The photo above was taken at San Diego circa 1913 showing three of the four "F" class submarines and the Submarine Tender USS Alert, AS-4. The F-2 and F-1 are the two outboard submarines. The names F-2 and F-1 are seen on the bows. The third, or inboard boat, is the F-3.

This is known from the name of the submarine being placed aft of the bow planes and barely visible in extreme magnification in this photo. The shape of the bow planes fairings, another clue, which are narrower, not having the upper and lower slanted top and bottom as the F-1 and F-2 but having the bottom and top having horizontal surfaces instead as did the F-3 and F-4. The difference between the two building yards building styles.

The F-4 had been plagued by numerous faults and mechanical failures and equipment shortages since her building and was even delayed her leaving Seattle with the F-3 to join her sisters in San Francisco and later San Pedro for these reasons. She is still not with the "F-fleet", as they were called, as of the date on this photo taken, most likely, in early 1913.

The F-1 and 2 were built at Union Iron Works in the San Francisco area. The F-3 and 4 were built in Seattle. The F-1 and F-2 had the names placed on the bows. The F-3 and F-4 had the names placed aft of the bow planes, as will be seen in other photos in this archive. Again this is the difference between the building yards. The name placement was later standardized to all the F class having the names on the bows but not until after the "F fleet" had assembled and headed to Hawaii. The Alert went with the submarines to Hawaii.

The New York Sun newspaper reported on January 10, 1913, "...the tender USS Alert and the submarines F-1, F-2 and F-3 were at San Diego...". Another report places them en-route to San Diego on the 13th. That may be the general time frame of this photo.

Other newspapers reported on April 6th and again on April 29th, 1913, that the submarine tender USS Alert and the submarines F-1, F-2 and F-3 were at San Pedro. No mention of the F-4 arriving yet.

The F-2, the left hand boat, is doing a battery charge by running her starboard engine. The exhaust can be seen billowing out from her stern in the photo.

A very commonly reproduced photo of the USS F-2, F-1 and the ill-fated F-4 moored, most likely, at Pier 5A in Honolulu Harbor. The photo was taken after the arrival of the F-Class submarines in Hawaii in the July of 1914 and the March 25, 1915 sinking of the F-4. The four F-Boats were towed to Hawaii by the cruisers South Dakota and West Virginia.

The flat land area seen in the background is Sand Island. The building/lighthouse seen on the left is marking the inner entrance channel to the harbor and is called the Honolulu Harbor Light Station. On the right the large building is the Quarantine Docks where ships from over seas were moored until cleared by the health inspectors. When the F-4 was finally raise after her sinking, that took the lives of all her crew, her first stop was at these docks still hanging from chains under the lifting pontoons while a dry dock was made available.

Pearl Harbor at this time was mainly a coaling station for larger ships and the submarine base there wasn't ready until 1920 so the submarine fleet moored normally at Piers 5 & 5A near the entrance to Honolulu Harbor.

All four "F" Class submarine moored to the tender USS Alert in Honolulu Harbor, circa early 1915. The F-4 sank on March 25, 1915. This might be one of the last known F-4 photos prior to her loss with all hands. The USS Alert arrived in Hawaii in early 1915 in company with four K-Class submarines.

The ship aft of the Alert is the German Unprotected Cruiser SMS Geier that was being pursued by Japanese and British Navy ships had taken shelter in the neutral port of Honolulu. Claiming engine problems she needed repair parts from Germany which she couldn't get she was more or less stranded there until the US entered the war and seized the Geier renaming her USS Schurz and placed into American service for the war effort.

Being a neutral port had restrictions on what information could be reported and the Germans and Japanese claimed the US had violated this when a radio station in Honolulu had reported the Geier's presence in Honolulu. The Navy censer had been not been there at the time. This caused all sorts of international problems. As it turned out later the Geier, her radio room having been sealed by the US, had broken the room seals and had transmitted messages that ran into legal battles even after WW I had ended.

This really nice portrait of the four F-Class submarines was taken in Honolulu Harbor circa 1915 between the Navy Docks 5 and 5A. Photo looks to have been taken at about mid-day by the sun angles.

Looking at the mooring sequence of the submarines and the other vessels in the photo we are fairly positive this photo was taken at the same time as the one shown just above but from directly in front of the submarines. This goes down to including the man sitting on a chair on the deck of the USS F-1. The numerical order of the vessels is the same as above. ( Left to Right, F-2, F-3, F-4, F-1 ). The tender the submarines are moored to is identical to the vessel in the previous photo, the USS Alert.

