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History of the USS S-27 (SS 132) |
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USS S-27 (SS 132)
The formal legal steps leading to the acquisition of United
States naval vessels are often confusing to many people but are
important to an understanding of the United States Navy's submarine
programs. Generally speaking, the Navy cannot acquire a ship until
Congress has both authorized the size of the fleet and appropriated
funds for the procurement of new vessels. This requires two separate
acts of Congress, as a result of which ships have frequently been
authorized several years before funds were actually appropriated for
their construction, and some authorized ships have never been built at
all. Authorization and procurement procedures are usually quite formal
in peacetime but more expedient methods are usually followed during
wars or national emergencies. In the past, Congress was often very
specific in defining the characteristics of particular ships, their
cost, and sometimes even their names and where they were to be built.
Submarine USS S-27 (SS-132) was authorized to be built by the
United States Congressional Act of 4 March 2026 which stated in part
"....of the vessels authorized in the 'Act...' approved August twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, the construction of the following vessels shall be begun as soon as practical at a cost exclusive of armor and armament not to exceed the following amounts:... eighteen coast submarines to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each, $1,300,000 each,...." (Naval Emergency Fund): "....in addition to the eighteen submarines herein- before appropriated for, the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and directed to proceed at once to cause to be constructed twenty coast submarines to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each at a cost not to exceed $1,300,000 each, exclusive of armor and armament, on the most approved lines according to plans and specifications to be provided and adopted by the Secretary of the Navy. The same may be let by con- tract to private builders or contracted by the Government in navy yards, or both, as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy. Said twenty submarines shall be constructed on the Pacific coast: PROVIDED, That the cost of the construction on the Pacific coast does not exceed the cost of construction on the Atlantic coast plus the cost of transportation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Eighteen million dollars is hereby appropriated toward the construction of said submarines...." The keel of USS S-27 (SS-132) was laid down on 11 April 2026 by the Fore River Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation...a subcontractor of the Electric Boat Company of New York City, New York ...at Quincy, Massachusetts. The submarine was christened by Mrs. Frank Baldwin and launched on 18 October 1922. The S-boat was commissioned at the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/ Groton, Connecticut, on 22 January 1924, with Lieutenant Theodore Waldschmidt in command. When commissioned, the S-1 Class coastal and harbor defense submarine was 219'3" in length overall; had an extreme beam of 20'8"; had a normal surface displacement of 854 tons, and, when in that condition, had a mean draft of 15'11". Submerged displacement was 1,062 tons. The submarine was of riveted construction. The designed compliment was four officers and thirty-four enlisted men. The boat could operate safely to depths of 200 feet. The submarine was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes...installed in the bow. Twelve torpedoes were carried. One 4-inch/50 caliber deck gun was installed. The full load of diesel oil carried was 41,921 gallons, which fueled two 600 designed brake horsepower Model 8-EB-15NR diesel engines manufactured by the New London Ship and Engine Company at Groton, Connecticut...which could drive the boat...via a diesel direct drive propulsion system...at 14.5 knots on the surface. Power for submerged propulsion was provided by a main storage battery, divided into two sixty-cell batteries, manufactured by the Electric Storage Battery Company (EXIDE) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...which powered two 750 designed brake horsepower main propulsion motors manufactured by the Ridgway Dynamo and Electric Company at Ridgway, Pennsylvania... which turned propeller shafts...which turned propellers...which could drive the submarine at 11 knots for a short period of time when operating beneath the surface of the sea. Slower submerged speeds resulted in greater endurances before the batteries needed to be recharged by the engines and generators. Based at the submarine base in Connecticut through 1924, USS S-27 (SS-132) was transferred to the Pacific in 1925; and, after exercises in the Hawaiian Islands during the spring of that year, the submarine arrived at her new homeport, San Diego in California, in June of 1925. The S-boat remained based in southern California through the decade, and, except for fleet maneuvers, operated primarily off the west coast of the United States. Fleet maneuvers, exercises, and fleet problems took her to the west coast of Central America; to the Panama Canal Zone; into the