View source for USS S-4

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:SS-109.jpg|300px|USS S-4]]
|Ship caption=USS ''S-4''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1935}}
|Ship name=USS ''S-4''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard|Portsmouth Navy Yard]], [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]],&nbsp;[[Maine]]
|Ship laid down=4 December 1917
|Ship launched=27 August 1919
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=19 November 1919
|Ship decommissioned=7 April 1933
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=*Sunk in collision 17&nbsp;December&nbsp;1927;
*Refloated 17&nbsp;March&nbsp;1928
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship decommissioned=19&nbsp;March&nbsp;1928
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=16 October 1928
|Ship decommissioned=7 April 1933
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=15 January 1936
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=  
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=[[Scuttling|Scuttled]] 15 May 1936
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|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=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|11|kn}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=42 officers and men
|Ship armament=*1 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/50 [[deck gun]]
*4 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21-inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''S-4'' (SS-109)''' was an [[United States S-class submarine|S-class]] [[submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]]. In 1927, she was sunk by being accidentally rammed by a [[United States Coast Guard]] [[destroyer]] with the loss of all hands but was raised and restored to service until stricken in 1936.

==Construction==
''S-4''{{'}}s [[keel]] was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 4 December 1917 by the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard|Portsmouth Navy Yard]] in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], and [[Kittery, Maine]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 August 1919 [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Mrs. Herbert S. Howard, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 19 November 1919.

==Service==
Following acceptance trials, a visit to [[Havana, Cuba]] from 14 to 19 January 1920, and subsequent operations along the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and [[New England]] coasts, ''S-4'' departed [[New London, Connecticut]] on 18 November to rendezvous off [[New Hampshire]] with her assigned unit – Submarine Divisions 12 ([[SubDiv]] 12) – and SubDiv 18. The two divisions were about to embark on a historic voyage which, at that time, was to be the longest cruise undertaken by American submarines. Assigned to Submarine [[Flotilla]] 3 of the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]] at [[Cavite]] in the [[Philippine Islands]], they sailed via the [[Panama Canal]] and [[Pearl Harbor]] and arrived at Cavite on 1 December 1921.

''S-4'' operated out of the [[Cavite Naval Station]], with occasional visits to [[China|Chinese]] ports, until late 1924, when the two divisions were reassigned to the [[West Coast of the United States]]. Departing Cavite on 29 October, they arrived at [[Mare Island]], California on 30 December.

Remaining at Mare Island in 1925, she operated along the U.S. West Coast through 1926, mainly at [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], [[San Pedro Submarine Base]]-[[San Pedro, California|San Pedro]], and [[San Diego]], [[California]]. She departed Mare Island on 10 February 1927 and sailed to the [[Panama Canal Zone]], where she operated through March–April, then proceeded to [[New London, Connecticut]], arriving on 3 May. For the remainder of the year, she operated off the [[New England]] coast.

==Sinking==
{{see also|Frank H. Brumby#S-4 court of inquiry}}
[[File:NH 41834 RADM Philip Andrews, Secretary Curtis D. Wilbur, CAPT Ernest J. King, and LT Henry Hartley during salvage work of USS S-4.jpg|thumb|left|Secretary of the Navy [[Curtis D. Wilbur]] (2nd from left) during salvage work of ''S-4'' in March 1928. Captain [[Ernest King]] and Lieutenant [[Henry Hartley]] in charge of salvage operation are first and second from right while Rear Admiral [[Philip Andrews (admiral)|Philip Andrews]] (left) looks on.]]
On 17 December 1927, while surfacing from a submerged run over the measured-mile off [[Provincetown, Massachusetts]], she was accidentally rammed and sunk by the [[United States Coast Guard]] destroyer {{USS|Paulding|DD-22|2}} on [[Rum Patrol]].<ref name=USSubCasualties1966>{{cite web |title=Submarine Casualties Booklet |publisher=U.S. Naval Submarine School |year=1966 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/8200 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911042946/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/8200 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 11, 2009 |access-date=2009-09-08}}</ref> The sinking was reported to be at a depth of {{convert|90|to|100|ft|m}} located {{convert|1800|yd|mi km}} off Wood End Coast Guard Station,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-decatur-daily-review-us-sub-43-ab/157843455/ |title=U.S. Sub, 43 Aboard, Goes Down In Crash |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |newspaper=[[Decatur Daily Review]] |location=[[Decatur, Illinois]] |page=1 |date=December 18, 1927 |accessdate=October 25, 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> which was located near [[Wood End Light]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Land/All/Article/2682197/station-wood-end-massachusetts/ |title=Station Wood End, Massachusetts |website=history.uscg.mil |accessdate=October 25, 2024}}</ref>