Though the names on the hull are indistinct on a few submarines the shape of the bow planes pivot covers help separate the vessels into where each was built. The two outer submarines have covers with sloping top and bottoms and were built at Union Iron Works in San Francisco. (F1 and F-2). The two middle submarines have covers with flat tops and bottoms and were built at Seattle Construction and Dry Dock in Seattle, Washington. (F-3 and F-4) These features remained the same through their whole careers.

Though this is a really great image of the four F Class Submarines, the real interesting story is taking place just behind them.

The vessel seen astern of the Alert is the German Unprotected Cruiser SMS Geier, as seen in other photos. After the US entered WW I the Geier was seized by the US and pressed into service as the USS Schurz. She later sank in a ramming on the US east coast.

The vessel on the left is thought to be the German steamship Locksun (ex-German SS Andree Rickmers), that had been pressed into service as a collier for the Geier. She took refuge a day or so later than the German Cruiser from the Japanese Cruiser Hizen blockading the German ships. Locksun was not an interned ship at first because her connection with Geier was not known at first.

Locksun even took prisoners from the sunk German power schooner Aeolus from Hizen and brought them aboard the Locksun. Once her connection was known she was interned as well. After the US entered the war she was renamed the USS Gulfport AK-5 and remained in US service until 1922.

Interesting to note as soon as the US entered WW I all interned ships in US ports around the world tried to destroy their engines and or scuttle the ships in harbors to block them. Geier set fire to her engine room and boilers. Locksun damaged her engines.

Directly behind the USS F-3, (second from left) can be seen the Honolulu Harbor Light Station lighthouse on Sand Island. On the deck of the F-3 there is a crewman lounging with his back leaning against the conning tower fairwater in the shade.

This wonderful photo comes to us from a contributor in the Netherlands. The photo shows the USS F-1 and the USS F-3 moored to what is probably Navy Pier 5. There is a third submarine at the far left but not enough is seen to know if this is the USS F-2 or the ill-fated F-4. With this unknown it is hard to date the photo though with the crane being so prominent it is a good guess to say it is most likely post March 25, 1915 and pre November 1915 when the F-Class were towed to the mainland.

The Floating Crane, YD-25, is seen in the background. Efforts to raise the F-4 first utilised this crane but she proved too heavy.

Note the shape difference in the fairings over the bow plane mechanism. The F-1 and F-2 were built at Union Iron Works in San Francisco and the F-3 and F-4 were built in Seattle and Seattle Construction and Dry Dock. Just subtle differences in building styles.

Most interestingly is the ship moored at the far right in the photo. This is the interred German unprotected cruiser SMS Geier of the Bussard class. The Geier in need of engine repairs and coal to fuel her boilers put into the neutral United States port at Honolulu, Hawaii in October 1914. Unable to get the parts from Germany to repair the engines she remained at Honolulu where she was eventually interred.

After the American entrance into the war in April 1917, the US Navy seized Geier, commissioned her as USS Schurz, and placed her on convoy duty. She was ultimately sunk following a collision with a freighter off the coast of North Carolina, with one man killed and twelve injured. She rests at a depth of 115 feet.

The Geier was armed with ten 4.1 inch guns, one of which can be seen just below and to the left of the lifeboat. The German Naval Ensign is flying from the stern. When the still submerged hulk of the F-4 was towed into the harbor the Geier along with all the other ships in harbor lowered her flag to half mast in tribute.

This interesting photo was most likely taken in late March or April of 1915, during the salvage operations for the USS F-4. The location is Honolulu Harbor, TH. The large derrick in the background is the Navy floating crane YD-25. Normally employed for construction activities at the brand new base under construction at Pearl Harbor, the crane had been moved to Honolulu to support the F-4 salvage. Unfortunately the sub proved to be too heavy for the crane so lifting pontoons ultimately had to be used.

The two submarines in the foreground are (left to right, despite what the caption says) the F-3 and the F-1. Whether this photo was taken before or after the one above in unknown. There are at least several days between the two images. The location of the crane has moved slightly and there is a difference in the waterline levels of the two submarines. This photo is a little ironic in that just two years later, during night maneuvers off the coast of San Diego, these two boats would collide in the darkness, resulting in the loss of the F-1 and nineteen of her crew.

Seen just to the immediate right of the pipe frame for the F-1 bridge tarpaulins, peeking over the crane barge deck, is the cupola for the Honolulu Harbor Light House with the smaller lantern on its top. To the left side of the F-1 Bridge Fairwater is an F-1 Sailor. He is seen standing behind the Torpedo loading ramp.

