View source for USS S-46

{{short description|Submarine of the United States}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS S-46.jpg
|Ship caption=United States Submarine ''S-46'' underway in 1925
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''S-46''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]],&nbsp;[[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=23 February 1921
|Ship launched=11 September 1923
|Ship sponsor= Miss Grace Roosevelt
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=5 June 1925
|Ship decommissioned=2 November 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=16 November 1945
|Ship reinstated=
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|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping November 1946
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[United States S class submarine|S-class]] [[submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|850|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{convert|1126|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|225|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|20|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|14.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced, {{convert|11|kn|mph km/h}} submerged
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|Ship complement=42 officers and men
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|Ship armament=1 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}]]/50 [[deck gun]], 4 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
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{{service record
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|operations=[[World War II]]
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|awards=1 [[battle star]]
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'''USS ''S-46'' (SS-157)''' was a third-group (''S-42'') [[United States S class submarine|''S''-class submarine]] of the [[United States Navy]].
==Construction and commissioning==
''S-46''′s [[keel]] was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] on 23 February 1921 by the [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]]'s [[Fore River Shipyard]] in [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=DANFS>DANFS.</ref> She was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 11 September 1923, sponsored by Miss Grace Roosevelt, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 5 June 1925.<ref name=DANFS/>
==Service history==
===Inter-War Period===
After training exercises off southern [[New England]], ''S-46'' sailed for the [[Panama Canal]] Zone to join Submarine Division 19 (SubDiv 19).<ref name=DANFS/> Arriving at [[Coco Solo]] on 26 September, she commenced a schedule of local operations from Coco Solo and [[Balboa, Panama]], which were interrupted only for semi-annual extended training cruises and annual fleet problems in the [[Caribbean Sea]] and [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name=DANFS/> Repairs and overhauls were performed at Balboa.<ref name=DANFS/>
In 1927, SubDiv 19 was transferred to the [[Battle Fleet]] and based at [[San Diego, California]], with [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] as homeyard for its boats.<ref name=DANFS/> ''S-46'' departed [[Panama]] on 11 June, arrived at San Diego on 31 July, then proceeded to [[Pearl Harbor]] to participate in tactical exercises with other Battle Fleet submarines.<ref name=DANFS/> During the latter part of August, she participated in the search for missing [[Dole Air Race]] pilots, and at the end of the month, she headed back to San Diego for two months of local operations.<ref name=DANFS/> In December, she returned to Mare Island for an overhaul, and in June 1928, she resumed operations out of her home port.<ref name=DANFS/> In November, despite many attempts to improve design limitations of the third-group (''S-42'') class, the maximum speed set for ''S-46'', and others of that class, was reduced to 10.5 knots to eliminate excessive vibration and accompanying engineering problems at higher speeds.<ref name=DANFS/>
''S-46'' remained based at San Diego until December 1930, when her division was transferred to [[Pearl Harbor]].<ref name=DANFS/> There, for the next five years, she participated in training operations with SubDiv 11 and with other fleet units, and spent extended periods of time in port as a unit of Rotating Reserve Division 14 (RotResDiv 14).<ref name=DANFS/> In the spring of 1936, after participating in [[Fleet Problem XVII]], she returned to Coco Solo, where she had again been homeported.<ref name=DANFS/>
Still in SubDiv 11, ''S-46'' remained based at Coco Solo through the end of the decade, operating on a schedule similar to that of her first tour in the Canal Zone.<ref name=DANFS/> After September 1939, however, operations were confined to the canal approaches.<ref name=DANFS/> In the spring of 1941, SubDiv 11 was ordered to New London to assist in patrols off the [[New England]] coast and in Submarine School training operations. En route north, ''S-46'' underwent overhaul at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], and, in August, she commenced operations out of New London.<ref name=DANFS/> In October, she shifted to [[Ordnance Island, Bermuda]], and in December, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she returned to the Panama Canal Zone.<ref name=DANFS/>
===World War II===
