F-4 (SS-23)

Date of Accident:: 25 March, 1915
Returned to Service - No

The F-4 foundered approximately 1-1/2 miles off of Honolulu, HI on 25 March, 1915. Acid corrosion of the lead lining of the battery tank permitted seawater seepage into the battery compartment, causing loss of control. Efforts were made to find the sunken submarine and save her crew, without success.

F-4 was eventually located and she was finally raised on 29 August 1915, using cables suspended from pontoons that had been specifically designed and built for the purpose. She was declared a total loss and struck from the Navy Register on 31 August, 1915.

Twenty one men lost. No survivors.

(U.S. Navy DANFS 2: 314)

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This page last updated on 31 July, 1997.