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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-31 (SS-136)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - November - Xray

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 - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal

S-18 Class Submarine: Laid down, 13 April 1918, at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 28 December 1918; Commissioned, USS S-31 (SS-136), 11 May 1922; Decommissioned, 4 October 1922 at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Recommissioned, 8 March 1923, at New London, CT.; Decommissioned, 7 December 1937, at Philadelphia, PA.; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet, League Island; Recommissioned, 18 September 1940, at Philadelphia; Decommissioned, 19 October 1945, at San Francisco, CA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in May 1946 to Salco Iron and Metal Co, San Francisco, CA., scrapped in July 1947. S-31 was awarded one battle star for her services in World War II.

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.; Electro Dynamic Co., electric motors, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
115k	A composite photo marking the launching of S-31 (SS-136) at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Ltd., Union Plant, Potrero Wks. on 28 Dec 1918. The ship's sponsor Mrs. George A. Walker is shown on the left.	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 by Jim Christley. Text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
92k	Tied up along the dock from left to right: S-21 (SS-126), S-34 (SS-139) and S-31 (SS-136) at Groton CT., June 9, 1923.	US Navy photo # 19-N-10269, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
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.
128k	Submarines at Olongapo Naval Station, Philippines. Crewmen posing with a 4"/50 deck gun on board a "S-Type" submarine, 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.
262k	Stern view of the S-31 (SS-136), S-33 (SS-138) , and S-32 (SS-137) (just visible) at Pearl Harbor cirica mid 1930's. On the far left of the photo, on the other side of the pier, the bow of the Argonaut (SS-166) is just visible. The after superstructure skeg has already been cut away as part of a safety and maintenance program initiated after the S-4 (SS-109) disaster.	Text courtesy of Dave Johnston. US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
97k	S-31 (SS-136) entering Pearl Harbor, circa 1932.	US Navy photo # 19-N-17937, from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
54k	From outboard to inboard, S-31 (SS-136), S-35 (SS-140), S-33 (SS-138), and S-34 (SS-139), probably in the Phillipines.	Vance Adams for his father, Lt. Vance Adams USN Ret (deceased).
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.
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.
82k	S-31 (SS-136), probably circa August 1943 - 45 off San Diego. She provided submarine and sound training services for west coast training commands.	US Navy photo courtesy of USNI. Text courtesy of DANFS.
107k	Stern view of the S-31 (SS-136), probably circa WW II.	US Navy photo courtesy of CTM Russel Rau, former COB of SS-238 Wahoo, submitted by Bill Rau & Paul Crozier. Text courtesy of DANFS. Photo added 20/12/05.
167k	Sailor holding the mascot of the S-31 (SS-136), probably circa WW II.	US Navy photo courtesy of CTM Russel Rau, former COB of SS-238 Wahoo, submitted by Bill Rau & Paul Crozier. Text courtesy of DANFS. Photo added 20/12/05.
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.