USS S - 39 ( SS - 144 ) USS " S - 39 " ( SS - 144 ) was a United States Navy " S " - class submarine that saw combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II . She was accidentally run aground on her fifth wartime patrol and was subsequently abandoned . Her keel was laid on 14 January 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation , San Francisco , California . She was launched on 2 July 1919 sponsored by Miss Clara M . Huber , and commissioned on 14 September 1923 with Lieutenant John A . Scott ( Class of 1918 ) in command . Service history . After commissioning and fitting out , " S - 39 " joined Submarine Force , Battle Fleet ; and from October – December 1923 , conducted maneuvers off southern California . With the next year , 1924 , she moved south to the Panama Canal , thence proceeded into the Caribbean Sea for final trials , further exercises , and training dives . By April , she was back at Mare Island for her first overhaul . Asiatic fleet . On 17 September , " S - 39 " departed San Francisco for the Philippines . Steaming " via " Pearl Harbor and Guam , she reached Manila on 5 November ; joined the Asiatic Fleet as a member of Submarine Division 17 ( SubDiv 17 ) ; and commenced local operations and drills in the Luzon area . In mid - May 1925 , she sailed for the Asiatic mainland with her division ; and , after brief stops at Amoy and Hong Kong , arrived at Tsingtao , whence she operated until early September . She then returned to Manila and for the next 16 years maintained , with few interruptions , a similar schedule : summers at Tsingtao , with patrols along the China coast ; winters in the Philippines , for overhauls , engineering trials , joint Army - Navy maneuvers , type training exercises , and short patrols . World War II . 1st war patrol . Just prior to the entry of the United States into World War II , " S - 39 " ( under the command of James W . Coe , Class of 1930 ) patrolled off southern Luzon . After 8 December , she moved into San Bernardino Strait to impede Japanese mining activities . The escorts screening the minelayers , however , kept the submarine at bay with persistent depth charging . On 11 December , " S - 39 " endured a day - long pounding . She then turned to cutting into the Japanese supply line . On 13 December , she sighted and attacked an enemy freighter , but escorts interfered and her crew was prevented from verifying a sinking . She continued her patrol , unsuccessfully chasing other targets , until 21 December , when she returned to Manila . 2nd war patrol . Increased enemy air activity rendered naval installations in the area untenable , and " S - 39 " was ordered to Java to join what in mid - January 1942 would become the ABDA command . Conducting her second war patrol en route , she arrived at Soerabaja on 24 January . She soon departed on her third patrol . 3rd & 4th war patrol . As Japanese landings at Timor were expected , " S - 39 " was ordered to the Karimata Strait . The main Japanese force transited the strait and landed at Java without " S - 39 " sighting it . Operating in the South China Sea and Java Sea , she reconnoitered Chebia Island in search of a British admiral and an air marshal who had supposedly escaped Singapore . " S - 39 " landed a search party , but failed to locate any refugees . She then sailed for Australia " via " the Sunda Strait , where on 4 March she found the tanker ( credited as during the war ) " Erimo " . " S - 39 " fired four Mark 10 torpedo es , scoring three contact hits . This made " S - 39 " , like her " Sugar " boat sisters , and , well known in the news . Two weeks later , she arrived at Fremantle , Australia . By the end of April , she had moved to Brisbane , which she departed on her fourth patrol on 10 May . For the next four weeks , she reconnoitered designated areas of the Louisiade Archipelago , and then operated in the Solomon Islands . 5th war patrol and loss . " S - 39 " s fifth patrol ( now under Francis E . Brown ) , delayed twice by mechanical failures and once by the necessity of hospitalizing her executive officer , began on 10 August . Assigned station off New Ireland , she made her way across the Coral Sea to the Louisiades . On the night of 13 / 14 August , she grounded on submerged rocks off Rossel Island and took on a 35° port list . " S - 39 " immediately blew ballast tank s dry and jettisoned fuel to lighten ship , then backed emergency , to no avail . Heavy seas pounded her and pushed her farther up on the rocks . Throughout 14 August , breakers crashed over the submarine , but the crew maintained their fight to refloat the ship , including jettisoning more fuel and firing four deactivated torpedoes . By 15 August , the list had increased to 60° . The heavy seas had not abated ; " S - 39 " continued to be pounded against the rocks , and a call for help brought word that the Australian minesweeper was coming . Efforts were begun to rescue the crew . Lieutenant C . N . G . Hendrix and Chief Petty Officer W . L . Schoenrock swam ashore , secured mooring lines to a torpedo which had lodged in the reef for use as riding lines , and assisted other crew members to safety . By noon , 32 men had reached shore . Shortly thereafter , " Katoomba " arrived and by the same time the next day had taken all of the crew of " S - 39 " on board . " S - 39 " was left on the rocks , rather than destroyed by gunfire , as her commander was satisfied she would continue breaking up . Her crew were taken to Townsville and reassigned to other submarines . The commanding officer almost faced court martial ( grounding in peacetime is considered negligence ) , but was saved by Admiral Ralph W . Christie .