USS S-37

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USS S-37 (SS-142) was an S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 12 December 1918, launched on 20 June 1919, and commissioned on 16 July 1923.

Construction and commissioning

S-37Template:'s keel was laid down on 12 December 1918 by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California.<ref name=DANFS>DANFS.</ref> She was launched on 20 June 1919, sponsored by Miss Mildred Bulger, and commissioned on 16 July 1923.<ref name=DANFS/>

Operational service

1923

After fitting out at Mare Island, S-37 departed San Francisco Bay at the end of July 1923 and joined Submarine Division (SubDiv) 17 at San Pedro, California, on 1 August 1923.<ref name=DANFS/> During August, September, and into October 1923, she conducted exercises and tests off the Southern California coast.<ref name=DANFS/>

On the afternoon of 10 October 1923, while recharging her batteries in the harbor at San Pedro, S-37 was rocked by an explosion in the after battery compartment.<ref name=DANFS/> Two men were killed as dense black smoke and gas fumes filled the flame- and arc-lit room.<ref name=DANFS/> Extensive material damage added to the difficulty of rescue operations, but three men were extracted from the compartment, one of whom died of his injuries before medical help arrived.<ref name=DANFS/> Two of the rescuers were seriously injured.<ref name=DANFS/>

Once it was determined no one remained alive in the compartment, the compartment was sealed to cut off the supply of oxygen to the fire.<ref name=DANFS/> However, by 0500 on 11 October 1923, so much pressure had increased in the compartment it forced the main hatch open.<ref name=DANFS/> The compartment was re-sealed for another five hours, but when it was opened at 1030, the fire reflashed.<ref name=DANFS/> The crew shut the hatch again for another hour.<ref name=DANFS/> At 1130, the compartment was successfully ventilated and cooled enough to allow the crew to enter safely.<ref name=DANFS/> Temporary repairs were completed on 25 October 1923, and S-37 headed to Mare Island, California, for permanent repairs.<ref name=DANFS/> On 19 December 1923, she returned to duty at San Pedro.<ref name=DANFS/>

1924–1941

In 1924, S-37 moved south and, with her division, participated in Fleet Problems II, Fleet Problem III, and IV, which involved problems of fleet movements, conducted en route to the Gulf of Panama; Caribbean defenses and transit facilities of the Panama Canal; and movement from a main base to an advanced base, conducted in the Caribbean Sea.<ref name=DANFS/> After completing Fleet Problem IV, her division remained in the Caribbean until early April 1924, when it again passed through the Panama Canal to return to the Pacific Ocean.<ref name=DANFS/> Toward the end of April 1924, she returned to San Pedro, and, on 28 April 1924 she continued to Mare Island.<ref name=DANFS/> There the submarines of her division, having been transferred to the United States Asiatic Fleet, prepared to cross the Pacific.<ref name=DANFS/>

File:S Boats.jpg

On 17 September 1924, SubDiv 17, accompanied by the submarine tender Template:USS, departed San Francisco.<ref name=DANFS/> On 26 September 1924, the ships arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and on 4 November 1924 they reached Manila Bay on the coast of Luzon in the Philippines.<ref name=DANFS/> They operated from Cavite, Luzon, for 16 years.<ref name=DANFS/> During most of that time, they worked as a division, spending the fall and winter months in the Philippines and deploying to the China coast for spring and summer exercises.<ref name=DANFS/> During the late 1930s, however, hostilities increased in East Asia with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, and the Asiatic Fleet's S-boat schedule was altered to include more individual exercises and cruises.<ref name=DANFS/> The submarines ranged throughout the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies, and they made shorter deployments to the China coast.<ref name=DANFS/> In 1940, the China deployments ended, and the submarines intensified their exercises and patrols in the Philippines and participated in joint United States Army-U.S. Navy war games.<ref name=DANFS/> In 1941, S-37 remained in the Philippines, operating in the Luzon area into the spring, in the Visayan Islands and Sulu Archipelago into the summer, and back in the Luzon area during the fall.<ref name=DANFS/>

