USS S - 48 ( SS - 159 ) USS " S - 48 " ( SS - 159 ) was the first submarine in the fourth group of " S " - class submarines of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 22 October 1920 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport , Connecticut . She was launched on 26 February 1921 sponsored by Mrs . James O . Germaine . On 7 December , the uncommissioned submarine conducted a dive off Penfield Reef in Long Island Sound as part of builder ' s trials . A manhole plate in one of the aft ballast tanks was left unsecured , several aft compartments flooded , and " S - 48 " sank in 80 feet of water . The crew , contractor ' s personnel , and naval observers brought the bow to the surface and escaped through a torpedo tube to a tug which took them to New York City . On 20 December , the submarine was raised and taken back to the builder ' s yard where repairs were begun . The work was completed ten months later ; and , on 14 October 1922 , " S - 48 " was accepted by the Navy and commissioned at Bridgeport with Lieutenant S . E . Bray in command . Service history . 1st commission , 1922 - 25 . Following commissioning , " S - 48 " fitted out at the New York Navy Yard ; visited Peekskill , New York , for Navy Day ; returned to Bridgeport , and , at the end of October , arrived at her home port , New London , Connecticut . Two weeks later , she was towed to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery , Maine , for further yard work ; and , in late January 1923 , she returned to New London to commence operations with her division , Submarine Division 4 ( SubDiv 4 ) . Through May , she operated in the New London area ; then , in early June , she moved south for sound exercises and a visit to Washington , DC . At mid - month , she returned to southern New England ; and , in August , she proceeded back to Portsmouth for the installation of new crankshafts and a general ship and machinery overhaul period . In mid - January 1924 , " S - 48 " departed Portsmouth for New London , whence she continued south , to the Caribbean Sea , for winter maneuvers . By mid - March , however , she was back at Portsmouth for another five months of yard work . In early August , she resumed operations in the New London area , and , in November , after being transferred to SubDiv 2 , she visited Annapolis , Maryland . In December , she returned to Connecticut , and , toward the end of January 1925 , she headed back to Portsmouth . On the night of 29 January , " S - 48 " arrived off the New Hampshire coast . At about 18 : 30 , the wind picked up and a heavy snowstorm developed . Visibility was reduced to zero . Soon after 19 : 34 , the S - boat grounded on rocks off Jeffrey Point ; pulled herself off ; then grounded again in Little Harbor . Messages requesting assistance were dispatched . By midnight , the storm had worsened , seas were coming " clean [ sic ] over the " S - 48 " " and she was rolling — 15 degrees to port , 60 degrees to starboard . Violent rolling lasted for only a little over thirty minutes but a heavy list developed . By 03 : 30 on 30 January , the battery compartment was taking in water . Chlorine gas was forming . The storm continued ; but help arrived at 05 : 00 , and Coast Guardsmen manning lifeboats rescued the crew . After receiving treatment for exposure and gas at Fort Stark , crew members were transferred to the Navy Base at Kittery , Maine . On 1 February , salvage operations were begun . A week later , the S - boat was freed and towed to the navy yard for repairs . However , the damage was severe and the funds were lacking ; and , on 7 July 1925 , " S - 48 " was decommissioned . Nearly a year later , though , on 25 June 1926 , repairs and alterations were authorized , and , on 3 February 1927 , the work began . But , again , a shortage of funds stopped the project . In 1928 , the repair and modernization was carried out . In hopes of improving habitability and increasing her range , her hull was extended 25½ feet ; her displacement was increased to 1165 tons , and her engines were replaced by German M . A . N . types . On 1 December , the work was finally completed . On 8 December , almost four years after her accident , " S - 48 " was recommissioned . 2nd commission , 1929 - 35 . Assigned to SubDiv 12 , she departed Portsmouth on 11 January 1929 and headed south . After operations off southern Florida on the Navy - Princeton gravity expedition to the West Indies ( February – March 1932 ) , she returned to New London in March and , in April , commenced a series of test exercises . A casualty to the main motor , however , forced postponement of the exercises , and " S - 48 " returned to Portsmouth . On 5 June , she resumed the exercises . On 1 June , " S - 48 " had been reassigned to SubDiv 4 , with which she operated through the end of 1929 . Then assigned to SubDiv 3 , later SubDiv 5 , and then Squadron 3 , she continued her operations off the New England coast , with an interruption for winter maneuvers to the south . During this time , Lieutenant Hyman G . Rickover was assigned to her . She was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone in 1931 . On 1 March , she arrived at Coco Solo whence she operated for four years . In July 1933 , she was assigned to the Rotating Reserve ; and , in 1935 she was ordered inactivated . On 20 March , she departed Coco Solo . On 1 June , she arrived at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ; and , on 16 September 1935 , she was decommissioned and berthed at League Island . 3rd commission , 1940 - 45 . Four years later , World War II broke out in Europe . In 1940 , " S - 48 " was ordered activated . She was recommissioned on 10 December , but remained at Philadelphia until mid - March 1941 . She then moved up to her homeport of New London . As a unit of SubRon 1 , she provided services to submarine and antisubmarine warfare training commands at New London and Portland , Maine , until after the end of European hostilities . Overhaul and repair periods during that time were frequent ; and , in the summer of 1945 , the World War I - design submarine was finally designated for disposal . On 21 August , she departed New London for the last time . On 29 August , she was decommissioned at Philadelphia ; on 17 September 1945 , her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register , and , on 22 January 1946 her hulk was sold to the North American Smelting Company in Philadelphia , for scrapping . The Navy - Princeton gravity expedition to the West Indies in 1932 . " S - 48 " was assigned at the request of the Hydrographer of the Navy by the Secretary of the Navy to assist with the second U . S . expedition to obtain gravity measurements at sea during using a gravimeter , or gravity meter , designed by Dr . Felix Vening Meinesz . The submarine was accompanied and assisted by the in a route from Guantanamo , Cuba to Key West , Florida and return to Guantanamo through the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos region from 5 February through 25 March 1932 . The description of operations and results of the expedition were published by the U . S . Navy Hydrographic Office in " The Navy - Princeton gravity expedition to the West Indies in 1932 " . The first gravity measurements at sea had been made in 1926 from a submarine of the Royal Navy . The first U . S . gravity measurements at sea had been made from the USS " S - 21 " assisted by Eagle Boat " 35 " and Eagle Boat " 58 " .