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The keel of USS S-43 (SS-154)
was laid down on 13 December 2025
by 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. John H. Brown,
Junior, and launched on 31 March 1923. The S-boat was commissioned on
31 December 2025 with Lieutenant Clinton E. Braine, Junior, in
command.
When commissioned, the S-42 Class coastal submarine torpedo boat
was 225 feet 3 inches in length overall; had an extreme beam of 20
feet 8 inches; had a normal surface displacement of 906 tons, and,
when in that condition, had a mean draft of 16 feet. Submerged
displacement was 1,126 tons. The hulls were riveted. The designed
compliment was four officers and thirty-four enlisted men. The boat
could operate safely to a depth 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 46,363 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
Electro Dynamic Company at Bayonne, New Jersey...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.
Initially assigned to Submarine Division 19, and then to
Submarine Division 11, USS S-43 (SS-154) completed trials off the
Connecticut coast and, in April of 1925, moved south to Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. Thence, she proceeded to the United States Naval Submarine
Base at Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone, where the submersible was
based for the next two years. Engaged in exercises--individual,
division, and fleet--during that period, she was transferred with her
division to the Battle Force in July of 1927, and based at San Diego,
California. From there, the submarine continued her schedule of
exercises and fleet problems into the 1930s. Annual overhauls and
exercises off southern California were followed by summer operations
in Hawaiian waters and autumn patrols and exercises off Mexico.
December of 1930, however, brought changes to her schedule. Then
reassigned to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii, the submarine
torpedo boat operated almost exclusively in the Hawaiian area until
1941. Exceptions to these operations came with fleet problem
deployment and inactive periods during her years, 1932 to 1935, in the
rotating reserve.
In June of 1941, the boats of Submarine Division 11 were ordered
to the United States Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton,
Connecticut. There, the division was redesignated Submarine Division
53, and the old S-boats were ordered, in groups, to the Philadelphia
Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for overhaul and alterations
to increase their reliability in case of war.
During August of 1941, USS S-43 put back to sea only to suffer a
complete power failure which foreshadowed future breakdowns. In
September, however, the submarine assumed patrol and training duties
out of Bermuda. At the end of October, the submersible returned to
southern New England for similar operations in the New London,
Connecticut-Newport, Rhode Island, area; and, in late November, she
moved further north, to Newfoundland, to test the effects of weather
there on the S-boats.
Following the Japanese attack on the Territory of Hawaii on
7 December 1941, which plunged the United States into the Second World
War as an active participant, USS S-43, on 8 December, departed the
Canadian coast for Groton, Connecticut, and Coco Solo. On the 27th,
the submarine reached the Panama Canal Zone; and, on 9 January 1942,
she transited the Panama Canal to conduct a security patrol in the
Pacific Ocean approaches to that vital area. Returning to Coco Solo on
2 February 1942, the S-boat prepared for transfer to the Australia-New
Zealand (ANZAC) area.
On 5 March 1942, Submarine Division 53, accompanied by submarine
tender USS Griffin (AS-13), got underway for Australia. In mid-April,
the S-boats completed their 12,000-mile voyage at Brisbane, where they
were joined by the United States Asiatic Fleet's S-boats to form Task
Force 42.
Upkeep followed, and, on 11 May, USS S-43 cleared Moreton Bay,
Brisbane, for her first war patrol. The submarine ran submerged during
daylight hours after passing 15 Degrees South Latitude, despite her
lack of air conditioning. The S-boat arrived in her patrol area, Saint
George's Channel, between New Ireland and New Britain, on the 21st. On
the 24th, her main engine air compressors broke down, making both
engines dependent on the submarine's air banks for starting power. Two
nights were spent removing and repairing the starboard air compressor.
Her port air compressor remained out of commission. Leaks in sea
valves; contaminated fuel oil; and a persistent fogging problem on the
Number one periscope lens also plagued her for the remainder of the
patrol.
From 26 May to 1 June, USS S-43 ran submerged during the day to
clear the area and lay to at night to charge her batteries. On the
2nd, the submarine surfaced and, operating on one engine, continued at
one-third speed to Brisbane, where she arrived on the 10th of June.
After docking and refit, USS S-43 was again ordered out. On
8 July 1942, the submarine embarked Flight Officer C. F. Mason, Royal
Australian Air Force, liaison and rescue officer for friendly agents
on New Ireland and Feni Islands; then got underway for the Bismarck
Archipelago. On 18 July, the submersible arrived off New Ireland, and,
on the night of the 19th, put Mason ashore. Twenty-three hours later,
she returned to pick him up. He had been unable to contact the agent
to be taken off.
On the night of the 21st, USS S-43 surfaced off Feni; and, at
1924, Mason went ashore to locate and bring off the agent there. At
1920 on the 22nd, the S-boat received a message from Mason to send in
a boat; his had been punctured. Another inflatable boat was dispatched
and returned within two hours, with Mason, but without the agent. The
following night, USS S-43 again surfaced near the Feni shore, and
Mason returned to the island for the agent. On the night of the 24th,
however, the S-boat received no answer to her signals. After numerous
unsuccessful attempts to contact the liaison officer and/or the agent,
USS S-43 began the voyage back to Australia and arrived at Brisbane on
7 August 1942.
Main engine failures postponed USS S-43's third war patrol
departure from 27 August to 14 September 1942. Initially assigned to
intercept Japanese shipping headed for Milne Bay by patrolling east of
Kiriwina in the Trobriands, she was soon shifted to the Buka Island
area of the Solomons. During the patrol, she sighted no worthwhile
targets; and, on 14 October, she returned to Australia.
The same month, Submarine Division 53 was ordered back to Panama.
Underway on 4 November 1942, the boats, again accompanied by submarine
tender USS Griffin, reached Coco Solo on 9 January 1943. There, into
the spring, USS S-43 proceeded to Guantanamo Bay in early April; then
retraced her route; transited the Panama Canal; and, on the 26th,
arrived at San Diego, where she operated for the West Coast Sound
School through the summer. In September, she commenced a five-month
overhaul to prepare her for returning to the Solomons. Proceeding to
Pearl Harbor in mid-February 1944, the submarine remained there
through March for engine repairs; and, on the 31st, got underway
again. Five days later, a crankcase explosion in the starboard main
engine forced her to put into Espiritu Santo for repairs. Finally, on
22 April, she arrived in Purvis Bay, whence she conducted
antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training operations with Allied surface
and air units.
During January of 1945, USS S-43 returned to Australia; performed
similar ASW operations through February, and, on 2 March 1945,
departed Australian waters for the last time. Heading for the west
coast of the United States, the S-boat was fired on by an Allied
merchant ship during poor weather on the 18th, but submerged before
suffering any damage. On 5 April, the Submarine reached San Diego.
On 2 September 1945, the Second World War officially ended when
representatives of the Empire of Japan signed the instruments of
surrender on board battleship USS Missouri (BB-63)...which was
anchored in Tokyo Bay, Japan, for that occasion.
In late September, USS S-43 shifted to San Francisco, California
...where she was decommissioned on 10 October 1945. Stripped the same
month, her name was struck from the Navy List on 13 November 1945.
In 1946, the hulk of the S-boat was sold for scrap to the Salco
Iron and Metal Company of San Francisco.
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This Information was provided courtesy of Robert (Bob) L. Sminkey CDR(SS) USN ret. |
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This page was updated
October 12, 2025 |