USS S - 30 ( SS - 135 ) USS " S - 30 " ( SS - 135 ) was an " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy during World War II . " S - 30 " was laid down on 1 April 1918 by the Union Iron Works at San Francisco , California . She was launched on 21 November 1918 sponsored by Mrs . Edward S . Stalnaker , and commissioned on 29 October 1920 with Lieutenant Commander Stuart E . Bray in command . Service history . Based at San Pedro , California , with her home yard at Mare Island , " S - 30 " conducted tests and exercises off the California coast into the summer of 1921 . Then , on 15 August , she was placed in ordinary . Recommissioned in full on 14 February 1922 , she was ordered to New London , Connecticut , where she was placed in ordinary again on 21 June for engine alterations by the prime contractor , the Electric Boat Company . Trials and exercises off the southern New England coast followed her recommissioning in full on 21 November ; and , in January 1923 , she moved south to the Caribbean Sea to participate in winter maneuvers and Fleet Problem I , conducted to test the defenses of the Panama Canal Zone . In April , she returned to California and resumed operations off that coast with her division , Submarine Division ( SubDiv ) 16 . During the winter of 1924 , she again participated in fleet exercises and problems in the Canal Zone and in the Caribbean and , in the winter of 1925 , she prepared for transfer to the Asiatic Fleet . " S - 30 " departed Mare Island , with her division , in mid - April . During May , she conducted exercises and underwent upkeep in the Hawaiian Islands ; and , on 16 June , she continued on to the Philippines . On 12 July , she arrived at the Submarine Base , Cavite , Luzon , whence she operated until 1932 . Her division rotated between exercises and patrols in the Philippines during the winter and operations off the China coast during the summer . In 1932 , her division was ordered back to the eastern Pacific Ocean ; and , on 2 May , she departed Manila for Pearl Harbor , her home port until transferred back to the East Coast in 1937 . Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 19 May 1937 , " S - 30 " arrived at New London on 8 August . For the next year and one - half , she trained along the Atlantic Ocean seaboard . Then , in May 1939 , she was placed in commission , in reserve . On 1 September 1940 , she was returned to full commission . World War II . As World War II began its second year , German U - boat s were raiding shipping in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean . The American S - boat s , designed in World War I , were assigned to Submarines , Patrol Force ( Submarines , Atlantic Fleet after February 1941 ) and were carrying out multipurpose missions which involved training and development of tactical skills . First , Second , and Third ( Defensive ) War Patrols . " S - 30 " , homeported at New London , operated along the mid - Atlantic and northeast coasts into the spring of 1941 . She then served briefly in the Bermuda area ; returned to New London ; and , in early July , proceeded to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , for overhaul . In September , she emerged from the yard ; returned to New England ; and resumed submarine and antisubmarine warfare training operations . She continued those duties in the Long Island Sound , Narragansett Bay , Casco Bay , and Placentia Bay areas , until after the United States officially entered the war . With 1942 , however defensive patrols were added to her duties , and her division , SubDiv 52 , was reassigned to the Panama Canal Zone . Departing New London on 31 January , she hunted for enemy submarines along her route which took her via Bermuda and Mona Passage into the Caribbean Sea . On 16 February , she arrived at Coco Solo , whence she conducted two defensive patrols in the western approaches to the canal , from 10 – 31 March and from 14 April to 13 May , before she was ordered to California to prepare for service in the Aleutian Islands . Into July , she underwent repairs at San Diego , California ; and , at mid - month , she started for Alaska . While en route , engine trouble forced her into Mare Island , and , on 1 August , she headed north again . Fourth War Patrol ( First Offensive ) . On 12 August , " S - 30 " departed the submarine base at Dutch Harbor , Unalaska , on her first offensive war patrol . Moving through fog , she arrived off Attu Island on 16 August ; sighted only the hazy outline of Cape Wrangell ; and continued on to patrol across the anticipated Japanese shipping lanes between that island and the northern Kuril Islands . On the afternoon of 7 September , she was attacked by three enemy destroyer s some ten miles north of the cape and , in that two and one - half hour encounter , gained her first close experience with Japanese depth charge s . Three days later , she turned for home . Fifth War Patrol . On 24 September , " S - 30 " got underway for her fifth war patrol , her second in the Aleutians . A cracked cylinder in her port engine forced her back to Dutch Harbor on 27 September ; and , on 30 September , she again moved west . On 3 October , she entered her patrol area and commenced hunting enemy ships along traffic lanes west of Kiska ; but , by 9 October , additional engineering casualties , cracks , and leaks had developed and forced her to return to Unalaska . From there , the submarine was ordered to San Diego for an overhaul . During her yard period , she received a fathometer , a new distilling unit , and more up - to - date radar equipment . Then , from mid - February 1943 into March , she provided training services to the West Coast Sound School . On 16 March , she sailed for Dutch Harbor . Sixth War Patrol . Following the submarine ' s arrival in the Aleutians on 21 March , air compressor failure and malfunctioning