark deep-sea salvage operation.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS S-51 was a Navy submarine that, on the night of September 25, 1925, was struck on the surface by the steamship City of Rome off Block Island near the approaches to Long Island Sound. She sank quickly, and only three of her 36-man crew escaped. The Navy mounted a difficult and pioneering deep-water salvage operation under Lieutenant Commander Edward Ellsberg, raising the submarine in 1926. The disaster and its recovery spurred advances in American submarine rescue methods.
Vessel
- 1922
- SS-162
- Lake Torpedo Boat Company
- Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Steel
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Diesel-electric, submarine
- United States Navy
Loss
- September 25, 1925
- Collision
- Off Block Island, Rhode Island, near the Long Island Sound approaches
- Atlantic Ocean
- New London, Connecticut
- Not established
- 36
- 33
- Rodney H. Dobson
The Wreck Today
- 132 ft
- Raised in 1926 after an extensive Navy salvage operation, then decommissioned and sold for scrap.
- Not established
- 1925
- Not established
Position
- 41.24° N 71.27° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- Block Island, Rhode Island
Reported wreck position off Block Island, per a New England shipwreck research database.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
U.S. Submarine S-51 Memorial Site
Accident narrative, casualties, and crew details.
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
Details of the 1926-1927 salvage operation.
Hunting New England Shipwrecks (wreckhunter.net)
Reported wreck coordinates.