World War II

1941

On 8 December 1941 – which across the International Date Line in Hawaii was 7 December 1941, the day the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II – S-37 was in Manila Bay.<ref name=DANFS/> With receipt of the news of the Japanese attack, S-37, commanded by James C. Dempsey, prepared for her first war patrol.<ref name=DANFS/> On the night of 9 December 1941, she cleared the Corregidor outer minefield, moved into the Verde Island Passage, and took station at Puerta Galera, Mindoro, where she remained on lookout duty until 17 December 1941.<ref name=DANFS/> She then returned to Manila, replenished and refueled, and, on 19 December, headed back toward the Mindoro coast.<ref name=DANFS/> On 20 December, she assumed patrol duties in Calavite Passage.<ref name=DANFS/> On 21 December 1941, she shifted to the Verde Island Passage.<ref name=DANFS/> On 27 December 1941, she reconnoitered Batangas Bay to investigate the detonation of fuel oil tanks and found only Filipino and American forces destroying the fuel oil supplies before they could be captured by the Japanese.<ref name=DANFS/> On 28 December, while the noise of the exploding tanks continued, S-37 investigated reports of Japanese landings in Balayan Bay, then proceeded toward Looc Bay to verify or disprove a similar rumor.<ref name=DANFS/> Finding both bays empty, she began to make her way south.<ref name=DANFS/> On 30 December 1941, she was off Panay.<ref name=DANFS/>

January 1942

On 1 January 1942, S-37 suffered a fire in the starboard main motor panel.<ref name=DANFS/> Repairs were made that night.<ref name=DANFS/> On 2 and 3 January she patrolled off the entrance to Basilan Strait.<ref name=DANFS/> There, she sighted a Japanese submarine, but was unable to close the range.<ref name=DANFS/> On 4 January, she took up patrol duty off Japanese-held Jolo Island.<ref name=DANFS/> On 5 January, she developed leaks in the air supply piping to the starboard main motor panel.<ref name=DANFS/> Makeshift repairs decreased the air leaks, and S-37 remained in the Sulu district on 6 January.<ref name=DANFS/> On 7 January, she continued south, toward Port Darwin.<ref name=DANFS/> On 8 January, new orders arrived, and she set a course for Soerabaja, the Dutch naval base on the northeast coast of Java.<ref name=DANFS/>

On 11 January 1942, Japanese forces moved on territory of the Netherlands East Indies, landing at Tarakan on Borneo and at Manado on Celebes.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37, then off Stroomenkaap at the western end of Celebes's northern peninsula, was ordered to make for the Borneo coast.<ref name=DANFS/> She arrived on 12 January and, for the next three days, remained in the Tarakan area, searching for Japanese transports and cargo ships, while at the same time eluding Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers.<ref name=DANFS/> On 15 January 1942, she was ordered to leave the area, and on 23 January, unable to transmit identification messages, she approached Madoera Strait and surfaced for recognition by Dutch patrol vessels.<ref name=DANFS/> At 2118, she arrived in Soerabaja Roads on the coast of Java.<ref name=DANFS/> By the end of January 1942, Japanese forces on Borneo had moved south into Balikpapan, while those forces located in the Celebes moved into Kendari.<ref name=DANFS/>

February 1942

On 2 February 1942, S-37 departed Soerabaja and headed back to Makassar Strait.<ref name=DANFS/> By 5 February, she was off Cape William.<ref name=DANFS/> The next day, she shifted southward to patrol the southern approaches to Makassar City, and, on the evening of 8 February 1942, she sighted a destroyer, which was thought to be an advance guard unit for Japanese forces en route to that city.<ref name=DANFS/>

At 1800, the destroyer, which S-37 allowed to pass unmolested, disappeared to the northwest.<ref name=DANFS/> At 1813, S-37 sighted the masts and upper works of three Japanese destroyers in column at a distance 5 nautical miles (9250 m) , estimated speed Template:Convert.<ref name=DANFS/> A half-hour's wait brought no transports or cargo ships into view, and S-37 went after the destroyer formation.<ref name=DANFS/> Moving on the surface, she closed the four destroyers in column, distance Template:Convert.<ref name=DANFS/> All torpedoes were readied and, at 1946, she commenced her approach.<ref name=DANFS/> A minute later, she sighted another, closer formation of four destroyers, distance Template:Convert, plus the dim outlines of three large ships resembling transports, distance 3 nautical miles (5500 m) , on a northerly course.<ref name=DANFS/> It would turn out that S-37 had found fifteen transports in convoy.<ref>Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory (Lippincott, 1975), p.177.</ref>

