USS R - 19 ( SS - 96 ) USS " R - 19 " ( SS - 96 ) was an " R " - class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy . Construction and commissioning . " R - 19 " s keel was laid down by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco on 23 June 1917 . She was launched on 28 January 1918 sponsored by Mrs . Robert L . Irvine , and commissioned on 7 October 1918 with Lieutenant Commander William F . Callaway in command . United States Navy service . After commissioning , which was one month before the Armistice with Germany ending World War I took effect , " R - 19 " remained on the West Coast of the United States for nine months at San Pedro , California until March 1919 , and then at San Francisco , undergoing overhaul , until June 1919 . On 17 June 1919 " R - 19 " left the United States for the Territory of Hawaii . Eight days later she reached Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and began almost 12 years of training submarine crews and testing equipment . During July 1920 the hull classification symbol of " R - 19 " was changed from " Submarine Number 96 " to " SS - 96 . " On 12 December 1930 , " R - 19 " left Pearl Harbor for the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . " En route " she called at San Diego ; voyaged south to the Panama Canal Zone ; negotiated the Panama Canal ; then voyaged north through the Caribbean Sea and the coastal waters of the US East Coast ; and , finally , up Delaware Bay and the Delaware River to Philadelphia . On 15 May 1931 , " R - 19 " was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and placed in the reserve fleet at that shipyard , where she remained berthed at League Island for the next nine years . " R - 19 " was recommissioned on 6 January 1941 , then went to the United States Naval Submarine Base at Groton , Connecticut , where she was reconditioned . During May 1941 , " R - 19 " headed south . For the remainder of the spring , summer , and into the fall of 1941 , she patrolled and conducted training exercises in the Virgin Islands and off the Panama Canal Zone . In October 1941 , " R - 19 " returned to Groton and continued her role as a training submarine . On 9 March 1942 , " R - 19 " was decommissioned again . For her service in the United States Navy , the " R - 19 " was eligible for the World War I Victory Medal , American Defense Service Medal , American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal . Royal Navy service as HMS " P . 514 " . " R - 19 " was transferred to the United Kingdom under the terms of Lend - Lease on 9 March 1942 . Commissioned into the Royal Navy , she was renamed . In June 1942 she sailed for St . Johns , Newfoundland under the command of Lieutenant Walter Phillimore , RN . At 0300 on 21 June 1942 , " P . 514 " encountered a Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper , . Unaware of any friendly submarines in the area and receiving no reply to her challenge , " Georgian " rammed " P . 514 " , which sank with the loss of all hands . A board of inquiry ruled that " Georgian " s commanding officer had acted correctly . Lt . Phillimore ' s parents lived at Swinbrook , Oxfordshire , England . There is a memorial to " P . 514 " s officers and men in the Church of England parish church of St . Mary the Virgin in Swinbrook .