USS R - 14 ( SS - 91 ) USS " R - 14 " ( SS - 91 ) was an " R " - class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company , in Quincy , Massachusetts on 6 November 1918 . She was launched on 10 October 1919 sponsored by Ms . Florence L . Gardner and commissioned on 24 December 1919 , with Lieutenant Vincent A . Clarke , Jr . , in command . Service history . 1919 – 1929 . After shakedown off the New England coast , " R - 14 " moved to New London , Connecticut , where she prepared for transfer to the Pacific Fleet . In May , she headed south . Given hull classification symbol " SS - 91 " in July , she transited the Panama Canal in the same month and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 6 September . There , for the next nine years , she assisted in the development of submarine and anti - submarine warfare tactics , and participated in search and rescue operations . " R - 14 " — under acting command of Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas – ran out of usable fuel and lost radio communications in May 1921 while on a surface search mission for the seagoing tug about southeast of the island of Hawaii . Since the submarine ' s electric motors did not have enough battery power to propel her to Hawaii , the ship ' s engineering officer Roy Trent Gallemore came up with a novel solution to their problem . Lieutenant Gallemore decided they could try to sail the boat to the port of Hilo , Hawaii . He therefore ordered a foresail made of eight hammocks hung from a top boom made of pipe bunk frames lashed firmly together , all tied to the vertical kingpost of the torpedo loading crane forward of the submarine ' s superstructure . Seeing that this gave " R - 14 " a speed of about , as well as rudder control , he ordered a mainsail made of six blankets , hung from the sturdy radio mast ( top sail in photo ) . This added to the speed . He then ordered a mizzen made of eight blankets hung from another top boom made of bunk frames , all tied to the vertically placed boom of the torpedo loading crane . This sail added another . Around 12 : 30 pm on 12 May , Gallemore was able to begin charging the boat ' s batteries . After 64 hours under sail at slightly varying speeds , " R - 14 " entered Hilo Harbor under battery propulsion on the morning of 15 May 1921 . Douglas received a letter of commendation for the crew ' s innovative actions from his Submarine Division Commander , CDR Chester W . Nimitz , USN . 1930 – 1946 . On 12 December 1930 , " R - 14 " cleared Pearl Harbor for the last time and headed back to the Atlantic . Proceeding via San Diego , and the Panama Canal , she returned to New London on 9 February 1931 , and through the end of the decade conducted training exercises for the Submarine School . In the spring of 1941 , she moved down the coast to Key West , Florida , her homeport as of 1 June . In the fall , she returned to New London for overhaul and on 22 November resumed operations out of Key West . Into April 1945 , she conducted training exercises for the Sound School and patrolled the Yucatan Channel and the Florida Straits . On 25 April , she headed north and in early May arrived at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . " R - 14 " was decommissioned on 7 May , struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 May , and sold on 28 September to Rossoff Brothers of New York City . She was later resold to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and scrapped in 1946 .