At 1951, S-37 changed course to go after the transports.<ref name=DANFS/> By 2010, however, the destroyers had increased speed to maintain cover for the transports as the formation turned and crossed ahead of the submarine at Template:Convert.<ref name=DANFS/> By 2030, S-37, unable to gain an unimpaired shot at the transports, shifted to attack the destroyers.<ref name=DANFS/> Between 2036 and 2040, she closed to point-blank range, Template:Convert, and launched one torpedo at each destroyer.<ref name=DANFS/> Thirty seconds after firing the third torpedo, she observed a hit between the stacks of the third and, as black smoke rose, it buckled in the middle and formed a vee approximately Template:Convert above the bow and stern.<ref name=DANFS/> Template:Ship (2,000 tons)<ref>Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 14, p.1542, "Kagero".</ref> was doomed.<ref name=DANFS/> She was, however, the only ship lost from this force, and the only confirmed ship S-37 sank.<ref>Blair, pp.178, 902-3, 905, 912-3, & 920.</ref>

The fourth destroyer sighted S-37 as she fired her fourth torpedo and turned to starboard. At 2041, S-37 dived and rigged for depth-charging. By 2043, the three remaining destroyers were overhead, their sonars pinging.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 ran silent.<ref name=DANFS/> Between 2050 and 2215, the searching destroyers dropped depth charges at 10- to 15-minute intervals.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 reached Template:Convert as she evaded.<ref name=DANFS/> By 2230, the destroyers had moved out of the area.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 reloaded and resumed the hunt.<ref name=DANFS/>

S-37 remained in the area for another eight days, during which she sighted several Japanese ships.<ref name=DANFS/> Her lack of speed precluded several attacks and, on 11 February 1942, faulty mechanisms in her old Mark 10 torpedoes caused them to sink before reaching their target.<ref name=DANFS/> On 17 February, she passed the Paternoster Islands, and on 18 February she arrived off Lombok Strait.<ref name=DANFS/> On 19 February, she patrolled in Lombok and Badoeng Straits, and on the morning of 20 February she received orders to return to Soerabaja.<ref name=DANFS/> At 0500, she submerged and began making her way along the Bali coast.<ref name=DANFS/> At 0615, she sighted three Japanese destroyers through her periscope on a northerly course, 3 nautical miles (5500 m)off.<ref name=DANFS/> Astern of S-37, an obvious oil slick – the result of her going aground in the Lombok Strait<ref>Blair, p.178.</ref> – extended some Template:Convert in a glassy sea, but she remained undetected.<ref name=DANFS/> Temporary repairs were soon reducing the oil slick.<ref name=DANFS/> At 0700, when S-37 sighted another destroyer patrol, the slick remained obvious but unnoticed.<ref name=DANFS/> By 0830, S-37 was avoiding sudden changes in depth which would aggravate the leak.<ref name=DANFS/> The slick was minimized, but at 0915 a destroyer was heard on the starboard beam.<ref name=DANFS/> Depth charges were dropped, and their explosions were followed by the detonation of aerial bombs.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 went to Template:Convert.<ref name=DANFS/>

The depth charging and bombing continued until 1200, when S-37′s crew heard heavy anti-aircraft fire.<ref name=DANFS/> The destroyer was distracted, but at 1245 she apparently resumed her search for S-37.<ref name=DANFS/> After dropping three more depth charges, the destroyer continued to ping until after 1400.<ref name=DANFS/> At 1415, S-37 went to periscope depth.<ref name=DANFS/> The destroyer was Template:Convert off, but the seas had become choppy.<ref name=DANFS/> No oil slick was visible.<ref name=DANFS/>

S-37 cleared Lombok Strait at 1500 and, 25 hours later, moored at the Soerabaja Navy Yard. Repairs began immediately, but the Japanese were moving on Java. So, too, was the sub command situation; S-37 lost her skipper to Template:USS, replaced by James R. Reynolds,<ref>Blair, p.184.</ref> and on 26 February, S-37 was ordered out. Equipment and parts in the navy yard shops were recalled, stores from the limited supplies at the base were taken on and, after the return of two air compressor coolers, she got underway on the port main engine, as the ship's force completed reassembly of the starboard. Electrical steering failures, breakdowns in the coolers, and a change of orders delayed her departure; but, on the afternoon of 27 February, she moved out and headed north to patrol between Bawean Island and the western channel into Soerabaja Roads.

That night, the Battle of the Java Sea raged over the horizon, and, early on the morning of 28 February, the S-boat closed a Japanese formation of two cruisers and three destroyers retiring victoriously from the scene. A fight for depth control, however, precluded an attack. At mid-day, she sighted a Template:Convert open boat from Dutch light cruiser Template:Ship, carrying sixty<ref name="Blair, p.187">Blair, p.187.</ref> Allied survivors; although unable to accommodate all of them, she approached to take on casualties. Finding none, S-37 took on the two<ref name="Blair, p.187"/> American sailors among them, transferred provisions, dispatched enciphered messages on the boat's location to ABDA headquarters, and resumed her patrol. That afternoon, she again attempted to attack an enemy formation, but was sighted and underwent a combined depth charging and aerial bombing.

