USS R-25

The R-boats built by Lake Torpedo Boat Company (R-21 through R-27) are sometimes considered a separate class from those of the other builders. The Lake boats had a length of 175 feet (53.3 m) overall, a beam of 16 feet 8 inches (5.1 m) and a mean draft of 13 feet 11 inches (4.2 m). They displaced 497 long tons (505 t) on the surface and 652 long tons (662 t) submerged. The R-class submarines had a crew of 3 officers and 23 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200 feet (61.0 m).[1]

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 500-brake-horsepower (373 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 400-horsepower (298 kW) electric motor. They could reach 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on the surface and 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) underwater. On the surface, the Lake boats had a range of 3,523 nautical miles (6,525 km; 4,054 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)[1] and 150 nmi (280 km; 170 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged.[1]

The boats were armed with four 21-inch (53.3 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The R-class submarines were also armed with a single 3"/50 caliber deck gun.[2]

R-25 was laid down on 26 April 1917 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She was launched on 15 May 1919 sponsored by Mrs. Richard H. M. Robinson, and commissioned on 23 October 1919 with Lieutenant Commander Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., in command. At the end of November, R-25 got underway for her homeport, Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. Arriving 11 January 1920, she was given hull classification symbol SS-102 in July and, except for overhaul periods at Balboa and on the East Coast, operated in the waters off the Panama Canal Zone until the fall of 1923. In November of that year she arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and underwent inactivation overhaul. On 21 June 1924 she was decommissioned after just over four-and-a-half years of service. She was laid up at League Island until was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 May 1930 and sold for scrap the following July.

• Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery of USS R-25 at NavSource Naval History