USS S-30, an 854-ton S-1 class submarine built at San Francisco, California, was commissioned in late October 1920. After intermittent active service in California waters, in early 1922 she went to New London, Connecticut for mechanical work, followed by operations in Panama, Caribbean and West Coast waters. During the spring and summer of 1925 S-30 crossed the Pacific to join the Asiatic Fleet. She remained in the Far East until 1932, then voyaged to Hawaii, where she was based for the next five years.
The submarine was sent back to the East Coast in mid-1937 and was mainly employed for training until shortly after the United States entered World War II. Beginning in late January 1942, S-30 conducted defensive patrols in the western Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and off the Pacific coast of Panama. Following repairs, she went to Alaska for service in the harsh climate of the northern Pacific. Though suffering from the frequent mechanical difficulties that typically afflicted submarines of her vintage, she made six war patrols between August 1942 and September 1943. Four of these took her into northern Japanese waters, where she attacked a number of enemy ships, sinking at least one freighter, and endured several depth charge attacks. S-30 also took reconnaissance photographs and, on one occasion, attempted to bombard a Japanese shore facility.
At the end of her Alaskan tour, S-30 was assigned to training service out of San Diego, California. This lasted until the end of World War II. Decommissioned in October 1945, she was sold for scrapping in December 1946.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS S-30 (SS-135).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
In addition to the views reference above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other photograph of USS S-30 (SS-135). The following listing describes this image:
The image listed below is NOT in the
Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS S-30 (SS-135) during the 1930s, probably in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Port broadside (somewhat toward the bow) surface view. S-30 is painted black, with a white "30" on her fairwater. Light colored smoke from her engines partially obscures her after hull, and she is partially framed by a palm frond in the upper right of the image. Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The image listed above is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 24 August 2006