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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

S-40 (SS-145)

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Papa - Lima
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Yangtze Service Medal
Second Row - China Service Medal - American Defense Service Medal (with Sea Clasp) - American Campaign Medal
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Defense Medal
S-18 Class Submarine (Holland-type): Laid down, 5 March 1919, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, CA.; Launched, 5 January 1921; Commissioned, USS S-40 (SS-145), 20 November 1923; Decommissioned, 29 October 1945, at San Francisco, CA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 13 November 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in November 1946, to Salco Iron and Metal Co., San Francisco, CA., scrapped in July 1947. S-40 earned one battle star 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.
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S-40 666k A photo marking the launching of S-40 (SS-145), at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Ltd., Union Plant, Potrero Wks. on 5 Jan 1921. The ship's sponsor, Mrs. John H. Rosseter is shown on the left. US Navy photo courtesy of Darryl Baker.
S-40 162k S-40 (SS-145) fitting out at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Union Plant, Potrero Works, San Francisco, CA., 27 September 1923. The steamship Cethana is in the right background.
 		US Navy photo # 19-LC-49S-2, now in the collections of the US National Archives. Courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
Canopus & Friends 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.
Canopus 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.
SS 135 - 46 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.
S-40 125k Starboard quarter view of the S-40 (SS-145), circa 1924, possibly when she completed her final trial runs at San Francisco, then prepared for transfer to the Asiatic Fleet. US Navy photo courtesy ussubvetsofwwii.org. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
S-40 400k Three Asiatic submarines on maneuvers during the mid - late 1920's. The S-40 (SS-145) in the center is the only identifiable boat. US Navy photo courtesy of Angie Mattke.
S-40 63k The S-40 (SS-145) and some of the local folk out for a cruise, circa 1930. USN photo from The World Encyclopedia of Submarines, by John Parker, courtesy of Robert Hurst. Photo added 03/25/10.
S-40 71k S-40 (SS-145), circa 1930s, probably in the Far East. US Navy photo courtesy of USNI.
Canopus 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.
SS 143 106k S-40 (SS-145), nested inboard of sister submarines S-38 (SS-143), and S-41 (SS-146), 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.
SS 143 123k S-40 (SS-145), nested inboard of sister submarines S-38 (SS-143), and S-41 (SS-146), 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.
S-40 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.
S-40 90k S-40 (SS-145) alongside Pigeon (ASR-6), at Shanghai, China in 1932. Photographed by Gustave J. Freret, Jr., USN.

 		US Navy photo # NH 51815, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
S-37 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 of the US Naval Historical Center. Photo courtesy of Captain G.K. Bishop, USAF, 1974.
S-40 76k S-40 (SS-145) underway during gunnery exercises in Philippine waters, circa 1933-1934. A target raft is visible in the right distance.

US Navy photo # NH 80143 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center. Photo courtesy of Captain G.K. Bishop, USAF, 1974.
S-40 127k Inspection of S-40 (SS-145) crew by Commander Submarines, Asiatic Fleet, 1935. The submarine's deck gun, a 4"/50 wet mount, is in the center of the photograph.
 		US Navy photo # NH 59971 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
S-23 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 theater 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.
Who Am I?154kS-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.
View the S-40 (SS-145)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
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