USS S-44 (SS-155)
Lost in the Kuriles Archipelago on October 7, 2025
(Scroll Down for S-44 History and Photos)

The keel of the USS S-44 (SS-155) was laid down by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts on February 19, 1921. The submarine was sponsored by Mrs. Hugo G. Grieshaber and launched on October 27, 1923. S-44 was commissioned on February 16, 2026 with Lieutenant Arnold H. Bateman in command.. S-44 was 225 feet long with four forward torpedo tubes and two New London Ship and Engine diesels. The submarine carried a wartime complement of 57 officers and enlisted crewmembers.

S-44 operated off the New England coast into the summer of 1925. In late August, she departed New London for Panama and on 5 September arrived at Coco Solo to join SUBDIV-19. The submarine conducted training exercises, participated in fleet exercises and joint Army-Navy maneuvers, and made good will visits to various Caribbean and Pacific, Latin American ports while operating with that Division. until the spring of 1927. In the spring of 1927, S-44 transferred to San Diego and operated out of that port until December 1930.

In December 1930 the S-boat was transferred to Hawaii where her division, now SUBDIV-11, was home ported for four years. S-44 returned to San Diego in 1934 and operated from there until 1937 when she was transferred back to Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone.

In the spring of 1941 as American involvement in World War II increased, the Panama S-boats were ordered back to the east coast for overhaul. S-44, along with USS S-42 (SS-153) and USS S-46 (SS-157) proceeded to New London and then in November to Philadelphia where the overhaul was completed.

During late 1941, S-44 was engaged in Sea Trials and on January 7, she got underway to return to Panama. Arriving on the January 16, she departed Balboa on January 24 with USS S-21 (SS-126), USS S-26 (SS-131), and USS S-28 (SS-133) to conduct a security patrol in the western approaches to the canal. Within a few hours, however, she was engaged in rescue operations for S-26 which had been rammed and sunk by PC-460. (View S-26 History)

From Panama, the division; renamed SUBDIV-53 was ordered to the southwest Pacific. Starting across the Pacific in early March, the boats reached Brisbane in mid-April and within ten days S-44 was underway on her first war patrol. She cleared Moreton Bay on April 24. Three days later her port engine went out of commission, but 36 hours of hard work and ingenuity put it back in operation. On the 29th she began running submerged during the day and surfacing at night to recharge batteries and allow fresh air into the un-airconditioned boat. By 2 May S-44 was in her patrol area off New Britain-New Ireland waters. Six days later she sighted a ship through a haze of rain, fired two torpedoes, missed and attempted to close for another attempt. The surface ship soon outdistanced her. The next afternoon she attempted to close a destroyer east of Adler Bay, but was again easily outrun. On the 10th off Cape St. George; she closed another target but was sighted and attacked.

In late afternoon on May 12 about 15 miles from the Cape; S-44 sighted a merchantman with a trawler escort. For the first time, the weather, her position, and the target's course were in her favor. She fired four torpedoes, scored with two, then submerged. A salvage vessel of over 5,000 tons went under. Her escort went after S-44 and delivered sixteen or more depth charges, none of which were close. On the 14th, S-44 headed home, arriving at Brisbane on the 23rd.

After a short overhaul period, S-44 left Moreton Bay on June 7 headed for the Solomon Islands. Within the week, she was on patrol off Guadalcanal, operating from that island to Savo and Florida Islands. A few days later she shifted south of Guadalcanal and on the 21st sent a converted gunboat to the bottom. The force of the explosion, the rain of debris, and the appearance and attack of a Japanese ASW plane forced S-44 down. 

(At 1415; S-44 fired her torpedoes at the gunboat. At 1418, the enemy plane dropped a bomb which exploded close enough to bend the holding latch to the Conning Tower, allowing in 30 gallons of seawater, damaging the depth gauges, gyro-compass, and ice machine, and starting several leaks. The number 1 periscope was thought to be damaged, but when the submarine surfaced for repairs; a Japanese seaman's coat was found wrapped around its head.)

Three days later S-44 arrived at Lunga Roads. On the 26th, poor weather set in and blanketed the area until the S-boat turned for home. She departed her patrol area on the 29th and arrived back in Moreton Bay on July 5.

S-44 departed Brisbane again on July 24. On the 31st, she commenced patrolling in the Rabaul-Tulagi shipping lanes. The next day she sighted a convoy off Cape St. George, but heavy swells hindered depth control and speed and precluded her attacking the convoy. From Cape St. George, S-44 moved up the east coast of New Ireland to North Cape and Kavieng.

On August 7 the Allied offensive opened with landings on the beaches of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Gavutu, and Florida islands. On August 9 off Savo Island; Cruiser Division 6 of the Imperial Japanese Navy inflicted one of the worst defeats of the war on Allied surface ships. The next morning, the victorious cruisers neared Kavieng.

At 0750 S-44 sighted the formation; four heavy cruisers, their track less than 900 yards away. At 0806, she fired four torpedoes at the rear ship only 700 yards away. By 0808 all four torpedoes had exploded, the Japanese cruiser Kako was sinking, and S-44 had begun her escape. By 0812 Japanese destroyers had started depth charging, without success.

Three days later, S-44 was again fighting heavy swells. Her damaged bow planes required three hours to rig, after which they remained out. On the 23rd she moored at Brisbane.

On September 17 S-44 began her 4th war patrol. The following day, a hydrogen fire blazed in her Forward Battery compartment, but was extinguished in three minutes. On the 22nd, she began surfacing only at night and two days later, she assumed patrol operations off New Georgia to intercept Japan's Faisi-Guadalcanal supply line. During the patrol her hunting was hindered by Japanese aerial and surface antisubmarine patrols and her own operational capabilities, which were further limited by material defects and damage inflicted during depth chargings.

On the morning of October 4, she damaged a destroyer, then survived an intensive depth charge attack with seemingly minor damage. The next day, however when she submerged, the submarine began taking on water. She surfaced, made repairs on the high induction valves, then submerged to 50 feet. Leaks were found in her Motor Room and Torpedo Room flappers. The latter were jacked shut, but the former continued spraying water onto both motors. Within an hour, four Japanese destroyers had moved into the area and S-44 went to 70 feet. The leak worsened. The motors were covered in canvas and sheet rubber and the crew waited for the destroyers to pass over her position. As they disappeared, S-44 moved up to 55 feet and repairs were made on the flapper. That night, further repairs were made while the ship was surfaced off Santa Isabel Island and by midnight the S-boat was enroute back to her patrol area. On the 7th bad weather set in and on the 8th, she departed the area, arriving in Moreton Bay on the 14th.

A month later, S-44 departed Brisbane and headed back to the United States. In early January 1943, she transited the Panama Canal, then moved across the Caribbean and up the Atlantic seaboard to Philadelphia. There, from April to June, she underwent overhaul; and in July she retransited the Canal enroute to San Diego and the Aleutians.

At this point, Captain Brown gave the order to submerge and sounded the diving alarm. The S-44 had taken major damage including a hit below the water line. A pillowcase was waved in hopes the destroyer would cease firing but she continued shooting, scoring several more hits. About eight men made it into the water before S-44 sank, but only two were picked up. These two men, Chief Torpedoman Ernest Duva and Radioman Third Class William Whitemore, were first interrogated at Ofuna and then placed in a forced labor group at the copper mines in Ashio. Both men survived the experience and were repatriated at the end of the war.

NOTE: I received this update from Mike & Pat, (nephew of survivor) - - William F. Whitemore was my Uncle and he died on Feb 20, 2026 - His son is living in California, His Grandson is at the California Merchant Marine Academy.