The large ship in the left background is the German collier SS Locksun that was to supply coal to the German raider SMS Geier. They entered Honolulu several days apart and were not known immediately to be connected. When the US entered WW I the ship and its valuable cargo of coal was seized and commissioned into the USN as the USS Gulfport. She was decommissioned sold in 1922.

Note the confusion of the person hand printing, backwards, with white ink on the negative, trying to make the letters look correct.

The three remaining F class submarines after the sinking of the USS F-4. They are moored at the Navy Piers in Honolulu Harbor on what appears to be a clam sunny morning. Before the trade winds pick-up it can be hot and humid there. The lighthouse on Sand Island can be seen in the background. The crews are cleaning the submarines up for a Captains Inspection. The three submarines were prohibited from diving after the pressure hull collapsed on the F-4 from corrosion caused by a battery acid leak killing all 19 crew. A group of 5 or 6 young men sit and watch the activity. Probably curious about submarines in the wake of the F-4's sinking. The submarines were later towed back to the mainland being replaced by the newer and more reliable K class submarines.

A closer look at the USS F-1 and F-3 moored at the Navy Piers in Honolulu Harbor. The crews are cleaning the submarines up for a Captains Inspection. The three remaining submarines were prohibited from diving after the pressure hull collapsed on the F-4 from corrosion caused by a battery acid leak killing all 19 crew. There appears to be a coaling station on a pier in the background. The bow of the F-2 can be seen at the extream right.

Moored aft of the F-1 and F-3 is the USS F-2. A group of sailors take shelter from the morning sun in the shade of the fairwater on the F-3. The lighthouse on Sand Island can be seen in the background.

A group of young men caught in the moment watching the submarines. It would be interesting to know what they thought of those submarines and men sailing them.

In this photo are the remaining submarines of the "F Flotilla" of Hawaii after the sinking of the USS F-4. They are, left to right, the USS F-1, USS F-2 and USS F-3. They are moored to Pier 5 in Honolulu Harbor. The Armored Cruiser Maryland is moored at the left to pier 5A.

The date is in question since Maryland was at Honolulu several times during this 1915 time frame. One was bringing the six specially made pontoons used to raise the USS F-4 from the ocean floor just off Honolulu Harbor. Later she had help tow the replacement "K" class submarines to Hawaii. She later towed the F-3 back to California. The collier Nanshan and the tug Iroquois towed the F-l and the F-2 respectively. The presence of the three F craft narrows the timing. We believe this photo is the earlier visit after transporting the pontoons.

A crowd of Maryland sailors are on deck looking over the little submarines out of curiosity. Submarines were still far and few from being a common sight, even in Navy ports. Probably because of the recent sinking of the F-4 and because, too, their having just transported her salvage pontoons on their deck. There are 6 sailors in whites, two on F-2, four on F-1 that may be visiting from the Maryland curious to see what a submarine is all about.

The F-3 has forward tanks emptied and aft trim probably flooded to have so much of an up angle. Her bow much higher than her sisters' bows. No doubt there being considerable maintenance being done to these submarines in lieu of the F-4 sinking. Partly in trying to determine what happened to the F-4 and prevent another such accident.

The three remaining submarines were prohibited from diving until they had all been thoroughly overhauled and re-certified. To do this they needed to be returned to the mainland. Their overhauls to be completed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

In the background, bisected by the F-3 periscopes, is the Honolulu Harbor Light Station on Sand Island marking the inner end of the harbor entrance channel. There is a similar view taken from the same dock on the arrival of the "K Flotilla" that replaced the F class.

In 1915 the well known Naval Station Pearl Harbor was in it's infancy. Major work was still going on to build the facility and a large amount of dredging still needed to be done to the shallow harbor. Because of this, most naval activity in Hawaii was centered in Honolulu Harbor, down the coast to the east a few miles.

A recreational canoe is seen resting on the pier. Maybe something for men to do on off hours. There appears to be a rounded skeg attached to the bottom of the canoes' keel blocking part of the view of the F-3. This may be a sailing canoe of some type.

Three unidentified F-Class submarines, most likely at Mare Island for inspection and repair. After the sinking of the F-4 the remaining F-Class boats were ordered back to the mainland to be examined and repaired and overhauled before they would be permitted to dive again.

The right hand submarine has had panels removed from both sides of its conning tower fairwater, exposing all the systems with in it. She also has a deck plate propped up to access equipment with-in the superstructure.

The middle and left hand submarines have had the superstructure removed over their engine mufflers and exhausts for some sort of maintenance. We imagine that a combination of heat and saltwater was a recipe for corrosion.