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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-37 (SS-142)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Papa - Golf

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Yangtze Service Medal - China Service Medal - American Defense Service Medal (with Sea Clasp)
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Defense Medal

S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 12 December 1918, at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 20 June 1919; Commissioned, USS S-37 (SS-142), 16 July 1923; Decommissioned, 6 February 1945; Struck from the Naval Register, 23 February 1945; Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 20 February 1945, off Imperial Beach, CA. S-37 earned five 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.; General Electric Co., electric motors, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
151k	Composite photo marking the launching of S-37 (SS-142), at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Ltd., Union Plant, Potrero Wks. on 20 Jun 1919. The ship's sponsor Miss. Mildred Bulger is shown on the left.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
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.
121k	S-37 (SS-142) crew members bringing bodies up through the submarine's after hatch, following an explosion on board that killed three sailors and injured five others on the night of 10 October 1923. At the time of the accident *S-37* was moored alongside Beaver (AS-5) at Los Angeles, CA.	US Navy photo # NH 69128, Courtesy of the San Francisco Maritime Museum, San Francisco, CA., 1969.
218k	S-37 (SS-142), exercising as part of Submarine Division 17 at Apra Harbor, Guam M.I. on 29 October 1924.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
85k	Canopus (AS-9) in Apra Harbor, Guam, with Submarine Division 17 alongside, 29 October 1924. Submarine Division 17's members were: S-36 (SS-141), S-37(SS-142); S-38 (SS-143); S-39 (SS-144); S-40 (SS-145) and S-41 (SS-146).	US Navy photo # NH 55048, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Photo added 10/03/07.
76k	Canopus (AS-9), in Apra Harbor, Guam, 29 October 1924, with all six members of Submarine Division 17 alongside. The division consisted of: S-36 (SS-141); S-37 (SS-142), S-38 (SS-143), S-39 (SS-144), S-40 (SS-145) and S-41 (SS-146).	U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 104940. Photo added 10/03/07.
95k	The boats of Submarine Division Seventeen (SubDiv 17), US Asiatic Fleet, moored alongside Canopus (AS-9) at Tsingtao, China, circa 1930. Identifiable submarines present include S-36 (SS-141), S-39 (SS-144), S-37 (SS-142) and S-41 (SS-146). Note sailors relaxing on deck, Chinese men on board the submarines, and 4"/50 deck guns.	US Navy photo # NH 59968, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
88k	The boats of SubDiv 17, Asiatic Fleet, moored alongside Canopus (AS-9) at Tsingtao, China, circa 1930. Identifiable submarines present include S-39 (SS-144), S-37 (SS-142) and S-41 (SS-146). The boat closest to the camera is probably S-36 (SS-141). Note SubDiv 17 insignia painted on conning towers.	US Navy photo # NH 51832, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
196k	S-36 (SS-141) at anchor, moored alongside Canopus (AS-9), probably at Tsingtao, China, circa 1930 with the rest of the boats of Submarine Division Seventeen (SubDiv 17). The other *S-boats* are probably S-37 (SS-142), S-38 (SS-143), S-39 (SS-144). Note all the washing hung out to dry on the signal lines.	Courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org.
64k	Canopus (AS-9), with the Asiatic Fleet's Submarine Squadron Five alongside, during the 1930s. The submarines present include (from left to right): S-37 (SS-142); S-40 (SS-145); S-36 (SS-141); S-38 (SS-143); S-41 (SS-146); S-39 (SS-144).	US National Archives photo # 80-G-1014615, a US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
78k	Canopus (AS-9) at Tsingtao, China, circa 1933-1934, with "*S-Boats* " of Submarine Squadron Five alongside. Outboard submarine is S-37 (SS-142).	US Navy photo # NH 80140, Courtesy G.K. Bishop, USAF, 1974., from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
68k	Boats of SubRon 5 at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, circa 1933-1934. Submarines present are S-37 (SS-142), S-38 (SS-143), S-39 (SS-144) and S-40 (SS-145).	US Navy photo # NH 80142, Courtesy G.K. Bishop, USAF, 1974, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
63k	S-37 (SS-142), probably circa 1930's.	US Navy photo courtesy of USNI.
22k	S-37 (SS-142), date and place unknown.	US Navy photo courtesy of Ken Lusk.