USS S-42 (SS-153) was the first member in the third group of S-class

United States S class submarine

The United States' S-class submarines, often simply called S-boats , were the first class of submarines built to a United States Navy design....

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Her keel was laid down on 16 December 1920 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...

 in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 30 April 1923 sponsored by Mrs. Henry A. Hutchins, Jr., and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 20 November 1924, Lieutenant John "Babe" Brown in command.

Service history

Following shakedown off the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 coast, S-42 departed New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, in January 1925 and moved south to Coco Solo

Coco Solo

Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colón, Panama....

, whence she operated, both in the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 and in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, until the spring of 1927. Then ordered to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, she cleared the Gulf of Panama

Gulf of Panama

The Gulf of Panama is a gulf in the Pacific Ocean, near the southern coast of Panama. It has a maximum width of , a maximum depth of and the size of . The Panama Canal connects the Gulf of Panama with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...

 in May, was refitted in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and arrived at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 22 July. The following month, she joined other fleet units in searching for missing Dole Air Race

Dole Air Race

The Dole Air Race, also known as the Dole Derby, was a tragic air race to cross the Pacific Ocean from northern California to the Territory of Hawaii in August 1927. Of the 15-18 entrant airplanes, 11 were certified to compete but three crashed before the race, resulting in three deaths...

 competitors and, later in the year, returned to California. Overhaul followed; and, on 4 February 1928, she rejoined the Battle Force at San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, where she was based into 1930. In December of that year, S-42’s division was transferred to Pearl Harbor. She then operated in Hawaiian waters and during annual fleet problems, off the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 Zone and in the Caribbean. From 1932 through 1935, however, she rotated between those active duty operations with Submarine Division 11 and inactive periods with Reserve Submarine Division 14.

In March 1936, S-42 was transferred back to the submarine base at Coco Solo, where she was homeported until ordered to New London in June 1941. From New London, she shifted to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, and with others of her division, now Submarine Division 53, she underwent modernization overhaul. With more up-to-date equipment — which did not include air conditioning — and somewhat improved performance capabilities, she moved south to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

 in November and conducted training and patrol operations there into December. Then, after 7 June, she proceeded back to the Canal Zone.

World War II

During January 1942, S-42 conducted security patrols in the Pacific approaches to the Canal. In February, she prepared to join Allied forces in the southwest Pacific, and, in early March, she started out across the ocean. On 15 April, she arrived in Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...

, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. There, Submarine Division 53 joined the S-boat

United States S class submarine

The United States' S-class submarines, often simply called S-boats , were the first class of submarines built to a United States Navy design....

s of the Asiatic Fleet, forming TF 42. These World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

-designed submarines were to "fill the gap," to impede Japanese progress in the Bismarck Archipelago

Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea.-History:...

 and the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

, until larger and better equipped fleet submarines could be sent to the area.

Ten days after her arrival, S-42 (in the hands of Oliver G. Kirk, Annapolis

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 Class of 1929) cleared Moreton Bay and headed north across the Coral Sea

Coral Sea

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...

 for her first war patrol. After reaching 15 degrees south

15th parallel south

The 15th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 15 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....

, she ran submerged during the day and surfaced at night to recharge her batteries and allow a brief respite from the high temperatures and humidity of submerged running. On the afternoon of 3 May, she entered her assigned patrol area, and, that evening, she closed the coast of New Ireland

New Ireland (island)

New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...

. Two days later, she sighted, fired on, and missed a medium-sized tender off Cape St. George

Cape St. George

Cape St. George is the southernmost point on the island of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, at . It was the namesake for the Battle of Cape St. George, fought on 26 November 1943, between New Ireland and Buka....

. On 6 May, she shifted eastward to patrol between Buka

Buka Island

Buka Island is the second largest island in the Papua New Guinean province of Bougainville.- History :Buka was first occupied by humans in paleolithic times, some 30,000 years ago...

 and the cape. On 11 May, off New Britain

New Britain

New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...

, she sighted the minelayer

Minelayer

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...

 Okinoshima

Okinoshima

Okinoshima may refer to:* Okinoshima, Shimane, a town on the Dogo Island.* Okinoshima, Munakata, an Island part of the Munakata city.* A subsequent name of the Russian Baltic Fleet coastal battleship General Admiral Graf Apraksin surrendered to Imperial Japanese Navy after the Battle of Tsushima*...

(damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea

The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...

) through driving rain. S-42 fired four torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

es, scored with three; and sent the 4400-ton minelayer to the bottom.

The action, begun at 04:39, was over by 04:52. By 05:15, enemy destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s were closing S-42’s position. Within five minutes, they began dropping depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s. At 11:30, the last depth charge attack took place. At 14:30, the last sound contact was made with the still searching enemy. Sea water leaked into the control room in increasing amounts, but S-42 remained submerged for another four hours. She then surfaced to repair some of the damage and recharge her batteries. When she submerged, she was unable to control her depth. She surfaced for further temporary repairs. At dawn, she dived successfully.

Leaks in the control room, however, continued, and she headed home. That day, 12 May, she attempted to send a message to ComSubRon 5. Two days later, she was still attempting to raise Brisbane, sending her message via Port Moresby

Port Moresby

Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...

, Townsville, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, and Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

. On 16 May, her port engine flooded, but was put back into commission, temporarily. On 17 May, she raised Dutch Harbor, whence her dispatches were relayed to Brisbane. Three days later, she arrived in Moreton Bay.

