USS S-19 (SS-124)

USS S-19 (SS-124) sailing along the Thames River in New London, Connecticut, circa 1923-1930. Image courtesy of Naval History and Heritage Command.
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Background

USS S-19 (SS-124) was an American-built S-class submarine that served in the U.S. Navy between 1921 and 1934. S-19 was built at the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. It was commissioned on August 24, 1921. S-19 had an overall length of 66.83 meters, a beam of 6.3 meters, a draft of 4.85 meters, a test depth of 61 meters, and a displacement of 854 tons surfaced and 1,062 tons submerged. It was equipped with four 21-inch (533 millimeter) torpedo tubes at the bow and one 4-inch deck gun. S-19 served on patrol along the northeastern seaboard of the United States from 1923 to 1930, taking part in fleet exercises in Panama each year. In 1930, it was reassigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawai‘i, and operated in the Pacific for the next three years. On December 12, 1936, S-19 was stricken from the naval record. Two years later, on December 18, 1938, it was towed out to sea and scuttled off the coast of Hawai‘i.

When last visited by NOAA Ocean Exploration in 2015, USS S-19 (SS-124) was relatively intact, aside from features removed prior to disposal. It was resting on its midship section and had become habitat for deep-sea animals, corals in particular. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2015 Hohonu Moana.
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Exploration

S-19 was explored on September 3, 2015, during an expedition led by NOAA Ocean Exploration aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer — equipped with an Insite Pacific Zeus Plus camera capable of collecting high-definition footage — was used to document the site, which is at a depth of approximately 414 meters and is approximately 66.83 meters long and approximately 6.3 meters wide.

Modeling

This model of S-19 is based on the ROV dive footage from timestamps 19:50 to 22:05. The footage was exported into 3,131 still images using VLC Player and color corrected in Photoshop. The footage collected during exploration of S-19 was not intended for photogrammetry. So, to address alignment issues, the port side was broken into two models (port bow and port midship), while the starboard side was modeled entirely. The three individual models were then stitched together in Rhinoceros 8 and uploaded to Construkted Reality.

Model Navigation Basics

Desktop:

To zoom in and out: Use the scroll wheel on the mouse.
To move around: Left click on the model with the mouse and drag.
To rotate: Right click on the model with the mouse and drag.

Mobile Devices:

To zoom in and out and rotate: Pinch
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Photogrammetry model of USS S-19 (SS-124) developed by Raymond Phipps, NOAA Ocean Exploration explorer-in-training, August 1, 2023. Model courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2015 Hohonu Moana.