View source for USS S-13

{{Short description|United States naval submarine}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS_S-13_in_port.jpg
|Ship caption=''S-13'' in port during the 1920s
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name= USS ''S-13''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard|Portsmouth Navy Yard]], [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]],&nbsp;[[Maine]]
|Ship laid down= 14 February 1920
|Ship launched= 20 October 1921
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 14 July 1923
|Ship decommissioned= 30 September 1936
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship recommissioned= 28 October 1940
|Ship decommissioned= 10 April 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 19 May 1945
|Ship reinstated=
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|Ship nickname=
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|Ship fate= Sold for scrap
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= [[United States S class submarine|S-class]] [[submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|876|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|1092|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length= {{convert|231|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam= {{convert|21|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draft= {{convert|13|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|11|kn|mph km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=  
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=42 officers and men
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/50 [[deck gun]]
*5 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
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'''USS ''S-13'' (SS-118)''' was a second-group (''S-3'' or "Government") [[United States S class submarine|''S''-class submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''S-13''′s [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 14 February 1920 by the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]] in [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]], [[Maine]]. She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 20 October 1921, sponsored by Miss Mary Howe, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 14 July 1923 with [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] [[Wilder D. Baker]] in command.

==Service history==
===1923–1936===
Following duty along the coast of the [[Northeastern United States]] in 1923, ''S-13'' visited the [[Panama Canal Zone]], [[Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands|Saint Thomas]] in the [[United States Virgin Islands]], and [[Trinidad]] from January to April 1924. Departing [[New London, Connecticut|New London]], [[Connecticut]], on 24 November 1924, she proceeded, via the [[Panama Canal]] and [[California]], to [[Hawaii]], which she visitied from 27 April to 25 May 1925. She returned to New London on 12 July 1925.

In addition to service in the northeastern [[United States]] from then through 1928, ''S-13'' operated in the Panama Canal area from February through April 1926; visited [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], [[Jamaica]], from 20&nbsp;to&nbsp;28 March 1927, and served again in the Panama Canal area from February to April 1928. From 1929 to 1936, she operated almost exclusively in the Panama Canal area, although she visited [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], from 15&nbsp;May to 5&nbsp;June&nbsp;1933, and New London from 15&nbsp;May to 1&nbsp;June&nbsp;1935. Departing [[Coco Solo]] in the Panama Canal Zone on 13&nbsp;June&nbsp;1936, she was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 30 September 1936 at [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]].

===1940–1945===
''S-13'' was recommissioned on 28 October 1940. Following voyages to [[Bermuda]], ''S-13'' operated in the Panama Canal area from December 1941 (during which the United States entered [[World War II]] with the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on 7 December) to June 1942; off [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], from June to August 1942; and in the Panama Canal area beginning in August 1942. She was patrolling on the surface in the [[Gulf of Panama]] off [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]], [[Panama]], at the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] entrance to the Panama Canal at {{coord|07|32|N|090|50|W}}  on 3 August 1942 when a four-engine [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[bomber]] approached her and mistakenly attacked her, dropping a number of [[Aerial bombs|bombs]] into the water near her, one of which exploded.<ref name=hinmanp196>Hinman & Campbell, p. 196.</ref> She then exchanged recognition signals with the bomber, which departed without further incident.<ref name=hinmanp196/> She suffered no casualties or damage.

''S-13'' operated in the Panama Canal area until January 1944, then at Trinidad from February 1944 to May 1944. at Guantanamo Bay from May through July 1944. and in the Panama Canal area through the remainder of 1944. Departing Coco Solo on 3 January 1945, ''S-13'' proceeded to Philadelphia for inactivation.

==Decommissioning and disposal==
''S-13'' was decommissioned on 10 April 1945, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 19 May 1945. and sold on 28 October 1945 to [[Rosoff Brothers]] of [[New York City]] for scrap. Resold to [[Northern Metals]] Company of Philadelphia, she subsequently was scrapped.

==In media==
The 1930 [[John Ford]] film ''[[Men Without Women (film)|Men Without Women]]'' is set aboard a fictional U.S. Navy submarine named USS ''S-13''.

==Awards==
* [[File:American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[American Defense Service Medal]]
* [[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/s-13.html}}
=== Bibliography ===
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=hkupDwAAQBAJ&dq=LApon+raton&pg=PA181 Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.] {{ISBN|978-0-359-76906-3}}.

{{United_States_S_class_submarine}}
{{August 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:S-13 (SS-118)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:United States S-class submarines|S-13]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:1921 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1942]]
[[Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II]]