VESSELS
Jury-rigging and the Resourceful Mariner
Man the Halyards!
Let Go and Haul!
Set Depth at 100 Feet.
Dive Dive Dive!
Here’s a quiz: Which of these commands might you hear on a submarine?
Answer: All of the above. Wait—what?!
USS R-14 under sail in 1921. The sail in view at the top is rigged to the radio mast. Below it, towards the right in the photo, you can see the sail made from eight blankets billowing out.
R-14’s captain, Lieutenant Alexander Dean Douglas, is in view, sitting at the top left of the photo (the one not wearing a hat). Photo courtesy of US Navy.
In May 1921, the US Navy submarine USS R-14 was at sea, about 100 miles southeast of Hawaii, searching for USS Conestoga, an ocean-going Navy fleet tug reported overdue at Pearl Harbor. While it was at the surface, R-14 ran out of fuel and lost all radio communications. Unable to call for help and unable to move, the crew’s options were limited. Their situation was that much worse because they only had enough food onboard to last for another five days.
The likelihood of being seen by a passing ship was almost non-existent, so they could either drift helplessly offshore and hope for a miracle, or they could figure out a way to get back to port on their own. The sub’s captain and engineering officer put their heads together and came up with an unusual means of propulsion—at least unusual for a non-sailing vessel. They could jury-rig a mast and sails and get back to Hawaii using wind power, just like in the Age of Sail.
Jury-rig: it’s a term that sailors from every century know well. One aspect of an offshore sailing voyage is that you can’t call AAA or 9-1-1 for help. This is something that mariners accept, and some even like being forced to be self-reliant. Jury-rig is both a noun and a verb and likely comes from the term “JOURNIERE mast,” which translates to “mast for a day” (the French word JOUR means “day”). Sailors who found themselves at sea with a broken piece of equipment, including the loss of a mast, would try to make a temporary repair with whatever they had onboard at the time. A typical example is a sailing ship that has been dismasted offshore, limping into port with a makeshift mast and sail, or a vessel with broken steering gear rigged with rope or chain tied to the rudder so that her crew can still steer.
But a submarine rigging a mast and sail?
When R-14’s engine became unusable, the crew made a temporary mast by tying several bunkbed frames together and then securing them to the crane mounted on the foredeck that was used to load torpedoes. They made a sail out of eight hammocks hastily stitched together and soon found themselves moving through the water, albeit slowly. So, they made two more sails out of blankets and tied them to the radio mast. With three sails now rigged to catch the wind, USS R-14 picked up speed and made it safely back to Hawaii in 64 hours, with enough food to last them another 2½ days!
USS R-14’s commanding officer, Lt. Alexander Dean Douglas, later received a US Navy commendation for his and his crew’s resourcefulness.
Did You Know?
Damage to wood by the shipworm clam was often extensive enough to sink a ship!
As a tiny larva floating in the ocean, the clam lands on the hull or piling of a ship and immediately begins to grind into the surface of the wood with its shells.
How did Christopher Columbus and other mariners protect their ships from the shipworm?