During the next six weeks, she conducted two defensive war patrols in the approaches to the canal, then prepared to cross the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]].<ref name=DANFS/> On 5 March 1942, she headed west with SubDiv 53.<ref name=DANFS/> In mid-April, the [[World War I]]-design submarines arrived at their new base, [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], and joined Task Force 42 (TF 42).<ref name=DANFS/> On 13 May, ''S-46'' departed on her third patrol—her first offensive war patrol.<ref name=DANFS/>
On leaving [[Moreton Bay]], the [[United States S class submarine|S-boat]] conducted sound training exercises with a [[Royal Australian Navy]] escort, then continued on.<ref name=DANFS/> On 15 May, the ship's cook was discovered to have the [[mumps]].<ref name=DANFS/> On 16 May, the boat put into [[Townsville]], [[Queensland]], and on 22 May, after hospitalizing sick crew members and disinfecting messing, berthing, and working areas, she set a course for her patrol area, [[New Britain]].<ref name=DANFS/>
On 26 May, ''S-46'' passed [[Rossel Island]].<ref name=DANFS/> On 31 May, she began her transit of [[St. George's Channel]], favoring the [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] coast.<ref name=DANFS/> That night, she hunted in the approaches to [[Rabaul]] and between there and the [[Duke of York Islands]].<ref name=DANFS/> On the night of 1–2 June, while patrolling on the Rabaul-[[New Hanover Island|New Hanover]] line, she was spotted by two Japanese [[destroyer]]s, but no attacks were made.<ref name=DANFS/>
On 3 June, the submarine began hunting along the northern coast of New Britain.<ref name=DANFS/> On 4 June, west of the [[Willaumez Peninsula]], she developed motor trouble and turned for [[Vitiaz Strait]], one of the few areas for which she carried charts.<ref name=DANFS/> On 5 June, she entered the strait, and on 7 June, she commenced patrolling between Cape Cretin and the south end of [[Dampier Strait (Papua New Guinea)|Dampier Strait]].<ref name=DANFS/> Two days later, she was ordered to intercept Japanese destroyers thought to be heading for [[Lae]] on an estimated course which would take them north of [[Woodlark Island]].<ref name=DANFS/>
Moving into the area, ''S-46'' sighted no enemy ships and resumed her patrol in the Cape Cretin area.<ref name=DANFS/> On 11 June, she headed for Brisbane.<ref name=DANFS/> On 19 June, an auxiliary [[air compressor]] jammed, the motor burned out, and the resulting smoke added further habitability problems to the already hot and humid condition of the boat.<ref name=DANFS/> On 21 June, ''S-46'' reached Brisbane.<ref name=DANFS/>
From 20 July-15 August, ''S-46'' hunted in the [[Solomon Islands]].<ref name=DANFS/> From 11 September-11 October, she resumed a defensive role and patrolled in an area east of [[Normanby Island, Papua New Guinea]] in anticipation of a major enemy attack of [[Milne Bay]].<ref name=DANFS/>
In early November, ''S-46'' started back across the Pacific.<ref name=DANFS/> On 7 January 1943, she arrived in the Panama Canal Zone, and in early February, she continued on to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].<ref name=DANFS/> There, from April to mid-June, she received extensive repairs and alterations.<ref name=DANFS/> She then returned to [[Panama]]; retransmitted the canal and proceeded to San Diego for further yard work.<ref name=DANFS/> In mid-September, she moved north to [[Unalaska]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]].<ref name=DANFS/>
Based at [[Dutch Harbor]], ''S-46'' ranged westward into the [[Kuril Islands]] in two patrols: one in October–November 1943, and another from December 1943-January 1944.<ref name=DANFS/> During the first, she damaged an enemy oiler in the [[Paramushiro]] area; during the second, she was scoreless. On returning to Dutch Harbor after her last war patrol, she was assigned to antisubmarine training activities.
For the remainder of the war, ''S-46'' provided training services in the Aleutians, in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] and off the coast of [[California]]. In the latter area from January 1945, she operated under the Commander, West Coast Sound School, San Diego.<ref name=DANFS/> After the cessation of hostilities in August, she was ordered to [[San Francisco, California]], for inactivation, and in late September, she moved up the bay to [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]].<ref name=DANFS/>
==Decommissioning and disposal==
''S-46'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 2 November 1945.<ref name=DANFS/> Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] two weeks later, and her [[Hulk (ship)|hulk]] was sold for scrapping to the Salco Iron and Metal Company, [[San Francisco]], in November 1946.<ref name=DANFS/>
==Awards==
*{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with one [[battle star]] for World War II service<ref name=DANFS/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.historycentral.com/NAVY/Submarine/s46.html History Central S-46 SS-157]
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/s-46.html}}
==External links==
*{{navsource|08/08157|S-46}}
*[http://www.pigboats.com/ww2/s46.html Kill record: USS S-46]
{{United States S class submarine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:S-46 (Ss-157)}}
[[Category:United States S-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1923 ships]]