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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-30 (SS-135)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Victor

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Yangtze Service Medal - American Defense Service Medal (with Sea Clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal

S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 1 April 1918, at Union Iron Work, San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 21 November 1918; Commissioned, USS S-30 (SS-135), 29 October 1920; Decommissioned, 9 October 1945; Struck from the Naval Register, 24 October 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scraping in December 1946 to Salco Iron and Metal Co., San Francisco. S-30 was awarded two battle stars for her World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 854 t., Submerged: 1,062 t.; Length 219' 3" ; Beam 20' 8"; Draft 15' 11"(mean); Depth Limit 200'; Speed, Surfaced 14.5 kts, Submerged 11 kts; Complement, 4 Officers, 34 Enlisted; Armament, four 21" torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4"/50 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine diesel engines, hp 1200, Fuel Capacity, 41,192 gals.; Ridgeway Electro Dynamic Co., electric motors, hp 1500, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
190k	A composite photo marking the launching of S-30 (SS-135) at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Ltd., Union Plant, Potrero Wks. on 21 Nov 1918. The ship's sponsor Mrs. Edward S. Stalnaker is shown on the right.	US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
79k	Port side view of the S-30 (SS-135) waterborne after her launch on 21 Nov 1918.	US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
113k	The *S-boat* was the culmination of E.B. single-hull design for the U.S. Navy. This is a typical unit of the S-30-41 (SS-135-46) group, as completed. Ballast tunks are indicated. Lines below the hull show the location of the fuel tanks forward & aft (the foremost two tanks of the after group are the lubricating oil tank & sump tank). Arrows indicate the two Fessenden oscillators under the boat's keel, fore & aft. Arrows in the bridge structure indicate the three periscopes (one in the conning tower, soon removed) the telescoping radio mast & the radio tube leading down into the radio room. In the control room the wheels controlling the planes were on the port side: the three levers for the Kingston valves were on the opposite side, abaft the chart table. The radio room, (below the radio tube, into which the antenna leads ran) was set into the after port side of the control room. Abaft the main motors were auxillaries: the low pressure main ballast pump on the centerline, the high pressure main ballast pump on the starboard shaft, the motor for the Fessenden oscillator on the port shaft.	Drawing & Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
190k	Broadside view of the S-30 (SS-135) sailing along at 15.5 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3277, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
179k	Portside view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 9.7 knots on one engine on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3295, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
185k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 11.7 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3296, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
167k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 15.5 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3298, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
143k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 13.7 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3299, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
146k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 7.5 knots on one engine on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3306, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
151k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 8.6 knots on one engine on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3307, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
114k	Starboard view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 13.7 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3308, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
167k	Portside view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 10.1 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3309, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
159k	Portside view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 15.5 knots on two engines on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3310, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
146k	Portside view of the S-30 (SS-135) at 11. knots on one engine on 26 August 1920, outside San Pedro, California while undergoing sea trials.	US Navy photo # 19-N-3311, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
188k	Inboard alongside pier are the S-30 (SS-135) , S-33 (SS 138) , and S-20 (SS 125) , at the Groton CT, Navy Yard, 2 October 1923.	US Navy photo # 19-N-8918, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
152k	Portside view of the S-30 (SS-135) entering Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, post 1925.	US Navy photo # 19-N-17940, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
53k	S-30 (SS-135) underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, during the early or mid-1920s. The paddle-wheel ferry steamer *Bay City* is tied up at a Vallejo, California wharf, in the right background.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 103607.
69k	S-30 (SS-135) at the Olongapo Naval Station, Philippine Islands, with several other *S-boats*, circa 1925-1932. All the submarines are dressed with flags, probably for a holiday. Collection of Chief Engineman Virgil Breland, USN. Donated by Mrs. E.H. Breland, 1979	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 103260.
70k	View on deck, taken while S-30 (SS-135) was in Subic Bay, off Olongapo Naval Station, Philippine Islands, in March 1929. Standing atop *S-30's* fairwater, wearing white clothing, is her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Charles B. Hunt.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 50148.
122k	Beaver (AS-5) at Olongapo, Philippines, with six submarines alongside, in March 1929. The submarines are (from front to rear): S-32 (SS-137), S-35 (SS-140), S-30 (SS-135), S-33 (SS-138), S-31 (SS-136), & S-34 (SS-139).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 59967.
