USS S - 31 ( SS - 136 ) USS " S - 31 " ( SS - 136 ) was a first - group ( " S - 1 " or " Holland " ) " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 13 April 1918 by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco , California . She was launched on 28 December 1918 sponsored by Mrs . George A . Walker , and commissioned on 11 May 1922 with Lieutenant William A . Heard in command . Commissioned as improved engines were being developed for her class , " S - 31 " was ordered to New London , Connecticut , toward the end of the summer for alterations to her main propulsion machinery by the prime contractor , the Electric Boat Company . Decommissioned at New London on 4 October 1922 , she remained in the company ' s yards through the winter and was recommissioned on 8 March 1923 . In April , she moved south ; conducted exercises in the Caribbean Sea ; then transited the Panama Canal to return to California . She remained on the West Coast through 1924 , conducting exercises off the California coast with her division , Submarine Division ( SubDiv ) 16 . She ranged into the Aleutian Islands for exercises during June and July 1923 and into the Panama Canal area and the Caribbean for fleet problems during the winter of 1924 . Early years . In 1925 , SubDiv 16 was transferred to the Asiatic Fleet , and " S - 31 " departed San Francisco in April , headed for the Philippine Islands . On 12 July , she arrived at Cavite , Luzon . For the next seven years , she conducted patrols and exercises in the Philippines during the fall and winter months and deployed to the China coast for spring and summer operations . The latter operations were primarily concerned with individual , division , and fleet training exercises . In September 1930 , " S - 31 " , then engaged in a full power run between Tsingtao and Chinwangtao , surfaced amidst wreckage in heavy seas in the Gulf of Chihli and sighted a Chinese junk which had been hit by a steamer . The vessel ' s cargo of lumber had torn loose , endangering the submarine and hindering efforts to rescue the junk ' s seven survivors . " S - 31 " made an approach from the windward side , and as the wind pushed her past the stern of the wreck , five men were taken off . Lines were thrown to the two remaining survivors , and they were hauled on board the submarine as the loose wreckage was propelled toward her hull . The submarine then cleared the area and proceeded to Chinwangtao to rejoin her division in exercises . Return to Pearl Harbor , a star turn , and inactivation . On 2 May 1932 , " S - 31 " completed her tour with the Asiatic Fleet and departed Manila for Pearl Harbor . In February 1933 , " S - 31 " took the fictional role of USS " AL - 14 " for the submarine movie " Hell Below " . In that role , she was credited with sinking a German destroyer ( played by ) , though the destroyer was actually sunk by carefully placed demolition charges . " S - 31 " was based at Pearl Harbor with her division until 1937 . Then designated for inactivation , she cleared Pearl Harbor on 14 June , arrived at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , on 27 August ; and , on 7 December , she was decommissioned and berthed at League Island . Within two years , however , World War II broke out in Europe , and preparations were begun to reactivate the ships then in reserve . Recommissioning . " S - 31 " was recommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 September 1940 . Assigned to SubDiv 52 , she operated out of New London , Connecticut , into December , then moved south to the Panama Canal Zone . With the end of the spring of 1941 , she returned to her New London base for submarine and antisubmarine warfare training exercises along the New England coast . In November , she returned to Philadelphia ; underwent overhaul , and , in January 1942 , rejoined her division at New London . Defensive patrols . The entry of the United States into World War II had brought new orders for her division , and , in February , she headed back to the Panama Canal . She arrived at Coco Solo from Bermuda at mid - month ; conducted two defensive patrols in the approaches to the canal , 10 March to 31 March and 14 April to 13 May ; then , toward the end of May , headed north to San Diego , California , to prepare for duty in the Aleutian Islands . First four war patrols . By the end of June , " S - 31 " was en route to Alaska ; and , on 7 July , she departed the submarine base at Dutch Harbor for her first patrol on the edge of the northern Pacific . Moving west from Unalaska , she reconnoitered the Adak area , then shifted north to her patrol area in the Bering Sea just north of the Aleutian chain . On 19 July , she was ordered further west ; and , on 30 July , she took station to the east of Kiska to intercept enemy ships moving toward an Allied force scheduled to bombard that enemy - held island . The bombardment took place on 7 August . The following evening , " S - 31 " cleared for Dutch Harbor . On 10 August , out of Dutch Harbor , a Mark X emergency identification flare exploded , causing