The submarine USS R-14 ran out of usable fuel and lost radio communications while searching for a missing ship in 1921.
As seen in the photo the crew stitched together blankets, hammocks and battery deck covers, and then spent 5 days under sail to travel 120 miles back to Hawaii. The CO received a letter of commendation for the crew's innovative actions from his Submarine Division Commander, CDR Chester Nimitz.
Credit : US Naval institute.
Thanks for showing me that.
Wikipedia states with foresail, mainsail and mizzen she made 2kts, enough to spin the prop and recharge the batteries to use the electric motor to berth.
Cool story.
Select to expand quotegarymalmgren said..
The CO received a letter of commendation for the crew's innovative actions...
and then he got a kick in the arse for running out of fuel! 
The story mentioned "useable fuel".
Could mean contamination.
I thought it was an AI fake at first.
gary
Funny isn't it, when I see pics of those members of the forces from that era they nearly always seem to be slender healthy looking individuals, not so much these days.
Select to expand quotegarymalmgren said..
The story mentioned "useable fuel".
Could mean contamination.
I thought it was an AI fake at first.
gary
Typical for ships to use the term BFR, Burnable 'Useable' Fuel Remaining.I've worked on a ship in the past that carried over 100tons of unburnable fuel at all times. It is part of the design that the fuel can't be picked up.
You will be aware of the yacht DRUM (think after they got the keel back on........."roll your own etc etc") ramming a sub..............or vice versa depending on what side of the fence you were on...........a Kiwi ex work colleague told me this story around 2015 and I thought he was talking complete BS - he said he was on the foredeck of DRUM and the crew salvaged periscope remnants of the sub out of their hull and personally delivered them to the defence authorities who rolled over (heh heh) and paid up the repair fees........ - when I got back from Auckland I googled for the story and found a newspaper article but can't find it now..............but it definitely happened and he was obviously 100% correct...........you will be able to find the newspaper article...........
api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1988/jul/21/hms-otus-collision
www.heraldscotland.com/news/11916974.drum-adopts-new-colours-to-ward-off-submariners/
Select to expand quoteEastCoastSail said..garymalmgren said..
The story mentioned "useable fuel".
Could mean contamination.
I thought it was an AI fake at first.
gary
Typical for ships to use the term BFR, Burnable 'Useable' Fuel Remaining.I've worked on a ship in the past that carried over 100tons of unburnable fuel at all times. It is part of the design that the fuel can't be picked up.
Ignore above, I forgot it is a submarine and would have water compensated fuel tanks. Useable fuel in this instance would be all fuel they could seperate out from the sea water with the centrifuge.