On 3 July, S-42 departed Brisbane for her second patrol. On 12 July, prior to taking up her offensive role in St. George's Channel, she landed an agent at Adler Bay, near Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

. His first report, soon dispatched, warned her to avoid native canoes as the Japanese were paying well for information. Weather, however, proved to be the worst impediment, encountered as frequent rains and heavy seas hindered her hunting.

On the night of 19 July, S-42 returned to Adler Bay; reembarked the Australian intelligence officer, then got underway for Brisbane, where she arrived on 28 July.

During the first week in August, the Allied offensive began with the landings on Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

. Two weeks later, on 21 August, S-42 (now commanded by Harley K. Nauman, Class of 1934) headed for the Solomons to support the offensive by patrolling in the already bloodied and iron-filled waters of the Savo Island

Savo Island

Savo Island is a volcanic island in the Solomon Islands group in the South Pacific ocean. It is located to the northeast of the northern tip of Guadalcanal Island at . Politically, Savo Island is a part of the Solomons' Central Province. The indigenous language of Savo is the Savosavo language.The...

–Cape Esperance

Cape Esperance

Cape Esperance is the northernmost point on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. The Battle of Cape Esperance, one of several naval engagements fought in the waters north of the island during the World War II Guadalcanal campaign, took its name from this point...

 area.

On 23 August, an engine room hatch, improperly latched, began to leak — 15 gallons per hour at 90 feet. Wooden wedges were driven into the coaming, reducing the flow to a drip. S-42 continued on to the Solomons. She arrived on station five days later and remained into September; but — without modern electronics, quick maneuverability, and speed — she was unable to close the night convoys from Rabaul.

Upkeep at Brisbane occupied the period between 19 September and 19 October. On 20 October, she headed for the Solomons to intercept traffic on the Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

-Faisi

Faisi

Faisi is a small island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.-History:During World War II it was first island in the Solomons which was occupied by Japanese forces.-Geography:...

-Buin

Buin, Papua New Guinea

Buin is a settlement at the southern end of the island of Bougainville, a part of the North Solomons Province, located in the northern Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean.-History:...

 line, as well as lay mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

s. Assigned to Bougainville Strait

Bougainville Strait

Bougainville Strait separates Choiseul Island from Bougainville Island, the next to the northward. It was first passed through in 1768 by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who christened it. A Lieutenant John Shortland of the Royal Navy sailed through it in 1788, giving the name of Treasury Islands...

, she again made many contacts, but was unable to score. On 2 November, she fired four torpedoes at a destroyer steaming in company with three others. An explosion was heard, but depth charge attacks precluded determining the results.

On 5 November, she departed the area and made for the Fiji Islands. On 16 November, she moored in Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

 harbor, where she was joined by others of her division and, on 1 December, she got underway to return to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Transiting the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 in early January 1943, she proceeded to Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 in February; provided antisubmarine warfare training services for newly commissioned destroyers through March, then continued on to Philadelphia, where she underwent overhaul and acquired air conditioning and radar. In late June, she departed Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 for San Diego, whence she sailed for the Aleutian Islands in mid-August. On 2 September, she departed Dutch Harbor for the Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...

 and her only North Pacific war patrol.

Stopping en route at Attu

Attu Island

Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...

, the forty-day patrol was spent primarily in the Paramushiro-Onekotan

Onekotan

Onekotan Island is an uninhabited volcanic island located near the northern end of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its name is derived from the Ainu language for "large village".-Geology:...

 area, and contributed no sinkings or damage. She returned to Dutch Harbor on 12 October. On 23 November, she departed again. En route to her assigned area, her port engine seized, and her patrol was cancelled. On 27 November, she put into Massacre Bay

Massacre Bay

Massacre Bay is an inlet on the southeast coast of the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.Massacre Bay was among the landing sites of United States Army troops in the Battle of Attu in May 1943, which led to the recapture of the island from the Japanese during World War...

, Attu, where she remained for repairs into January 1944. In February, she returned to Dutch Harbor thence proceeded to Pearl Harbor and another tour in the southwest Pacific.

S-42 arrived at Milne Bay

Milne Bay

Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....

, New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, on 19 March. There, through May, she provided target services to ships conducting antisubmarine warfare exercises. In June, she shifted to Seeadler Harbor

Seeadler Harbor

Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...

 in the Admiralty Islands

Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...

; provided similar services until 1 August; then prepared for her last war patrol. Five days later, she got underway for Halmahera

Halmahera

Halmahera is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia.Halmahera has a land area of 17,780 km² and a population in 1995 of 162,728...

 with a four-man Australian intelligence team embarked. On 15, 21, and 22 August, members of the team were landed, singly, at designated points. These men were to contact and pick up other agents previously landed. On 26 August, the scout landed at Gorango Bay was recovered alone. He had been unable to contact his assigned agent. The other scouts were not recovered. On 3 September, S-42 returned to Seeadler Harbor.

Resuming ASW training duties, S-42 remained in the Admiralties into October. At mid-month, she arrived at Brisbane for overhaul; and, in January 1945, she returned to the Admiralties. In mid-February, she departed Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 for California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, arriving at San Diego at the end of March. There, she provided training services for the West Coast Sound School through the end of World War II. In September, she shifted to San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, where she was decommissioned on 25 October 1945. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 13 November, she was sold for scrapping in November 1946.

S-42 earned one battle star during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

External links

• Kill record: USS S-42