USS S - 46 ( SS - 157 ) USS " S - 46 " ( SS - 157 ) was a third - group ( " S - 42 " ) " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 23 February 1921 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy , Massachusetts . She was launched on 11 September 1923 sponsored by Miss Grace Roosevelt , and commissioned on 5 June 1925 , Lieutenant Commander Hubert V . LaBombard in command . Service history . Inter - War Period . After training exercises off southern New England , " S - 46 " sailed for the Panama Canal Zone to join Submarine Division 19 ( SubDiv 19 ) . Arriving at Coco Solo on 26 September , she commenced a schedule of local operations from Coco Solo and Balboa , Panama , which were interrupted only for semi - annual extended training cruises and annual fleet problems in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean . Repairs and overhauls were performed at Balboa . In 1927 , SubDiv 19 was transferred to the Battle Fleet and based at San Diego , California , with Mare Island Naval Shipyard as homeyard for its boats . " S - 46 " departed Panama on 11 June , arrived at San Diego on 31 July , then proceeded to Pearl Harbor to participate in tactical exercises with other Battle Fleet submarines . During the latter part of August , she participated in the search for missing Dole Air Race pilots , and at the end of the month , she headed back to San Diego for two months of local operations . In December , she returned to Mare Island for an overhaul , and in June 1928 , she resumed operations out of her home port . In November , despite many attempts to improve design limitations of the third - group ( " S - 42 " ) class , the maximum speed set for " S - 46 " , and others of that class , was reduced to 10 . 5 knots to eliminate excessive vibration and accompanying engineering problems at higher speeds . " S - 46 " remained based at San Diego until December 1930 , when her division was transferred to Pearl Harbor . There , for the next five years , she participated in training operations with SubDiv 11 and with other fleet units , and spent extended periods of time in port as a unit of Rotating Reserve Division 14 ( RotResDiv 14 ) . In the spring of 1936 , after participating in Fleet Problem XVII , she returned to Coco Solo , where she had again been homeported . Still in SubDiv 11 , " S - 46 " remained based at Coco Solo through the end of the decade , operating on a schedule similar to that of her first tour in the Canal Zone . After September 1939 , however , operations were confined to the canal approaches . In the spring of 1941 , SubDiv 11 was ordered to New London to assist in patrols off the New England coast and in Submarine School training operations . En route north , " S - 46 " underwent overhaul at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and , in August , she commenced operations out of New London . In October , she shifted to Ordnance Island , Bermuda , and in December , after the attack on Pearl Harbor , she returned to the Panama Canal Zone . World War II . During the next six weeks , she conducted two defensive war patrols in the approaches to the canal , then prepared to cross the Pacific . On 5 March 1942 , she headed west with SubDiv 53 . In mid - April , the World War I - design submarines arrived at their new base , Brisbane , Queensland , and joined Task Force 42 ( TF 42 ) . On 13 May , " S - 46 " departed on her third patrol — her first offensive war patrol . On leaving Moreton Bay , the S - boat conducted sound training exercises with an Royal Australian Navy escort , then continued on . On 15 May , the ship ' s cook was discovered to have the mumps . On 16 May , the boat put into Townsville , Queensland , and on 22 May , after hospitalizing sick crew members and disinfecting messing , berthing , and working areas , she set a course for her patrol area , New Britain . On 26 May , " S - 46 " passed Rossel Island . On 31 May , she began her transit of St . George ' s Channel , favoring the New Ireland coast . That night , she hunted in the approaches to Rabaul and between there and the Duke of York Islands . On the night of 1 – 2 June , while patrolling on the Rabaul - New Hanover line , she was spotted by two Japanese destroyer s , but no attacks were made . On 3 June , the submarine began hunting along the northern coast of New Britain . On 4 June , west of the Willaumez Peninsula , she developed motor trouble and turned for Vitiaz Strait , one of the few areas for which she carried charts . On 5 June , she entered the strait , and on 7 June , she commenced patrolling between Cape Cretin and the south end of Dampier Strait . Two days later , she was ordered to intercept Japanese destroyers thought to be heading for Lae on an estimated course which would take them north of Woodlark Island . Moving into the area , " S - 46 " sighted no enemy ships and resumed her patrol in the Cape Cretin area . On 11 June , she headed for Brisbane . On 19 June , an auxiliary air compressor jammed , the motor burned out and the resulting smoke added further habitability problems to the already hot and humid condition of the boat . On 21 June , " S - 46 " reached Brisbane . From 20 July - 15 August , " S - 46 " hunted in the Solomon Islands . From 11 September - 11 October , she resumed a defensive role and patrolled in an area east of Normanby Island , Papua New Guinea in anticipation of a major enemy attack of Milne Bay . In early November , " S - 46 " started back across the Pacific . On 7 January 1943 , she arrived in the Panama Canal Zone , and in early February , she continued on to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . There , from April to mid - June , she received extensive repairs and alterations . She then returned to Panama ; retransmitted the canal and proceeded to San Diego for further yard work . In mid - September , she moved north to Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands . Based at Dutch Harbor , " S - 46 " ranged westward into the Kuril Islands in two patrols : one in October – November 1943 , and another from December 1943 - January 1944 . During the first , she damaged an enemy oiler in the Paramushiro area ; during the second , she was scoreless . On returning to Dutch Harbor after her last war patrol , she was assigned to antisubmarine training activities . For the remainder of the war , " S - 46 " provided training services in the Aleutians , in the Hawaiian Islands and off the coast of California . In the latter area from January 1945 , she operated under the Commander , West Coast Sound School , San Diego . After the cessation of hostilities in August , she was ordered to San Francisco , California for inactivation , and in late September , she moved up the bay to Mare Island Naval Shipyard . " S - 46 " was decommissioned on 2 November 1945 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register two weeks later , and her hulk was sold for scrapping to the Salco Iron and Metal Company , San Francisco , in November 1946 . Awards . " S - 46 " was awarded one battle star for her World War II service .