[[File:USS S-4 1928 h63182.jpg|right|thumb|''S-4'' under tow to the Boston Navy Yard after being salvaged in 1928]]

''Paulding'' stopped and lowered [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]], but found only a small amount of oil and air bubbles. Rescue and salvage operations were commenced led by Rear Admiral [[Frank H. Brumby]], Captain [[Ernest J. King]], Lieutenant [[Henry Hartley]] and Commander [[Edward Ellsberg]], only to be thwarted by severe weather. Significant effort was made to rescue six known survivors trapped in the forward torpedo room, who had exchanged a series of signals with the rescue force, by [[:File:Onderzeeboten, duikboten, U-boten, SFA022801235.jpg|tapping]] on the hull. As the trapped men used the last of available oxygen in the sub, they sent a morse-coded message, "Is there any hope?” The response, composed by Captain King was: "There is hope. Everything possible is being done."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Joseph A.|title=Seventeen fathoms deep: The saga of the submarine S-4 disaster|date=2015|publisher=[[Chicago Review Press]]|location=Chicago, IL|access-date=5 May 2016|url=http://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/seventeen-fathoms-deep-products-9781613731383.php|page=169}}</ref> Thwarted by the weather, the rescue force could not rescue the six men and all 40 men aboard were lost.

During the course of the rescue operation, Chief Gunner's Mate [[Thomas Eadie]] rescued, at the risk of his own life, a fellow diver, Fred Michels, who became fouled in the wreckage while attempting to attach an air hose to ''S-4''.  For his heroism, Eadie was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].

''S-4'' was raised on 17 March 1928,<ref>{{Cite AV media|title=(THE S-4) YESTERDAYS NEWSREEL 20TH CENTURY SPANISH CIVIL WAR WRIGHT DRAGONFLY PLANE ALBERT EINSTEIN 61114|url=https://archive.org/details/61114-yesterdays-newsreel-the-spanish-civil-war-vwr?start=358|access-date=20 January 2021|minutes=6|people=Owens, Roger (Voice), [[Curtis D. Wilbur|Wilbur, Curtis D.]] (U.S. Secretary of the Navy)|via=Internet Archive|publisher=PersicopeFilm}}</ref> by a salvage effort commanded by Capt. King. Several of the salvage divers, including Eadie and previous Medal of Honor recipient [[Frank W. Crilley]], were awarded the [[Navy Cross]] for their actions during the operation.  Another Medal of Honor recipient, Chief Boatswain [[George Cregan]], received the Navy Cross for his service as commander of the [[tugboat]] {{USS|Sagamore|AT-20|2}} during the rescue attempt. The submarine was towed to the Boston Navy Yard for dry-docking and was decommissioned on 19 March 1928.

==Return==
''S-4'' was recommissioned on 16 October 1928, after repairs and conversion to a test vessel for submarine rescue experimentation. She served at [[Key West, Florida]] early in 1929–1930, and in the [[Northeastern United States]] during the remainder of those years. In 1931, she operated again at [[New London, Connecticut|New London]] until departing there on 3 January 1932 for Pearl Harbor. Sailing via the [[Panama Canal]], she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 29 August. On 7 April 1933, ''S-4'' was decommissioned and laid up. She was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 15 January 1936 and [[Scuttling|scuttled]] on 15 May 1936.<ref>Central Press photo, "Navy Sinks Jinx Submarine", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Tuesday 26 May 1936, Volume 42, page 2.</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/s-4.html}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-s-4-109.htm On Eternal Patrol: USS ''S-4'']

{{United States S class submarine}}
{{1927 shipwrecks}}
{{1936 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:S-04 (SS-109)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Kittery, Maine]]
[[Category:United States S-class submarines]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United States|S-4, USS]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1927]]
[[Category:United States submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Scuttled vessels]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1936]]