SUBMARINE USS F-4 LOST OFF HAWAII

Submarine USS F-4 lost off Hawaii

Early American submarines were experimental craft, operating at the edge of the technology of their day. On March 25th, 1915, the USS F-4, a small submarine of the F-class, sank during a routine dive near Honolulu, taking her crew with her to the bottom in relatively deep water. Investigators concluded that corrosion and battery problems contributed to hull failure, allowing seawater to flood the boat. The loss shocked the Navy and the families of the twenty-one sailors who never returned from what had seemed an ordinary training evolution. Salvage crews faced the challenge of raising a steel hull from unprecedented depths for United States naval operations, developing techniques that would later be used in other submarine recoveries. Out of the tragedy came stricter design standards, better maintenance practices, and more serious thinking about rescue equipment, all aimed at keeping undersea crews safer in a rapidly growing and dangerous branch of the fleet.