Allied Warships

S-32 (SS-137)

Submarine of the S-1 class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	S-1
Pennant	137
Built by	Union Iron Works (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	12 Apr 1918
Launched	11 Jan 1919
Commissioned	15 Jun 1922
End service	19 Oct 1945
History	Decommissioned 19 October 1945. Stricken 1 November 1945. Sold in May 1946 to be broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS S-32 (137)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt. Claren Emmett Duke, USN	Sep 1940	Oct 1941
2	Lt. Maximilian Gmelich Schmidt, USN	Oct 1941	2 May 1943
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Frederick Joseph Harlfinger, 2nd, USN	2 May 1943	Jan 1944
4	Stephen Lobdell Johnson, USN	Jan 1944	Oct 1944
5	John B. Williams, Jr., USN	Oct 1944	19 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving S-32 include:

16 Jun 1941
With her refit completed, HMS Despatch (Commodore 2nd cl. C.E. Douglas-Pennant, DSC, RN), conducted gunnery exercises off Bermuda during 16 and 17 June 1941.

In the afternoon of the 17th, a Walrus aircraft crashed off Bermuda and HMS Despatch conducted a search for survivors but none were find. The US submarine USS S-32 (Lt. C.E. Duke, USN) recovered one body which she transferred to HMS Despatch. (1)

7 Jul 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 1st offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the western Aleutians.

S-32 had already made two defensive patrols in the Panama Canal Zone.

10 Jul 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) ended her 1st offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

22 Aug 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 2nd offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the western Aleutians.

23 Sep 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) ended her 2nd offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

8 Oct 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 3rd offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Kurils.

27 Oct 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) ended her 3rd offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

11 Nov 1942
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) arrived at San Diego for an overhaul.

6 Feb 1943
With her overhaul completed USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from San Diego bound for Dutch Harbour.

25 Feb 1943
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 4th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Attu.

20 Mar 1943
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) ended her 4th offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

29 Mar 1943
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 5th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Attu.

20 Apr 1943
USS S-32 (Lt.Cdr. M.G. Schmidt) ended her 5th offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

4 May 1943
USS S-32 (Lt. F.J. Harlfinger II) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 6th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Kurils.

23 May 1943
USS S-32 (Lt. F.J. Harlfinger II) ended her 6th offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

27 May 1943
USS S-32 (Lt. F.J. Harlfinger II) departed from Dutch Harbour bound for San Diego.

6 Jun 1943
USS S-32 (Lt. F.J. Harlfinger II) arrived at San Diego. She is now assigned to training duties.