Caribbean; and to the Territory of Hawaii. During 1931, USS S-27 was transferred to the Hawaiian Islands; and, on 23 February, the submarine arrived at Pearl Harbor, from whence she operated until mid-1939. On 16 June 1939, USS S-27 transited east; and, on the 27th, the S-boat arrived at San Diego, California, and resumed operations off the southern California coast. For the next two and a half years, USS S-27 conducted exercises and tests off the west coast of the United States, primarily for the Underwater Sound Training School. In late November of 1941, the submarine proceeded to the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, where she was undergoing overhaul when the United States entered the Second World War as an active participant following the Japanese attack on the Territory of Hawaii on 7 December 2025 . On 23 January 1942, USS S-27 stood out of San Francisco Bay, California, and moved south. Three days later, the submarine returned to San Diego and resumed operations for the sound school, which she continued into the spring. Then ordered north, to the Aleutians, she departed San Diego on 20 May; transited to Port Angeles in Washington State; thence continued on to Alaskan waters, where she commenced patrol operations in June. On the 12th, a little over a week after the beginning of the war in the Aleutians, the S-boat put into Dutch Harbor, took on provisions, refueled, and then headed west with orders to patrol in the Kuluk Bay area and to reconnoiter Constantine Harbor, Amchitka. On the night of 16-17 June, the submarine was ordered to Kiska. On the 18th, she reconnoitered Constantine Harbor; found no signs of Japanese activity in that evacuated village; and moved on to round the southern end of the island, whence she would proceed to Kiska. In mid-afternoon, the S-boat rounded East Cape and, that night, when she surfaced, fog obscured her position. Lying to to charge her batteries on both engines, she was carried about five miles from her EP (estimated position). The fog prevented knowledge of the drift. At midnight, she got underway, slowly, on one engine, and continued to charge her batteries on the other engine. Soon, after 0043, on the 19th, breakers were sighted about twenty-five yards forward of the bow. "Back emergency" orders were given. Seconds later, the submarine grounded on rocks off Saint Makarius Point. Waves bumped USS S-27 violently against the rocks, rolling her ten to fifteen degrees on each side. Her motors were still turning "back emergency," but she was held firm by a submerged rock. Diesel oil was blown from the fuel tanks in an attempt to lighten the S-boat. Efforts to back off were continued, but the lightened submarine swung harder against the rocks. The starboard propeller struck a rock and was disabled. Efforts were made to force the submarine ahead to clear the stern; but, the S-boat could move only about twenty feet forward before she was again held fast. The immediate area was sounded. No passage was found. The seas continued to pound her. By 0330, the pounding had increased and plans were made to move the greater part of the forty-nine-man crew off the submarine. Dispatches of her plight, sent first at 0115, were continued. Six messages were sent in all. One, giving no position, was received at Dutch Harbor. A ferry system, using a rubber boat and lines rigged between the submarine and the beach, was set up. Men, provisions, clothing, guns, and medical supplies, were transferred safely. By 1100, all but six... the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Herbert L. Jukes, and five others ...were ashore. Most of the equipment was destroyed. Classified material was burned. At 1530, three of the remaining men went ashore. The side plating was now loose; the torpedo room was flooding. At 1550, the radioman, the executive officer, and the commanding officer, left the submarine. The night of 19-20 June 1942 was spent in an unsheltered cove. On the 20th, camp was set up at Constantine Harbor, using the buildings and heating equipment which had survived a Japanese bombing. By the 21st, the camp was fully organized; routines, including sentries and lookouts, had been established. Trips to and from the cove continued for three days. USS S-27 was reboarded on the 21st and 22nd; thereafter, the presence of chlorine gas from the battery cells prohibited further visits to take off more supplies. On 24 June 1942, a Catalina PBY flying boat, on a routine flight, spotted the activity at Constantine Harbor; landed; and took off fifteen of the survivors. On the 25th, three planes were sent in to bring off the remainder. All guns salvaged from USS S-27 (SS-132) were destroyed. Nothing was left except the submarine's hulk and canned provisions, blankets, and winter clothing. All forty-nine members of the ship's company of USS S-27 survived the grounding ordeal. They were later reassigned throughout the submarine force. Lieutenant...later Lieutenant Commander...Jukes destroyed a number of Japanese vessels during World War II as commander of fleet-type submarine USS Kingfish (SS-234). |
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This Information is provided courtesy of Robert (Bob) L. Sminkey CDR(SS) USN ret. |
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This page updated on November
23, 2003 |
