USS S-37

USS S-37 (SS-142) was an S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 12 December 1918, launched on 20 June 1919, and commissioned on 16 July 1923.

S-37's keel was laid down on 12 December 1918 by the Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California. She was launched on 20 June 1919, sponsored by Miss Mildred Bulger, and commissioned on 16 July 1923.

After fitting out at Mare Island, S-37 departed San Francisco Bay at the end of July 1923 and joined Submarine Division (SubDiv) 17 at San Pedro, California, on 1 August 1923. During August, September, and into October 1923, she conducted exercises and tests off the Southern California coast.

On the afternoon of 10 October 1923, while recharging her batteries in the harbor at San Pedro, S-37 was rocked by an explosion in the after battery compartment. Two men were killed as dense black smoke and gas fumes filled the flame- and arc-lit room. Extensive material damage added to the difficulty of rescue operations, but three men were extracted from the compartment, one of whom died of his injuries before medical help arrived. Two of the rescuers were seriously injured.

Once it was determined no one remained alive in the compartment, the compartment was sealed to cut off the supply of oxygen to the fire. However, by 0500 on 11 October 1923, so much pressure had increased in the compartment it forced the main hatch open. The compartment was re-sealed for another five hours, but when it was opened at 1030, the fire reflashed. The crew shut the hatch again for another hour. At 1130, the compartment was successfully ventilated and cooled enough to allow the crew to enter safely. Temporary repairs were completed on 25 October 1923, and S-37 headed to Mare Island, California, for permanent repairs. On 19 December 1923, she returned to duty at San Pedro.

In 1924, S-37 moved south and, with her division, participated in Fleet Problems II, Fleet Problem III, and IV, which involved problems of fleet movements, conducted en route to the Gulf of Panama; Caribbean defenses and transit facilities of the Panama Canal; and movement from a main base to an advanced base, conducted in the Caribbean Sea. After completing Fleet Problem IV, her division remained in the Caribbean until early April 1924, when it again passed through the Panama Canal to return to the Pacific Ocean. Toward the end of April 1924, she returned to San Pedro, and, on 28 April 1924 she continued to Mare Island. There the submarines of her division, having been transferred to the United States Asiatic Fleet, prepared to cross the Pacific.

On 17 September 1924, SubDiv 17, accompanied by the submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9), departed San Francisco. On 26 September 1924, the ships arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and on 4 November 1924 they reached Manila Bay on the coast of Luzon in the Philippines. They operated from Cavite, Luzon, for 16 years. During most of that time, they worked as a division, spending the fall and winter months in the Philippines and deploying to the China coast for spring and summer exercises. During the late 1930s, however, hostilities increased in East Asia with the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, and the Asiatic Fleet's S-boat schedule was altered to include more individual exercises and cruises. The submarines ranged throughout the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies, and they made shorter deployments to the China coast. In 1940, the China deployments ended, and the submarines intensified their exercises and patrols in the Philippines and participated in joint United States Army-U.S. Navy war games. In 1941, S-37 remained in the Philippines, operating in the Luzon area into the spring, in the Visayan Islands and Sulu Archipelago into the summer, and back in the Luzon area during the fall.

On 8 December 1941 – which across the International Date Line in Hawaii was 7 December 1941, the day the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II – S-37 was in Manila Bay. With receipt of the news of the Japanese attack, S-37, commanded by James C. Dempsey, prepared for her first war patrol. On the night of 9 December 1941, she cleared the Corregidor outer minefield, moved into the Verde Island Passage, and took station at Puerta Galera, Mindoro, where she remained on lookout duty until 17 December 1941. She then returned to Manila, replenished and refueled, and, on 19 December, headed back toward the Mindoro coast. On 20 December, she assumed patrol duties in Calavite Passage. On 21 December 1941, she shifted to the Verde Island Passage. On 27 December 1941, she reconnoitered Batangas Bay to investigate the detonation of fuel oil tanks and found only Filipino and American forces destroying the fuel oil supplies before they could be captured by the Japanese. On 28 December, while the noise of the exploding tanks continued, S-37 investigated reports of Japanese landings in Balayan Bay, then proceeded toward Looc Bay to verify or disprove a similar rumor. Finding both bays empty, she began to make her way south. On 30 December 1941, she was off Panay.