R-14, A Cautionary Tale Or How to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
R-14 was a US Navy R class coastal patrol sub. That particular class of subs were also known as ‘pigboats’. The R-14, under the acting command of Lieutenant A. D. Douglas, set sail from Hawaii in early May 1921 in search of an overdue fleet tug, the USS COnestoga. Douglas and the third officer, Lieutenant R. T. Gallemore, and a full complement of 30 enlisted men had taken the 186-foot, 680-ton submarine to sea to search a sector 30° wide in a direction approximately southeast from Diamond Head. She had left port with fuel, provisions, and fresh water for 14 days.
10 days out and approximately 100 miles southeast of the island of Hawaii, the sub’s main engines died due to contaminated diesel. The acting skipper had a tough situation on his hands. He had no propulsion, only 4 days of food and water left and was far out of the normal shipping lanes. Despite conserving battery power, the sub had only enough juice to run one of the electric motors for less than 100 miles.
What was Lieutenant Douglas to do? He improvised, adapted and overcame.
He ordered the crew to make sails out of hammocks and blankets and rigged out the R-14 as a sailing vessel.
The first sail was sewn up using 12 hammocks and was hung on the king post for the torpedo crane just forward of the conning tower. The crude foresail gave the R-14 one knot of headway. The second sail, made of 6 blankets, adorned the radio mast upped the speed by a half knot. A third sail, made of 8 blankets was hung from another part of the torpedo crane installed on the aft deck, got the sub up to 2 knots.
The sub sailed north, sighting Cape Kumukahi on the 13th. It would be three more days before the R-13 made it to Pearl. On the morning of the 15th, Douglas ordered the crew to engage the battery drive to make that last push to Hilo.
The next day R-14 took fuel and provisions from R-12 and made her way to Pearl arriving there 17 May.
Lieutenant Douglas received a letter of commendation from his Submarine Division Commander, Commander Chester W. Nimitz.
The Conestoga was declared lost on 30 June. She was found in 2009 off the Farallon Islands not far from where her journey started.
