History and mysteries · Off the Delaware Capes
S-5: a stern above water and a hole cut to freedom (1920)
Documented history · Sources compared
A submarine accident off the Delaware Capes became a rescue by merchant mariners—and then an unsuccessful salvage operation.
A small opening in the hull
During trials on September 1, 1920, USS S-5 flooded through an open air-induction valve. The crew raised the stern above the surface and made a small hole through which rescuers could detect and reach them. Merchant vessels Alanthus and General Goethals assisted; an opening was cut large enough to free everyone aboard.
The battleship Ohio later attempted to tow the submarine. The tow failed and S-5 sank again.
The salvage record corrects a shortcut
The Navy’s short S-5 ship history says no salvage was attempted. Its separate history of the rescue vessel Falcon, however, explicitly records work on S-5 continuing through the summer of 1921. These official accounts conflict on that point: the defensible conclusion is that the submarine was not recovered, rather than that nobody tried.
The rescue and the failed recovery are different outcomes. The first saved the crew; the second left a wreck offshore.
Sources and research limits
Naval History and Heritage Command, S-5. NHHC, Falcon III, service chronology documenting the salvage work.