USS S - 40 ( SS - 145 ) USS " S - 40 " ( SS - 145 ) was a first - group ( " S - 1 " or " Holland " ) " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 5 March 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in San Francisco , California . She was launched on 5 January 1921 sponsored by Mrs . John H . Rosseter , and commissioned on 20 November 1923 with Lieutenant Commander E . F . Morrissey in command . Service history . Asiatic Fleet . Assigned to Submarine Division 17 on commissioning , " S - 40 " operated off southern California until January 1924 , when she proceeded to Panama , thence continued into the Caribbean Sea . Engaging in Fleet Problems II , III , and IV en route to and during her stay there , she returned to San Diego , California , in late March . In May , she completed her final trial runs at San Francisco , then prepared for transfer to the Asiatic Fleet . " S - 40 " departed San Francisco , with her division , on 17 September and arrived at Manila on 5 November . During the winter of 1925 , she conducted exercises in sound and target approaches , crash dives , and torpedo firing in the waters off Luzon . In May , she moved north with her division to Tsingtao , China , and , through the summer , engaged in operations off the China coast . In September , she returned to the Philippines , and , for the next fifteen years , maintained a schedule of overhaul , exercises , and patrols in the Philippines during the winter and operations off China during the summer . During the summer of 1940 , however , hostilities on the Asiatic mainland brought a change in her schedule and she conducted increasingly extended " familiarization " cruises among the Philippine Islands and in adjacent waters . With 1941 , joint United States Army - United States Navy exercises were conducted at Corregidor , and patrols off likely invasion beaches were stepped up . World War II . First and Second War Patrols , December 1941 . On 8 December ( 7 December east of the International Date Line ) " S - 40 " was anchored off Sangley Point alongside the submarine tender . With the receipt of the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , she was ordered out on patrol . Underway on 9 December , she anchored off Boaya Point , Veradero Bay , on 10 December , and , with a lookout stationed on a nearby hill , watched the approaches to the Verde Island passage between Mindoro and Luzon . On 12 December , she shifted to an area off Batangas , and , on 14 December , returned to Veradero Bay . On 18 December , she was back at Manila , only to depart again on 19 December to patrol between Botolan Point and Subic Bay . On 21 December , she headed north to intercept a Japanese force reportedly bound for the Lingayen area . Early on 23 December , " S - 40 " sighted the enemy ; fired four torpedo es , unsuccessfully , at a transport , then , for much of the remainder of the day , remained submerged , avoiding depth charge s dropped by the Japanese screening forces . After dark , she anchored in Agno Bay ; made temporary repairs to her hull , engines , pumping system , and port air compressor ; then patrolled off Bolinao . On 29 December , she was ordered to head south . Manila and Cavite had become untenable . Escape from the Philippines . On 30 December , three days before Manila and Cavite fell , " S - 40 " departed Luzon and pointed her bow toward the Netherlands East Indies . By midnight on 8 January 1942 , she was off Makassar , whence she was ordered to Balikpapan for repairs , fuel , and supplies . There , enemy air attacks increased , but repairs were accomplished , fuel was taken on , and limited supplies were received . On 14 January , she took up patrol duties on the North Watcher - Mangkalihat line . By 19 January , her food supplies were again low , but she continued her efforts to impede the Japanese envelopment of the East Indies . On 20 January , she took up patrol off Balikpapan . On 25 January , she was ordered back to Makassar . Thence , on 28 January , she headed for Soerabaja to join the American - British - Dutch - Australian ( ABDA ) forces operating from that still - Allied base . Third War Patrol , February 1942 . She arrived at Soerabaja on the north coast of Java on 2 February , her crew frustrated by their attempts to intercept enemy shipping , but with information on tides , currents , navigational aids , and Japanese tactics . Nine days later , she got underway to patrol the northern approaches to Makassar City and intercept Japanese reinforcements