of her fathometer delayed her departure until 13 April . She then headed for Attu . On 15 April , she crossed the 180th meridian and , keeping Dutch Harbor dates , arrived at her destination on 17 April . For the next few days , she reconnoitered and , when possible photographed the island ' s principal coves , bays , and harbors . On 26 April , she was ordered to the east of 176°E and south of 52°40 ' N , where she remained until after an Allied strike against Attu . The next afternoon , she returned to the island but was unable to determine the extent of damage inflicted . Seventh War Patrol . On 2 May , " S - 30 " departed the area ; returned to Dutch Harbor for refit ; and , on 24 May , sailed west again , this time for the northern Kurils . On 31 May ( Dutch Harbor date ) , she entered her assigned area ; and , on 5 June , off the Kamchatka peninsula , she attacked her first target , a large sampan . Her guns set the enemy vessel on fire ; but , as it burned , a Japanese destroyer appeared on the horizon and began closing the surfaced submarine at high speed . Three minutes later , the destroyer opened fire on the diving S - boat . " S - 30 " commenced an approach on the destroyer , but just as she reached firing bearing , she lost depth control . A few seconds later , depth charging started . In the next 20 minutes , 33 " ashcans " were dropped by the destroyer . Others followed sporadically over the next five hours . " S - 30 " was then able to clear the area . On 6 June , the ship ' s force repaired all minor damage and commenced efforts to remove two torpedo es which had been crushed in the number - three and number - four tubes . The one in the latter tube was removed on 7 June , but the one in the number - three tube remained until the completion of the patrol . On 8 June , " S - 30 " headed down the Paramushiro coast ; approached Onekotan ; then transited Onekotan Strait and set a course for Araito . During the next two days , she sighted four targets but was able to close only the last two , merchantmen in column , contacted on 10 June ( the 11th local date ) . Fog closed in rapidly as she made her approach ; then blanketed the area as she launched three torpedoes . Two explosions were heard , but nothing could be seen . Post - war examination of Japanese records revealed that she had sunk " Jinbu Maru " , a 5228 - ton cargo ship . During the ensuing depth charging , " S - 30 " began to move out of the area . Within two and one - half hours , she had left the pinging of the searchers behind and had resumed her own hunting . On 12 June , she retransited Onekotan Strait . The following day , she fired on a convoy , but missed . On 14 June , she departed the area ; and , on 22 June , she returned to Dutch Harbor to begin extracting the damaged torpedo and commence refitting . Eighth War Patrol . On 5 July , " S - 30 " got underway on her eighth war patrol , which took her back to the Kurils and into the Sea of Okhotsk . She patrolled on both sides of the island chain and across the traffic lanes leading to Soya Strait and to Yokosuka . She took periscope pictures of facilities on various islands . She sighted several targets , but was unable to close on most and was unsuccessful on those she attacked . On 20 July , she attacked what appeared to be an inter - island steamer , but which turned straight down the torpedo track and dropped six depth charges in quick succession . " S - 30 " went deep , reloaded and prepared to reattack . The target , however , was lost in the fog . " S - 30 " continued her patrol . A week later , she sent three torpedoes against a Japanese merchantman estimated at 7000 tons . Two hits , breaking - up noises , and distant depth charging were reported by the sound operator , but the damage went unverified . Four days later , she attacked another cargoman under similar circumstances . One torpedo was reported to have hit . Screw noises from the target stopped , breaking - up noises were heard , and periscope observation showed no ship at the site of the attack . But any damage which might have been inflicted was never verified . Ninth War Patrol . " S - 30 " left the Kurils behind and headed east on 7 August . Two days later , she arrived in Massacre Bay , Attu , whence she conducted her last war patrol . On that patrol , from 26 August to 23 September , she again hunted in the shipping lanes along the eastern and western sides of the Kurils . Again , several targets were lost in fog ; nevertheless , she took pictures of the islands . Then , in mid - September , she added a new dimension to her activities and attempted to shell the enemy garrison on Matsuwa . Fog had interfered with an earlier attempt to bombard that post , but cleared off early on the morning of 15 September ( local date ) as she neared the firing point with her crew at battle stations . But , when the order to fire was given , the gun failed to respond . A new firing pin was a fraction of an inch too short , and the effort had to be abandoned . Retirement . The following day , " S - 30 " was ordered home . En route , on 17 September she was sighted and bombed by a Japanese patrol plane . Failure of the port motor at that moment caused anxiety ; but the submarine escaped serious damage . On 23 September , she arrived at Dutch Harbor . Within the week , she headed south to San Diego , where , with others of her class , she provided training services for the West Coast Sound School for the remainder of World War II . In mid - September 1945 , she proceeded to Mare Island , where she was decommissioned on 9 October . Fifteen days later , her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register , and , in December 1946 , she was sold and delivered to the Salco Iron and Metal Company , San Francisco , for scrapping . " S - 30 " was awarded two battle star s for her World War II service .