USS S - 47 ( SS - 158 ) USS " S - 47 " ( SS - 158 ) was a third - group ( " S - 42 " ) " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 26 February 1921 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy , Massachusetts . She was launched on 5 January 1924 sponsored by Mrs . Morris D . Gilmore , and commissioned on 16 September 1925 with Lieutenant John Wilkes in command . History . Following commissioning and fitting out , " S - 47 " conducted engineering and torpedo tests off the southern New England coast . However , with the new year , 1926 , she departed New England and moved south to join Submarine Division ( SubDiv ) 19 in the Panama Canal Zone . She arrived at Coco Solo on 19 January and , for the next year and one - half , conducted local operations in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea . During this period , her routine was broken by joint United States Army - United States Navy exercises testing the defenses of the canal ; by Fleet Problem VI ( February 1926 ) and VII ( March 1927 ) ; and by extended training cruises in the Caribbean ( June 1926 and April 1927 ) . Transferred to San Diego , California , with her division in June 1927 , she continued to participate in individual , division , fleet , and joint Army - Navy exercises into 1932 . At that time , a period of inactivity in rotating reserve status was added to S - boat employment schedules . In 1936 , " S - 47 " , now in SubDiv 11 , was transferred back to Coco Solo , where she was based through the end of the decade . In the summer of 1941 , she returned to New London , Connecticut , and commenced operations off the southern New England coast . During September , she patrolled in the Bermuda area ; and , in October , she returned to New London . The following month , she moved north to NS Argentia to participate in exercises to test S - boat capabilities in arctic and sub - arctic waters . By mid - December , she was back at New London , and , by January 1942 , she was back in the Panama Canal Zone . Defensive operations in the approaches to the canal took " S - 47 " into March . On 5 March , she moved west with SubDiv 53 to join TF 42 at Brisbane , Queensland . She arrived in mid - April , and , on 22 April , she got underway to conduct her first offensive war patrol in the New Britain - New Ireland area . First War Patrol . On 27 April , she commenced submerged operations during daylight hours . On the morning of 29 April , she passed Bougainville , and on the night of 30 April , she arrived off New Britain . The next evening , she attempted to close an enemy submarine but lost contact with the target . That night , she transited St . George Channel ; and , on the morning of 2 May , she closed Blanche Bay . Despite numerous enemy patrol craft both surface and air , off the Crater Peninsula , she moved toward Simpson Harbor in an attempt to score on an oiler accompanied by a destroyer . Her quarry , however , reached safety before " S - 47 " could close the range . " S - 47 " waited outside the harbor . Four hours later , two destroyer s entered the harbor , and , a short while after that , a cruiser was sighted on the same course . " S - 47 " increased her speed and maneuvered to attack . But , before she was ready , a short in the electrical firing circuit fired number - four tube . The cruiser continued into the harbor . The electrical firing circuit in " S - 47 " was disconnected . Still in the area on 3 May , " S - 47 " became the target of a three - hour submarine hunt conducted by two destroyer s and two minesweeper s and punctuated by frequent depth charge attacks . That night , she cleared the area . By 5 May , she was off New Hanover ; and , on 8 May , she fired on a cargoman which reversed course and headed for the submarine at high speed . " S - 47 " went deep and readied two tubes for firing . The target , however , passed overhead ; resumed its original course ; and soon outdistanced the submarine . " S - 47 " remained on patrol in that area for another four days . On 12 May , she shifted to the Buka area and patrolled off Queen Carola Harbor until 15 May . She then turned for Brisbane . Second War Patrol . In port for repairs from 20 May until early June , " S - 47 " cleared Moreton Bay on 6 June to return to New Britain . Again , she hunted off the Crater Peninsula and between there and the Duke of York Islands ; then moved into the Shortland Island area before heading for Australia on 22 June . Third War Patrol . She departed the Australian coast again on 28 July , but fuel tank leaks forced her to turn back on 1 August . From 5 – 24 August , she was back in Brisbane . On 25 August , she was again underway for St . George Channel and the area to the northwest of Rabaul . On 2 September , her patrol was shifted to include the eastern and southeastern coasts of New Ireland , where , on 12 September , she damaged an enemy warship . On 22 September , she returned to Brisbane . Fourth War Patrol . Twenty - eight days later , " S - 47 " departed Moreton Bay for her last war patrol as a unit of TF 42 . Moving across the Coral Sea and into the Solomon Islands , she sighted Shortland Island on 28 October , and , on the night of 30 / 31 October , commenced hunting on the Buin - Rabaul line . On 2 November , east of Bougainville , she damaged a second Japanese warship . Two days later , she began moving southeast . On 8 November , she passed San Cristobal Island and departed the Solomons , en route to the Fiji Islands and the Panama Canal . Refit . On 17 November , " S - 47 " joined other units of SubDiv 53 and submarine tender in Suva Harbor , whence the group proceeded to Coco Solo . There , during the first quarter of 1943 , " S - 47 " underwent overhaul and received a surface search radar . In March , she was ordered to Trinidad , British West Indies , to furnish training services for antisubmarine vessels stationed there . But she was soon recalled to the Canal Zone , then ordered to San Francisco , California , for further yard work at the Bethlehem Steel Company . Arriving early in May , she remained in the shipyard through the summer ; and , after training off the southern California coast in September , she headed north to the Aleutian Islands . Fifth and Sixth War Patrols . In October , " S - 47 " arrived at Dutch Harbor , Unalaska , whence she conducted two war patrols to impede Japanese traffic in the Paramushiro area . On 3 January 1944 , she completed the second of her two North Pacific patrols , and , a month later , she departed the Aleutians to return to the southwestern Pacific . Seventh War Patrol . Arriving at Milne Bay on 17 March , " S - 47 " joined TF 72 ; and , for the next two months , conducted ASW training operations for Seventh Fleet minesweepers . In June , however , she shifted to Seeadler Harbor in the Admiralty Islands , whence she departed on another war patrol on 17 June . The patrol , conducted to support the Allied thrust along the New Guinea coast , was completed on 5 July . Availability at Brisbane followed and , at the end of August , she returned to Seeadler Harbor to resume ASW training operations . In November , she shifted to Mios Woendi ; and , in February 1945 , she headed for Brisbane , whence , on 8 March , she sailed for the United States . Retirement . " S - 47 " arrived at San Diego in mid - April and remained there until after the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific . In mid - September , she moved up to San Francisco ; and , on 25 October 1945 , she was decommissioned . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 November 1945 , and she was sold for scrapping in May 1946 . " S - 47 " earned three battle star s during World War II .