expected to move through Makassar Strait and the Flores Sea . Arriving on 15 February , she patrolled initially between De Bril bank and the reefs to the south , then shifted to other areas . Her hunting remained unsuccessful . By 26 February , she was again in need of repairs and was ordered to Exmouth Gulf on the Western Australia coast . There , she took on needed supplies and continued on to Fremantle . On 6 March , she sighted a Japanese submarine , but was able neither to attack nor to transmit a message concerning its presence . Fourth War Patrol , May 1942 . On 9 March , " S - 40 " reached Fremantle . During the next month and a half , she underwent overhaul and shifted her base to Brisbane , Queensland . On 4 May , she departed the Queensland coast for her fourth war patrol . Ordered into the New Britain - New Ireland area , she reconnoitered Deboyne en route and arrived on station on 16 May . On 3 June , she returned to Brisbane again with information , but still scoreless . Fifth War Patrol , June 1942 . At the end of the month , she was underway again . Initially assigned to intercept enemy traffic into the Salamaua - Lae area of New Guinea , she was ordered to the Solomon Islands on 2 July to relieve , which had been forced to vacate her position off Tulagi . " S - 40 " patrolled between Tulagi and Lunga Roads and off Savo Island ; fired on a maru , but did not score ; then shifted to the New Georgia - Santa Isabel area to intercept Rabaul shipping . Failing to directly impede Japanese traffic there , she returned to Australia on 29 July . Sixth War Patrol , August 1942 . On 28 August , " S - 40 " again cleared Moreton Bay and moved north . By 4 September , she was off the Gizo Island anchorage . Thence , she crossed the Solomon Sea to the D ' Entrecasteaux Islands off Papua to impede the movement of enemy reinforcements into Milne Bay . Poor weather and mechanical problems inhibited her hunting ; and , still scoreless , she returned to Brisbane on 25 September . Seventh War Patrol , October 1942 . Repairs to " S - 40 " ’ s deteriorating main motor cables and attempts to correct fuel leaks into the after battery occupied the next three weeks . On 19 October , she got underway for San Diego and an extensive overhaul . Patrolling in the Gilbert Islands en route , she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 November ; exchanged her four - inch ( 102 mm ) gun for a three - inch ( 76 mm ) gun from submarine and continued on to the west coast , arriving on 7 December . Delays in the delivery of needed equipment slowed the yard work ; but on 4 June 1943 , she emerged with air conditioning and more up to date electronic equipment . Eighth War Patrol , June 1943 . On 7 June , she moved north , toward the Aleutian Islands , with 60 % of her crew new to the Navy and to submarines . She trained en route to Dutch Harbor , whence she departed on her eighth war patrol on 24 June . Further training exercises were carried out prior to reaching Attu , where she topped off and departed again on 30 June , heading for the Kuril Islands . Despite dense fog and heavy seas , she reached the Kamchatka peninsula on 3 July and stood down the coast toward Paramushiro . Japanese fishermen , with their innumerable nets and set lines , hindered her freedom of movement . Dense fog impeded her hunting . On 12 July , she suffered a steering casualty which was temporarily repaired by the crew ; and , on 31 July , she put back into Dutch Harbor . Ninth War Patrol , August 1943 . " S - 40 " ’ s ninth war patrol , from 12 August to 10 September , was again conducted in the fog and heavy swells of the northern Kurile Islands , but was cut short by repeated material failures which included the seemingly ever present problems of deterioration of the main power cables and fuel oil leaks into the after battery . Training ship , 1943 - 1945 . After voyage repairs , the S - boat was ordered to San Diego and training duty . Reporting to Commander , Submarine Squadron 45 on arrival on 3 October , she conducted training operations for the West Coast Sound School and for Fleet Air , West Coast for the remainder of World War II . Then ordered inactivated , she shifted to San Francisco where she was stripped and decommissioned on 29 October 1945 . Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 November 1945 , she was sold to the Salco Iron and Metal Company of San Francisco in November 1946 and was scrapped in July 1947 . " S - 40 " earned one battle star during World War II .