USS S - 36 ( SS - 141 ) USS " S - 36 " ( SS - 141 ) was a S - class submarine in the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 10 December 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of San Francisco . She was launched on 3 June 1919 sponsored by Miss Helen Russell , and commissioned on 4 April 1923 with Lieutenant Leon C . Alford in command . Service history . Following trials , " S - 36 " operated along the West Coast with interruptions for exercises in Alaskan waters in June 1923 and for fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea during the winter of 1924 , until the following summer . Then assigned to the Asiatic Fleet , she moved west in mid - September and arrived at the Submarine Base , Cavite , Philippines , on 4 November . Asiatic Fleet . For the next sixteen years , she remained in the western Pacific , conducting exercises and patrols and undergoing overhauls in the Philippines during the winter and operating off the China coast , out of Tsingtao , during the summer months . With the increase of hostilities on the mainland , however , summer deployments were shortened and individual patrols were extended throughout the Philippines , into the South China Sea , and , in 1938 , to the Netherlands East Indies . From April to June 1940 , the S - boat conducted her last China deployment and for the next year and a half remained in Philippine waters . By December 1941 , the fleet had been alerted to the possibility of a Japanese attack . On 2 Dec . , " S - 36 " ’ s scheduled overhaul was cancelled and she was ordered north on patrol . Water , stores , and torpedoes were taken on ; and , at 01 : 00 on 3 Dec . , she got underway . By late afternoon , she was off Cape Bolinao , where she passed several Yangtze Patrol gunboats working their way to Manila . At 19 : 30 , she entered Bolinao harbor , where she remained on continuous alert for the next week . On 8 December , she received the news that the Japanese had started hostilities . World War II . A few hours later , " S - 36 " began sighting enemy planes ; and , that afternoon , she took up patrol duties between Cape Bolinao and San Fernando . On 9 December excessive air leaks developed , but she remained on patrol . On 10 December , the crew listened to radio traffic as the Japanese bombed Cavite . After the raid , the submarine ' s radio operator was unable to raise the station . On 12 December , " S - 36 " ’ s electrical steering failed . She was still unable to contact Cavite . Exhaust valve leaks appeared on 13 December , and , on 14 December , she received an urgent message requesting her position . None of her previous messages had gotten through . Two days later , she was ordered back to Mariveles , if able . She headed back , still unable to transmit and with worsening air and salt water leaks . Four days later , she anchored off Mariveles . Before the end of the month , repairs had been made ; stores had been replenished , and the S - boat had begun a final patrol in Philippine waters before heading south to join the Allied forces gathering in the East Indies . Clearing Mariveles harbor on 30 December , she immediately commenced patrolling the Verde Island Passage . On 1 January , she reconnoitered the north and east coast of Batangas Bay , thence moved to the west and south of Verde Island . In mid - afternoon , she sighted a small transport moored to the seawall at Calapan , Mindoro ; fired one torpedo ; and sank the target - not however confirmed by Japanese Loss records . For seven more days , she maintained her patrol in the Verde Island Passage . On 8 January , the port engine air compressor failed , and , because of battery water consumption and the distance and time to be involved in the transit to the East Indies , she began making her way south . On 10 January , the starboard engine air compressor became troublesome . On 12 January , she hunted in the Sulu Sea . On 13 January , her port main motor went out of commission . On 14 January , she continued her hunting in the Sulu Sea . On the morning of 15 January , at the approximate intersection of the Sibutu - Makassar and Davao - Tarakan routes , diving was delayed by oil supply failures to the starboard engine , and she was sighted by a Japanese destroyer . Without correcting the lubrication failure and with one engine out , " S - 36 " submerged and prepared to fire within minutes . But the destroyer was the quicker . Before the submarine could fire , the enemy had dropped seven depth charge s which exploded off both quarters of the S - boat . Immediate damage included the loss of power control over the bow planes ; gyro compass failure ; blown fuses on the starboard lighting circuit , and broken lights in the motor room . By the time she reached , her gyrocompass was again working and she began turning slowly to starboard . The destroyer was kept astern . " S - 36 " ran at one - third speed , her depth control and trim poor . Soon her main motor bearing began smoking ; oil was applied by hand squirt gun . At about 06 : 30 , almost an hour and a half after the initial contact , she lost depth control . Her trim pump stalled . The No . 2 main ballast was blown and at the boat began to rise . Previously taken steps were reversed ; venting and flooding was begun . She stopped at . The destroyer continued to hunt . " S - 36 " continued to fluctuate between . Life jackets and escape lungs were issued . At 07 : 00 , control was reestablished ; and , at 07 : 05 , she heard the last efforts of the destroyer to locate her . Still in critical condition of trim and propulsion , she cleared the area and about noontime began making repairs to her port main motor . By 20 : 30 , the motor was operating " after a fashion . " Within six hours , however , it was smoking . The battery charge was secured . At 03 : 20 , on 16 January , the starboard motor lubrication supply again failed . With dawn , " S - 36 " submerged . Two hours later , she sighted the Sulawesi ( Celebes ) coast . At noon , fire broke out in the main motor auxiliary circulating pump and was extinguished . After 19 : 00 , she surfaced ; and , at 23 : 08 , she passed North Watcher Island . On 17 January , she received orders to proceed to Surabaya ( " Soerabaja " ) . Both port and starboard shafts went out of commission during the day and one man collapsed from heat , but the main motor lube oil pumps were repaired . On 18 January , " S - 36 " had her " 1st day since January 8 with no major part of engineering plant out of commission . " She continued through Makassar Strait . Loss . At 04 : 04 on the morning of 20 January , she ran hard aground on Taka Bakang Reef . For over 24 hours , the crew battled to save the submarine . But chlorine gas , generated by her flooded forward battery , and the hostile waves and currents of the sea combined against them . A plain language request for aid was sent out and , on the morning of 21 January , a Dutch launch , " Attla " , was dispatched from Makassar City . By noon , the launch had taken off most of the officers and men of " S - 36 " . At 13 : 30 , the fight and the submarine were abandoned . The last to leave left her rigged to flood . The crew , transferred to SS " Siberote " , were taken to Makassar City , then to Surabaya ( Soerabaja ) , whence they were reassigned . " S - 36 " was awarded one battle star for her World War II service .