March 26, 1914
The U.S. Navy submarine USS K-6 (SS-37) was launched at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yards in Quincy, Massachusetts. This vessel was one of the Navy’s eight K-class submarines. All of these submarines were designed by the Connecticut-based company Electric Boat (present-day General Dynamics Electric Boat). K-6 was one of the three K-class submarines constructed by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company; the other two were K-1 and K-5.
The ceremonial duties for the launch of K-6 were performed by Ethel Roberts. Her husband Thomas Gaines Roberts was the Navy commander serving at the time as superintending constructor at that facility in Quincy.
The Boston Globe reported, “Two minutes ahead of the appointed time, which is considered an element of good luck in the launching of a vessel, the United States submarine K-6, one of the largest underwater fighters of the Navy was sent down the ways at the Fore River yards at 10:58 a.m.” This article further stated, “It was one of the most successful launchings that ever took place at the local yards.”
As a key part of that morning’s ceremony, Ethel Roberts broke a bottle of champagne on the snub nose of the submarine. The Boston Globe noted, “After the boat was launched the broken fragments of the bottle were enclosed in a teakwood box and were presented to Mrs. Roberts. The bottle was encased in a meshwork of golden threads and tied with tricolored ribbons.”
On September 9 of that year, K-6 was officially commissioned into the Navy in Boston. A little over two months later, she traveled to Newport, Rhode Island, for shakedown and training exercises. This submarine was subsequently deployed for a wide range of military operations. These included diving tests off both Long Island and Cape Cod; and the practice firing of torpedoes within the Chesapeake Bay region. K-6 was also one of the submarines participating in tactical exercises out of New London, Connecticut, and both Pensacola and Key West in Florida.
Starting in the fall of 1917, K-6 made her way to the Azores as part of the United States’ military efforts against the Central Powers. This 153.5-foot (46.8-meter)-long submarine, which arrived at the Azorean municipality of Ponta Delgada on October 27, spent more than a year helping to patrol that area of the Atlantic Ocean and search for German U-boats and surface raiders. (The accompanying photo of K-6 was taken at the Azorean municipality of Horta in December 1917.)
Not long after the armistice ending the war went into effect on November 11, 1918, K-6 returned to the United States. She arrived at Philadelphia via Bermuda on December 13. By May of the following year, this submarine was being used for tactical operations along the coast of New England. Over the next four years, her various missions ultimately covered a large area between New England and the Caribbean Sea. At this point in her career, K-6 was used in large part for activities such as underwater drills; experimental dives; and training.
K-6 was decommissioned on May 21, 1923. This submarine was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on December 18, 1930, and on June 3 of the following year, sold for scrapping.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on K-6 (SS-37), please check out https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/k-6.html
Transportation History 
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