60k	S-30 (SS-135) alongside Alert (AS-4) at San Pedro, CA., circa 1930.	Courtesy of LT. Gary P. Priolo, USN Ret.
128k	Submarines at Olongapo Naval Station, Philippines. Crewmen posing with a 4"/50 deck gun on board a *S-boat, March 1929, with another 4"/50 in the foreground. These submarines are probably S-30* (SS-135) and S-31 (SS-136). Behind them are (from front to rear): S-35 (SS-140), S-33 (SS-138); S-32 (SS-137); and S-34 (SS-139). Photographed from Beaver (AS-5). In the background is Pittsburgh (CA-4), in the Dewey drydock.	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 51830.
20k	Commemorative post mark on the occasion of the decommissioning of Submarine Divison 9 on 7 December 1937. The subs appearing are: S-30 (SS-135) S-31 (SS-136) S-32 (SS-137) S-33 (SS-138) S-34 (SS-139) & S-35 (SS-140) .	Courtesy of Jack Treutle.
58k	The photo is stamped on the back as having been printed 12 July 1938. I assume the pic was taken pretty close to that date. Photo was small,1� X 2� inches so detail is about as good as it is going to get. Note "modern" sonar mounted atop the old "K-tube" sound gear. Deck gun is a 4 inch 50. There are two sailor laying on the deck in the shade below the gun barrel their knees can be seen just below the muzzle. Topside watch is standing just at the aft end of the gun mount. Two men are next to the conning tower fairwater just to the right of the "S" painted on its side. The sea plane has an "NA 7" painted on it and "US NAVY" painted under the rear wing.	Photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
292k	From left to right: S-30 (SS-135), S-32 (SS-137) & S-33 (SS-138) at the Panama Canal Zone, where they operated from December 1940 until April 1941.	US Navy photo courtesy of CTM Russel Rau, former COB of SS-238 Wahoo, submitted by Bill Rau & Paul Crozier. Text courtesy of DANFS.
73k	An 1942 oil painting on board, by the artist William F. Draper entitled "Sub and Yippy Tie Up." In a quiet inlet of the Bering Sea in 1942, a YP boat gets a coat of paint and an *S-boat* ties up for fuel and provisions. The short Alaskan day is ending and lights may be seen in the barracks until total darkness requires a blackout. The *S-boats* that served in the Aleutians theatre were: S-18 (SS-123), S-23 (SS-128), S-27 (SS-132), S-28 (SS-133), S-30 (SS-135), S-31 (SS-136), S-32 (SS-137), S-33 (SS-138), S-34 (SS-139), S-35 (SS-140), S-36 (SS-141), S-40 (SS-145), S-41 (SS-146), S-42 (SS-153), S-44 (SS-155), S-45 (SS-156), S-46 (SS-157), & S-47 (SS-158).	Sub and Yippy Tie Up by William F. Draper. Painting #13 / 88-189-N. Courtesy of the USNHC.
154k	*S-boat* and friend. The fleet boat is probably a *Balao class, but this is a guess. Too little detail is visible. The S-boat* is an EB product, either a *30 series* boat, or *S-40* or 41. The *20 series* boats had a different shaped housing for the bow plane pivot and the *S-42* through 47 had a prominent gun access trunk on the forward edge of the conning tower fairwater. The government built *S-boats* had an entirely different superstructure configuration. A curious thing is the lack of a deck gun on the *S-boat* . There is also no Union Jack on the jackstaff. This leads me to believe that this photo was taken stateside in the immediate post-war period, probably late 1945 and the *S-boat* was decommissioned and awaiting scrapping.	Text courtesy of David Johnston. Photo courtesy of Theodore Roscoe, from his book "U.S. Submarine Operations of WW II", published by USNI.
1.0m	Parche (SS-384) with *YF-312* and S-30 (SS-135) outboard at Mare Island between 19 and 23 October 1945. The submarine to the left of *Parche's* sail is either Plaice (SS-390), Tinosa (SS-283) or Queenfish (SS-393). The Nereus (AS-17) is just visible left of the *Parche's* periscope shears.	USN photo courtesy of Darryl Baker. Photo added 09/09/09.