USS S-39 (SS-144)

USS S-39 off Olongapo, Philippine Islands, 1935
History
Name:	USS S-39
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down:	14 January 1919
Launched:	2 July 1919
Commissioned:	14 September 1923
Fate:	Run aground, abandoned, 13 August 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	S-class submarine
Displacement:	854 long tons (868 t) surfaced 1,062 long tons (1,079 t) submerged
Length:	211 ft (64 m) w/l 219 ft 3 in (66.83 m) o/a
Beam:	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Draft:	16 in (0.41 m)
Installed power:	2,400 hp (1,800 kW) (diesel engines) 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) (electric motors)
Propulsion:	2 × New London Ship & Engine (NELSECO) diesel engines 2 × General Electric electric motors 120-cell Exide battery 2 × shafts
Speed:	14.5 knots (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h) surfaced 11 kn (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged
Capacity:	168 long tons (171 t) diesel fuel
Complement:	42 officers and men
Armament:	1 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 cal deck gun 4 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes
Service record
Operations:	World War II
Awards:	2 battle stars

USS S-39 (SS-144) was a United States Navy S-class submarine that saw combat in the Pacific Theater during World War II. She was accidentally run aground on her fifth wartime patrol and was subsequently abandoned.

Her keel was laid on 14 January 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California. She was launched on 2 July 1919 sponsored by Miss Clara M. Huber, and commissioned on 14 September 1923 with Lieutenant John A. Scott (Class of 1918) in command.

After commissioning and fitting out, S-39 joined Submarine Force, Battle Fleet; and from October–December 1923, conducted maneuvers off southern California. With the next year, 1924, she moved south to the Panama Canal, thence proceeded into the Caribbean Sea for final trials, further exercises, and training dives. By April, she was back at Mare Island for her first overhaul.

On 17 September, S-39 departed San Francisco for the Philippines. Steaming via Pearl Harbor and Guam, she reached Manila on 5 November; joined the Asiatic Fleet as a member of Submarine Division 17 (SubDiv 17); and commenced local operations and drills in the Luzon area. In mid-May 1925, she sailed for the Asiatic mainland with her division; and, after brief stops at Amoy and Hong Kong, arrived at Tsingtao, whence she operated until early September. She then returned to Manila and for the next 16 years maintained, with few interruptions, a similar schedule: summers at Tsingtao, with patrols along the China coast; winters in the Philippines, for overhauls, engineering trials, joint Army-Navy maneuvers, type training exercises, and short patrols.