March 1942

For the next week, S-37 remained in the area.<ref name=DANFS/> Depth charge and aerial attacks were frequent, each one aggravating the condition of worn parts and equipment and resulting in mechanical and electrical failures and in leaks through disintegrating manhole and hatch gaskets.<ref name=DANFS/> On 6 March 1942, she headed for Western Australia.<ref name=DANFS/> Her major leak, through the engine room hatch, had been slowed to Template:Convert every 20 minutes.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 left a misleading oil slick toward Lombok Strait, then moved farther east before turning south.<ref name=DANFS/> By 11 March 1942, she was clear of the East Indies, and on 19 March she arrived at Fremantle, Australia.<ref name=DANFS/>

April–June 1942

In April 1942, S-37 continued on to Brisbane, Australia,<ref name=DANFS/> where she joined Task Force 42 and, after a desperately needed six-week overhaul,<ref>Blair, p.297.</ref> departed for her fifth war patrol.<ref name=DANFS/> Clearing Moreton Bay on 22 June 1942, she was in the Bismarck Islands by the end of June 1942, and, after patrolling in St. George Channel, she moved toward New Hanover.<ref name=DANFS/> On 7 July 1942, she shifted back to the New Britain coast to patrol in the Lambert Point area.<ref name=DANFS/> There, on the afternoon of 8 July 1942, she sighted a Japanese merchant ship escorted by a submarine chaser.<ref name=DANFS/> Closing, she fired three torpedoes at 1405.<ref name=DANFS/> Three explosions followed, sinking the 2,776-gross register ton Tenzan Maru.<ref name=DANFS/> S-37 went to Template:Convert and ran silent on a northerly course as the submarine chaser dropped depth charges where the S-37 had been.<ref name=DANFS/>

July–November 1942

On 9 July 1942, S-37 patrolled between Dyaul and New Hanover. On 10 July, she moved into the New Hanover-Massau traffic lanes, and on 11 July she closed the New Ireland coast and continued south.<ref name=DANFS/> For the next two days, she operated in the Rabaul area, then headed for Cape St. George and Australia.<ref name=DANFS/> From 14 July, when a fire in the starboard main motor was quickly extinguished, she was plagued by mechanical and electrical failures.<ref name=DANFS/> On 20 July, she sighted Cape Moreton Light, and on 21 July she moored alongside the submarine tender Template:USS in Brisbane harbor.<ref name=DANFS/>

Between 17 August and 13 September 1942, S-37 conducted her sixth war patrol, a defensive patrol in the Savo Island area in the Solomon Islands in support of U.S. forces fighting in the Guadalcanal campaign.<ref name=DANFS/> On 2 September, she scored her only hit of the patrol when she damaged the last destroyer in a column of four which was steaming to the north of Savo.<ref name=DANFS/> On 6 September, she moved into the Russell Islands, from which she departed the Solomon Islands and headed back to Brisbane.<ref name=DANFS/> On 19 October 1942, she cleared Brisbane's harbor for the last time, and on 23 October 1942 she arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia.<ref name=DANFS/> After refueling, she served on a picket line station in defense of Nouméa.<ref name=DANFS/> On 5 November 1942, after a fire in her port main motor added to problems of tank trouble, fuel shortage, and mechanical failures, she headed for Pearl Harbor.<ref name=DANFS/>

1943–1945

From Pearl Harbor, S-37 continued on to San Diego, California, where she underwent an extensive overhaul during the winter of 1943.<ref name=DANFS/> She remained at San Diego for the remainder of her career, employed as an antisubmarine warfare training ship through 1944.

Decommissioning and disposal

Decommissioned on 6 February 1945, S-37 was stripped, and her hulk was supposed to be expended as an aerial bombing target off San Diego, but she broke her tow cable and sank on 20 February 1945, coming to rest at a depth of some Template:Convert.<ref name=DANFS/> Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 23 February 1945.<ref name=DANFS/> Salvagers unsuccessfully tried to retrieve the wreck of S-37 for its scrap value, but lost her again off Imperial Beach, California, in Template:Convert of water at Template:Coord, where she remains to this day.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards

Notes

Template:Reflist

References

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