serious chest injuries to the commanding officer and underscoring the needs for pharmacist ' s mates on S - boats and for better communications between Dutch Harbor and ships operating in the northern Pacific . Use of the Mark X flare had been ordered discontinued on 13 July . During her patrol , she had also encountered other problems common to all S - boat s operating in the area : loose superstructure plates , the lack of a fathometer and radar , inadequate interior hull insulation , and poor operating weather . Sporadic communication , which resulted in two attacks by American patrol planes , and inclement weather provided the greatest hazards to her fourth patrol , conducted between 26 August and 28 September in support of the occupation of Adak . For most of the period , she was buffeted by turbulent seas . Occasionally , she encountered only choppy conditions . On 30 August , chlorine gas was formed by water driven by a wind when it entered her forward battery compartment . The poisonous gas was soon detected and eliminated . Fifth war patrol . On her fifth war patrol , 13 October to 8 November , " S - 31 " moved into the Kuril Islands . She arrived on station on 20 October . Two days later , she was off Paramushiro and patrolled the traffic lanes in the northern Paramushiro - Shumushu area until 24 October . She then headed for Onekotan Strait . The next day , she hunted in the northeast approaches to that passage . On the morning of the 26th , she closed the Paramushiro coast ; and , at 0825 , she sighted a target in Otomae Wan and began her approach . At 0922 , she launched two torpedoes ; the target , the 2 , 864 - ton cargoman KEIZAN MARU , sank in the anchorage . At 0923 , " S - 31 " went aground on a reef . She backed off and went ahead . Between 0928 and 0955 , she grounded several more times at periscope depth . At 1000 , she reached deep water and cleared the area unpursued . That night , she transited Onekotan Strait through " monstrous seas ; " and , on 27 October , she commenced hunting along the west coast of Paramushiro . With November , however , her fuel supply became the critical factor ; and , on 2 November , she turned for home . " S - 31 " arrived at Dutch Harbor on 8 November . Three days later , she sailed for San Diego where she provided training services for the West Coast Sound School from 27 November 1942 to 3 January 1943 . Refit followed into February . Toward the end of that month , she moved west to Hawaii . There , her four - inch ( 102 mm ) gun was replaced by a three - inch ( 76 mm ) gun , and further training exercises were conducted . On 11 March , she continued west on her sixth war patrol . Sixth and seventh war patrols . From 23 March to 29 March , " S - 31 " reconnoitered Kwajalein Atoll and searched the sea lanes connecting that atoll with Truk and Wotje for enemy traffic . On 29 March , she set a course for New Caledonia ; crossed the equator on 2 April ; and arrived at Noumea on 9 April . After an eight - day refit , she provided services as a target for destroyer / antisubmarine warfare training exercises . From 5 July to 26 July , she interrupted her training schedule for her seventh war patrol which took her into the southern New Hebrides to transport and support a reconnaissance team landed on Aneityum and to hunt for an enemy submarine reported to be operating in the area . On her return to Nouméa , she resumed training exercises and continued them until 20 August . While in Nouméa , the " S - 31 " became the first American submarine to be equipped with a plan position indicator , or PPI . Originally intended for Admiral Halsey ' s flagship , the USS South Dakota , crewmen from the " S - 31 " appropriated the plan position indicator for their own use . The plan position indicator proved remarkably useful during her eighth war patrol . Eighth war patrol . On 22 August , " S - 31 " departed for her last war patrol , conducted in the St . George Channel area to intercept enemy traffic between Rabaul and New Guinea . From her patrol area , she proceeded to Brisbane for overhaul and , in early December , returned to the New Caledonia - New Hebrides area . There , she resumed ASW training duties which were continued into July 1944 , when she was ordered back to California . As a result of her increased efficiency using the plan position indicator , the Navy had production of the plan position indicator expedited for distribution to the submarine fleet . Retirement . She arrived at San Diego in early August for overhaul which took her into November . She then provided submarine and sound training services for west coast training commands . In September 1945 , the World War I - design submarine proceeded to San Francisco for inactivation . She was decommissioned on 19 October 1945 ; struck from the Navy Vessel Registry on 1 November 1945 and sold for scrap in May 1946 . Her hulk was delivered to the purchaser , Salco Iron and Metal Company of San Francisco the following December and was scrapped in July 1947 . " S - 31 " received one battle star for her World War II service .