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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-38 (SS-143)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Papa - Juliet

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 (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Defense Medal

S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 15 January 1919, at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 17 June 1919; Commissioned, USS S-38 (SS-143), 11 May 1923; Decommissioned, 14 December 1944; Struck from the Naval Register, 20 January 1945; Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 20 February 1945, off San Diego, CA. S-38 was awarded three battle stars 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.; General Electric Co., electric motors, Battery Cells, 120, twin propellers.

Size	Image Description	Source
160k	A photo marking the launching of S-38 (SS-143) at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Ltd., Union Plant, Potrero Wks. on 17 Jun 1919. The ship's sponsor Mrs. Grace M. Collins is shown on the left.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
103k	S-38 (SS-143), fitting out at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard, San Francisco, California, 29 March 1923.	Official US Navy photo # NH 97960, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
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.
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.
105k	Jason (AV-2) in the Dewey Drydock, at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, on 9 March 1932. Canopus (AS-9) is in the upper right, with four submarines moored alongside. The outboard submarine is S-38 (SS-143).	Photograph # 80-CF-22672-1, from Department of the Navy collections in the U.S. National Archives.
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.
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.
92k	The boats of *SubDiv 17, Asiatic Fleet, moored alongside Canopus* (AS-9) at Tsingtao, China, in 1930. Submarines in the foreground include (from left to right): S-40 (SS-145); S-38 (SS-143); and S-41 (SS-146). Another submarine is approaching, in the center distance.	US Navy photo # NH 59969, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
106k	S-38 (SS-143), nested between sister submarines S-40 (SS-145), at left, and S-41 (SS-146), at right, alongside Canopus (AS-9) off Tsingtao, China, in 1930. Note the submarines' 4"/50 deck guns.	US Navy photo # NH 51833, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
123k	S-38 (SS-143), nested between sister submarines S-41 (SS-146), at left, and S-40 (SS-145), at right, alongside Canopus (AS-9) at Tsingtao, China, in 1930. Note awnings spread aft on these submarines.	US Navy photo # NH 51831, 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.
130k	Starboard side view of the S-38 (SS-143), coming alongside vessel, probably circa 1930's.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
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, USAR, 1974. US Naval Historical Center
106k	S-38 (SS-143), underway, circa the later 1930s.	US Navy photo # NH 78922, courtesy, Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, CT., 1972.US Naval Historical Center.
46k	S-38 (SS-143), possibly October - November 1942 off Pearl Harbor.	US Navy photo now in the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
49k	S-38 (SS-143), possibly November 1942 - April 1943 off San Diego.	US Navy photo courtesy of USNI.
62k	S-38 (SS-143) following overhaul at San Diego, April 1943. Harris (APA-2) is behind her.	US Navy photo # 1198-43, courtesy of Tracy White. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard photo now held at Seattle NARA. Photo added 11/24/07.
105k	S-38 (SS-143) dockside in San Diego following overhaul, April 1943. The tug boat foreward is *YMT-3*.	US Navy photo # 1198-43, courtesy of Tracy White. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard photo now held at Seattle NARA. Photo i.d. courtesy of gary Priolo. Photo added 11/24/07.