USS S - 34 ( SS - 139 ) USS " S - 34 " ( SS - 139 ) was an " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . " S - 34 " was laid down on 28 May 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in San Francisco , California . She was launched on 13 February 1919 sponsored by Miss Florence Hellman , and commissioned on 12 July 1922 with Lieutenant Elroy L . Vanderkloot in command . Service history . Following commissioning , " S - 34 " was ordered to New London , Connecticut , for engineering alterations by the prime contractor , the Electric Boat Company . Decommissioned on 25 October 1922 , she was delivered to the company which completed the work in the spring of 1923 . The submarine was recommissioned on 23 April ; and , after further trials and various exercises off the East Coast and in the Caribbean Sea , she returned to the West Coast , arriving at San Diego , California , her home port , on 6 August . For the next year and one - half , she remained based in southern California , then , in 1925 , she was ordered to the Philippines . She departed from San Francisco , California , in mid - April , arrived at the Submarine Base , Cavite , P . I . , on 12 July ; and , after voyage repairs and an overhaul , commenced operations as a unit of the Asiatic Fleet . From then until 1932 , she rotated between exercises , patrols , and overhauls in the Philippines during the winter and deployments to the China coast in the summer for operations out of Tsingtao . In 1932 , she was ordered back to the eastern Pacific Ocean . She departed Manila on 2 May and headed for Pearl Harbor , whence she operated until April 1941 . She then returned to San Diego . During the remaining months of peace , " S - 34 " provided services for the West Coast Sound School . With the attack on Pearl Harbor , defensive patrol work off the West Coast was added to her duties . However , with the new year , 1942 , she and other World War I design submarines were ordered prepared for service in the northern Pacific in defense of the Aleutian Islands . She underwent overhaul at Mare Island , and , in March , she moved north to the newly established submarine base at Dutch Harbor , Unalaska . On 12 April , she headed west on her first war patrol . First war patrol . One day out , a heavy wave threw the quartermaster of the watch against the side of the bridge , and " S - 34 " was forced to return to base to put the badly injured man ashore . Arriving on 14 April , she cleared the harbor again the same day and resumed her westward passage . On 15 April , engineering casualties and poor weather slowed her progress . The next day , the weather moderated , but intensified again on 18 April . On 20 April , she left the Bering Sea and entered the less violent , but fog shrouded , waters of the Kuril Islands . Two days later , off the entrance to Onekotan Strait she attacked her first enemy target , but failed to score . The next day , " S - 34 " moved into the Sea of Okhotsk to take up her assigned station west of Paramushiro . Ice , two to five feet above the water , still covered the area and the boat retired through the strait to patrol on the Pacific side of the island . 24 April brought another unsuccessful attack on a merchantman and an attempt to close a warship . Two days later , the lookouts observed increased activity by enemy patrol planes . On 27 April , the S - boat again attempted to penetrate the ice , via Mushiru Strait . The same day , she returned to the Pacific ; and , on 28 April she headed back to the Aleutians . She encountered mountainous seas in the Bering Sea ; but by 1 May , she was at Attu Island . Thence , she continued on to Kiska ; remained offshore on 2 May as a storm battered the island ; and , on 3 May , she replenished and moved north to intercept any enemy submarines which might be heading for the Gulf of Alaska . On 10 May , she returned to Dutch Harbor . Refit as intelligence estimates predicting a Japanese thrust at Midway Island and the Aleutians were received , " S - 34 " cleared Dutch Harbor on 28 May and stood west to patrol north of Attu . On 29 May , the Japanese Aleutian force sortied from Ominato and headed east , its approach to its target covered by fog and rain . On the morning of 3 June , Japanese planes bombed Dutch Harbor . Second war patrol . From the start of her patrol until 11 June , " S - 34 " remained in her assigned area , listening to reports , but sighting no enemy ships . On 11 June , she received news of the Japanese occupation of Kiska and orders to take " maximum offensive action . " She headed for Kiska . Diverted back to Dutch Harbor , she replenished on 12 June and got underway again the same day , but returned to Attu instead of going to Kiska . She reconnoitered Sarana Bay , Holtz Bay , and Chichagof Harbor ; none showed any activity . On 17 June , she sighted a warship off the Semichi Islands , but could not close the range . She then returned to Attu and , on 20 June , sighted an enemy destroyer patrolling off Sarana Bay . Between 07 : 00 and 10 : 00 , she sighted and lost the target twice as it moved in and out of the fog . At 11 : 55 , she sighted a large tanker inside the bay . Fifty minutes later , she slipped past a destroyer guarding the entrance and began maneuvering into the bay . Her target was engaged in refueling another destroyer . At 13 : 50 , " S - 34 " grounded at a depth of 48 feet . Run up to 25 