USS S-39 (SS-144)

S-39 was an S-18 class submarine completed in September of 1923 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company in San Francisco, CA.

S-39’s fifth war patrol did not start auspiciously. Twice, she had to return to port due to mechanical failures. On her third attempt to set out on patrol, the XO had to be rushed to the hospital with pneumonia. After a replacement for the executive officer was assigned, S-39 was finally able to get underway on 10 August 1942. Early in the morning, just four days later, a navigational error left the boat on a reef in the Louisiades.

Everything possible was done to get the boat off the reef. However, the net result was just to have the 15 to 20-foot breakers push her further onto the reef with a 60-degree list to port. On 16 August, the Australian minesweeper HMAS Katoomba arrived to assist. Further efforts to free the submarine also failed and the Katoomba rescued the crew. As the minesweeper left the scene, the S-39 was already breaking up due to the heavy seas and the rocks. Therefore, no further attempt was made to destroy the stricken submarine.

During the last months of 1923 and early 1924, S-39 operated off the U. S. West Coast and in the Caribbean. By April, she was back at Mare Island for an overhaul. In September of that year, she was assigned to the U. S. Asiatic Fleet and arrived at Manilla in November of 1924. In May of 1925, she sailed to Tsingtao and operated briefly from there. She returned to Manilla in September of 1925 and for the next 16 years operated from there and from Tsingtao during the summers.

Just prior to the outbreak of the war, S-39 was patrolling off southern Luzon. On 8 December, she was still at sea and began her first war patrol. Under captain James (Red) Coe, she was ordered to the San Bernardino Strait to attack minelayers operating there. However, the minelayers were well protected and S-39 suffered a serious depth charging for her efforts. Her second war patrol consisted of a transit from the Philippines to Surabaya, with no sinkings.

On her third war patrol, S-39 was assigned to attempt a rescue of Rear Admiral Spooner RN and a group of British refugees. After waiting two days for the party to appear, LT Coe sent a volunteer landing party to investigate. Unfortunately, all they found were footprints and boat tracks in the sand. It appeared that enemy soldiers had captured the party. Later in the patrol S-39 sank a large tanker. Her fourth patrol, under a new captain, yielded no sightings of Japanese shipping.

LT Brown was reassigned and was lost with the USS S-44 (SS-155) in October of 1943. LT Coe went on to be a successful commander of the USS Skipjack (SS-184) before being lost with the USS Cisco (SS-290) in September of 1943.

S-39 was lost on her fifth war patrol. JANAC credited her with one sinking for 6,500 tons.