USS S-45, a 1126-ton S-42 class submarine, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. She was commissioned in March 1925 and, following shakedown operations off New England, deployed to the Panama Canal Zone. For the next two years, the new submarine was employed in that region, leaving only to take part in the U.S. Fleet's annual major exercises. S-45's base was shifted to San Diego, California, in 1927 and to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1930. Except for brief periods in reserve, she took part in local operations and major fleet maneuvers, a pattern that continued after she returned to the Panama Canal Zone in 1936.
In April 1941 S-45 was sent to the U.S. East Coast. However, once the United States entered World War II in December 1941 she was transferred back to Central America. With several of her sister submarines, S-45 crossed the Pacific Ocean to Australia in the spring of 1942 and soon began active patrols in Japanese-held waters in the Solomon and Bismarck Islands area. Like other "S-Boats" serving in that area, she was plagued by mechanical problems and limited performance, making fruitless her few opportunities to attack the enemy.
By the end of 1942, S-45 had been ordered back to the Western Hemisphere, where she was used for training until late in 1943. She then went north to the Aleutians for another tour of combat duty but had to be withdrawn after suffering a battery explosion in late January 1944. S-45 spent the rest of World War II on training service in the South Pacific and along the U.S. West Coast. She was decommissioned at the end of October 1945 and sold for scrapping in December 1946.
This page features all the views we have related to USS S-45.
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.
Photo #: NH 1373 USS S-45 (SS-156) Underway, circa the 1920s. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 52KB; 740 x 575 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 42186 USS S-45 (SS-156) Making 10.5 knots while running trials off Groton, Connecticut, 24 March 1925. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 42187 USS S-45 (SS-156) Underway in harbor, circa the 1920s. Note the auxiliary ships moored in the background. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63418 USS S-45 (SS-156) Departing Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in April 1927, en route to the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, for overhaul. USS Moody (DD-277) is anchored in the right background. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 134KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 53437 USS Holland (AS-3) Moored off San Diego, California, circa 1930. Submarines alongside, apparently holding inspection, are (from inboard): U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 95KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63094 USS Holland (AS-3) Moored off San Diego, California, circa 1930. Submarines alongside, to starboard, are (from inboard): Submarines moored to Holland's port side are (from inboard): U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 96623 USS Holland (AS-3) In Balboa harbor, Panama Canal Zone, 7 May 1927, with seven "S"-type submarines alongside. Panoramic photograph, taken for the National Photo Service, San Antonio, Texas. Note that firm's logo in the right-center. Submarines in the center group are (from outboard): S-46 (SS-157); S-47 (SS-158); S-44 (SS-155); and an unidentifed boat. Outboard submarine in the group astern is S-45 (SS-156). Courtesy of Captain Gordon Peterson, USN. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 97KB; 1200 x 345 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 96624 19th Submarine Division At San Diego, California, 28 July 1928, with officers and crewmen paraded on deck. Panoramic photograph, taken by O.A. Tunnell, 521 A St., San Diego. The first three submarines are (from inboard): S-46 (SS-157); S-42 (SS-152) and S-47 (SS-158). The other three are (in no order): S-43 (SS-154); S-44 (SS-155) and S-45 (SS-156). Courtesy of Captain Gordon Peterson, USN. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 128KB; 1200 x 420 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 89733 USS S-45 (SS-156) View in the submarine's conning spaces, showing one periscope in the raised position and the other retracted. Taken at Groton, Connecticut, in May 1925. Courtesy of Edward Page, 1979. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-77065 Submarine Squadron FIVE (SubRon 5) A Chief Torpedoman paints another "hashmark" on the Torpedo Shop scoreboard of Japanese ships claimed sunk by SubRon 5's "S-Boats", operating out of Brisbane, Australia, during April-November 1942. Photographed on board USS Griffin (AS-13), tender to the squadron. Submarines listed on the scoreboard include S-37 (SS-142), S-38 (SS-143), S-39 (SS-144), S-40 (SS-145), S-41 (SS-146), S-42 (SS-153), S-43 (SS-154), S-44 (SS-155), S-45 (SS-156), S-46 (SS-157), and S-47 (SS-158). The original caption dates the photo on 7 January 1943, but it may have been taken earlier, as Griffin left Australia in November 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 104KB; 585 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 11 July 2002
New images added 18 July 2003