USS S-31

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San Diego, California
, sometime between 1943 and 1945.
History
United States
NameUSS S-31
BuilderUnion Iron Works, San Francisco, California
Laid down13 April 1918
Launched28 December 1918
Sponsored byMrs. George A. Walker
Commissioned11 May 1922
Decommissioned4 October 1922
Recommissioned8 March 1923
Decommissioned7 December 1937
Recommissioned18 September 1940
Decommissioned19 October 1945
Stricken1 November 1945
Fate
  • Sold May 1946
  • Scrapped July 1947
General characteristics
Class and type
S-class submarine
Displacement
  • 854 long tons (868 t) surfaced
  • 1,062 long tons (1,079 t) submerged
Length219 ft 3 in (66.83 m)
Beam20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draft15 ft 11 in (4.85 m)
Speed
  • 14.5 knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) surfaced
  • 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged
Complement42 officers and men
Armament
Service record
Operations: World War II
Victories: 1
battle star

USS S-31 (SS-136) was a first-group (S-1 or "Holland")

S-class submarine of the United States Navy
.

Construction and commissioning

S-31′s

laid down on 13 April 1918 by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California. She was launched on 28 December 1918, sponsored by Mrs. George A. Walker, and commissioned
on 11 May 1922.

Service history

1922–1941

Commissioned as improved engines were being developed for her class, S-31 was ordered to

Fleet Problems
during the winter of 1924.

In 1925, Submarine Division 16 was transferred to the

Philippine Islands. On 12 July 1925 she arrived at Cavite, Luzon. For the next seven years, she conducted patrols and exercises in the Philippines during the fall and winter months and deployed to the China
coast for spring and summer operations. The operations off China primarily involved individual, division, and fleet training exercises.

In September 1930, S-31, while engaged in a full-power run off China between

hull
. She then cleared the area and proceeded to Qinhuangdao to rejoin her division in exercises.

On 2 May 1932, S-31 completed her tour in the Asiatic Fleet and departed

demolition charges
.

Designated for inactivation, S-31 cleared Pearl Harbor on 14 June 1937 and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 27 August 1937. On 7 December 1937, she was decommissioned and berthed in Philadelphia at League Island.

Recommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 September 1940 and assigned to Submarine Division 52, S-31 operated from New London until December 1940, then moved south to the

antisubmarine warfare training exercises along the New England
coast. In November 1941, she returned to Philadelphia and underwent an overhaul.

World War II

First two war patrols

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 brought the United States into World War II. With her overhaul complete, S-31 rejoined her division at New London in January 1942. In February 1942, she headed back to the Panama Canal Zone. After a stop at Bermuda, she arrived at Coco Solo, Panama, in mid-February 1942 and conducted two defensive war patrols in the approaches to the Panama Canal, the first from 10 March to 31 March 1942 and the second from 14 April to 13 May 1942. Toward the end of May 1942, S-31 headed north to San Diego, California, to prepare for duty in the Aleutian Islands.

Third war patrol

The

pharmacist's mates to serve aboard S-boats and for better communications between Dutch Harbor and ships operating in the northern Pacific Ocean
.

Fourth war patrol

Inclement weather and sporadic communication, which resulted in two mistaken attacks on S-31 by American aircraft, provided the greatest hazards to S-31 during her fourth patrol, conducted between 26 August and 28 September 1942 in support of the occupation of Adak. For most of the patrol, she was buffeted by turbulent seas, although occasionally she encountered only choppy conditions. On 28 August, a U.S. Navy

poisonous gas. On 13 September, two United States Army Air Forces P-38 Lightning fighters — misidentified by S-31′s crew as two Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Allied reporting name "Zeke") fighters — strafed her as she crash-dived in the Pacific Ocean 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) south of Adak, just west of Kagalaska Strait at 51°36′N 176°26′W / 51.600°N 176.433°W / 51.600; -176.433.[2]

Fifth war patrol

On her fifth war patrol, conducted from 13 October to 8 November 1942, S-31 operated in the

periscope depth
. At 10:00, she reached deep water and cleared the area unpursued by Japanese forces. That night, she transited Onekotan Strait through what her crew described as "monstrous seas," and on 27 October 1942 she patrolled along the west coast of Paramushiro. At the beginning of November 1942 she ran low on fuel, and on 2 November she headed for Dutch Harbor, where she arrived on 8 November 1942.

November 1942–March 1943

On 11 November 1942 S-31 got underway from Dutch Harbor bound for San Diego, where she provided training services for the

West Coast Sound School from 27 November 1942 to 3 January 1943. A refit followed and was completed in February 1943. Toward the end of February 1943, she moved west to Hawaii. There, her 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun
was replaced by a 3-inch (76.2 mm) gun, and she conducted further training exercises.

Sixth and seventh war patrols

On 11 March 1943, S-31 got underway from Pearl Harbor to begin her sixth war patrol. From 23 March to 29 March 1943 she reconnoitered

Wotje for Japanese shipping. On 29 March 1943, she set a course for New Caledonia. She crossed the equator on 2 April 1943 and arrived at Nouméa on Grande Terre on 9 April 1942. After an eight-day refit, she provided services as a target for destroyer antisubmarine warfare training exercises. From 5 July to 26 July 1943 she interrupted her training schedule for her seventh war patrol, which took her into the southern New Hebrides to transport and support a reconnaissance team that landed on Aneityum and to hunt for an Imperial Japanese Navy
submarine reported to be operating in the area. On her return to Nouméa, she resumed training exercises and continued them until 20 August 1943.

Eighth war patrol

While in Nouméa, S-31 became the first U.S. Navy submarine to be equipped with a plan position indicator, or PPI. The PPI originally was intended for Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship, the battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57), but crewmen from the S-31 appropriated it for their own use, and it proved remarkably useful during her eighth war patrol.[3] On 22 August 1943, she began her eighth and last war patrol, conducted in the St. George Channel area to intercept Japanese traffic between Rabaul and New Guinea. From her patrol area, she proceeded to Brisbane, Australia. As a result of her increased efficiency using the PPI, the U.S. Navy had production of the PPI expedited for distribution to the rest of its submarine fleet.[4]

December 1944–October 1945

After an overhaul at Brisbane, S-31 returned to the New Caledonia-New Hebrides area in early December 1944. There, she resumed antisubmarine warfare training duties, which she continued until July 1944, when she was ordered to California. She arrived at San Diego in early August 1944 for overhaul, which was completed in November 1944. She then provided submarine and sound training services for

United States West Coast
training commands. Hostilities ended in mid-August 1945, and in September 1945 S-31 proceeded to San Francisco for inactivation. She was decommissioned on 19 October 1945.

Disposal

Struck from the

hulk was delivered to the purchaser, Salco Iron and Metal Company
of San Francisco, in December 1946, and she was scrapped in July 1947.

Honors and awards

References

Citations

  1. ^ Hinman & Campbell, p. 213.
  2. ^ Hinman & Campbell, pp. 213–214.
  3. ^ Malone, Gene. "Fighting World War II In A World War I Submarine". Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  4. ^ Id.

Bibliography

External links
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