feet , she came out of the water to the waterline ; then backed off into deep water . Within five minutes , she was operating at periscope depth . The fueling destroyer had gotten underway from alongside the tanker and was racing across the intervening waters . " S - 34 " fired two torpedo es at the destroyer , forcing the enemy to swerve and pass down the submarine ' s port side . Unable then to bring her tubes to bear on the tanker , the S - boat swung right to avoid depth charge s . At 14 : 03 , she bottomed in 164 feet , just inside the entrance to the bay , where she remained until 23 : 30 . During that time , only one destroyer was heard searching for her , the other , which had conducted the high speed attack , was heard pinging from the same spot for nine hours . She had presumably grounded after the attack , but , by 23 : 00 , the tide had risen and she had moved to join in the search for the submarine . At 23 : 30 , " S - 34 " began to make her way out of the bay . Twenty minutes later , one of the destroyers located her . The pace of the hunt was stepped up , but the quarry evaded attempts to destroy her . By 02 : 30 on 21 June , she had maneuvered out of the bay , lost her pursuer ; and set a course for Dutch Harbor . On 26 June , " S - 34 " moored in Dutch Harbor , whence she proceeded to Bremerton , Washington , for overhaul and training duty . Third war patrol . On 13 September , she returned to Unalaska , and , on 14 September , she departed from Dutch Harbor on her third war patrol . Two days later , she crossed the 180th meridian ; and , on 17 September , she arrived in the Semichi area and commenced crossing the Japanese supply lanes to the western Aleutians in search of targets . On 20 September , while off Buldir , her after radio mast was partially carried away by heavy seas and threatened to foul the propellers and stern planes . Despite the heavy seas , Chief Machinist ' s Mate B . F . Allen went over the side ; cut the wreckage adrift and rigged two forward wing antennas . On 21 September , the submarine resumed her patrol off Attu , reconnoitering the approaches to its harbors . On 26 September , she was ordered to Kiska , and , on the afternoon of 28 September , she sighted a minelayer off Kiska Harbor . The enemy , however , detected her presence before she could close the target . Destroyers joined the minelayer , and " S - 34 " once again became the hunted . Forty minutes and 47 depth charges later , she cleared the immediate area . A week later , she sighted and closed a Kiska - bound enemy submarine ; but , as the torpedoes were readied , depth control was lost ; and she failed to score . On 8 October , she headed home , arriving at Dutch Harbor on 11 October . Fourth war patrol . Storms and heavy seas abounded in the western Aleutians during " S - 34 " ’ s fourth war patrol , 23 October to 21 November . Operating in and across the Japanese traffic routes from Kiska to Agattu and Attu and between Paramushiro and Attu , she sighted only one possible target , a submarine which disappeared before identification could be made . Fifth war patrol . She got underway for her fifth war patrol on 5 December . On 9 December , she resumed operations to intercept Japanese shipping between the Kurils and the Aleutians . Twenty days later , she returned to Dutch Harbor . Overhaul . In early January 1943 , the S - boat sailed south . On 18 January , she arrived at San Diego where she remained until late April , undergoing overhaul ; receiving radar , air conditioning , and improved communication and navigation equipment , and providing services to the West Coast Sound School . On 10 May , she returned to Dutch Harbor ; and , on 13 May , she departed from that base to patrol again in the Kurils . Sixth war patrol . By 22 May , " S - 34 " was off Paramushiro and , for the next 12 days , she patrolled in the southern approaches to the island , and in Shumushu and Paramushiro strait . On the evening of the ninth day , she torpedoed and sank a small freighter off Torishimo Retto ; and , on the evening of 3 June , she cleared the area . Seventh war patrol . Arriving back at Dutch Harbor on 10 June , she departed again 11 days later . On 28 June , she approached the fog - bound Kurils ; and , on 1 July , she moved toward the Kamchatka Peninsula to locate and destroy enemy fishing vessels operating near and north of Cape Lopatka . On 3 July , while she was charging , fire broke out in the port motor , but was quickly extinguished . Repairs were completed on 5 July ; and , on 7 July , she moved into a new area , Onekotan Island . The next day , she returned to Paramushiro . On 13 July , she sighted two ships and commenced closing the targets despite poor visibility . Shortly after noon , she launched three torpedoes , but her crew heard only thuds as they struck the target . On 15 July , she moved back into Paramushiro Strait and , on 22 July set a course for Unalaska . Retirement . Arriving on 30 July , she moved south in early August and , at mid - month , arrived at San Diego where she provided training services through the end of World War II . Then ordered inactivated , she proceeded to San Francisco where she was decommissioned on 23 October 1945 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register the following month , and her hulk was sold for scrapping in 1946 . " S - 34 " received one battle star for her World War II service .