S-42

S-42 hauled out on the marine railway at Pearl Harbor, approximately 1929-1930. She received some general upkeep work. A man from the shipyard can be seen painting the hull. Other yard workers and a crewman can be seen in the center of the photo. The gun sponson can be seen bulging the superstructure with the conning tower above it.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT a Navy photo.

S-42 hauled out on the marine railway at Pearl Harbor approximately 1929-1930. She is getting a general upkeep. A yard worker is painting the hull on the right side of the image. the photo is taken from outside the marine railway and looking at the port side of the S-42.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT a Navy photo.

An interior photo of S-42, date unknown. This is the control room and the high pressure air manifold in on the left, with the stern planes wheel on the right. In the center is the ladder to the conning tower.

Photo courtesy of crew member John Allen, used with permission.

Three sailors of the S-42 standing on the aft deck after getting their heads shaved. They are from left to right; Nunn, Ships Cook Second Class, Nessin (rate unknown), and the owner of the scrapbook who never identified himself. The year is circa 1928 and the photo is taken at Submarine Base Pearl Harbor. This is before the big expansion projects of the 1930's when the escape training tower was built. The tower was completed in 1932. The new crew's barracks, the top of which can just be seen over the top of the building on the left, has been recently completed in this photo.

In the photo you can see two of the men, Nessin and the scrapbook owner, wearing their belt buckles off to the side. Though this could be a fashion statement it has probably a more practical nature. Working around moving and rotating machinery or open breaker panel electrical circuits caused men to be more cautious about metal-to-metal contacts.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT a Navy photo.

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S-42 at an unknown location in Hawaiian waters. The crew has caught a medium sized shark. It appears it was caught on a baited line with a lightweight chain for a leader. It also looks like the crew has used another line with a grapple on it that is hooked under the exposed fin. Another crewman is reaching down with a boat hook to try and snag the fish.

What looks like a rope at the deck edge is actually a tow cable that these early submarines had permanently affixed. It was run through the bullnose at the bow and then attached to the portside of the hull at deck level. We now know that the shark was caught on the port side of the submarine.

These photos were taken from the S-42's small boat that would have used the davit to lift it from its storage locker under the walking deck.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT Navy photos.

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Sanitary facilities on the S-class submarines left quite a bit to be desired. There were toilets and sinks below for the crew's use, but no showers. Many of the boats had a shower set up topside, and this arrangement is shown here on S-42 in the Caribbean in 1926. The shower head is installed on piping inside the aft end of the conning tower fairwater on the port side. The piping for the shower head was mounted on a swivel union that allowed the shower to be folded up inside the fairwater when not in use. This would have been a salt-water shower, as fresh water was strictly rationed on the S-boats. What little fresh water that could be carried and made while at sea was reserved for cooking, drinking, and the battery. It looks like this was an enjoyable evolution for the crew. It would have felt pretty good to take a shower, even a salt water one, after enduring the hot and sweaty environment of these early submarines. The sailor in the left photo has been identified as Radioman 2nd Class Trottier. No first name was provided.

Photos in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT to be used without permission.

The crew of S-42 at sea on a practice torpedo firing day. The crew is retrieving a fired exercise "fish" with its non-explosive warhead and has lifted it aboard. This Mk 10 torpedo weighs a just over a ton and the men are in deep concentration moving it as it hangs above the deck, maneuvering it to be lowered below decks into the torpedo room. When they get back to port they will then pull it out and return it to the torpedo shop to be refurbished and used again, maybe by the S-42 or another sub needing to train its crew.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman. NOT a Navy photo.

A closeup of the photo on the previous page, showing details of S-42's conning tower fairwater while exiting Pearl Harbor, approximately 1931. The radio mast is sited farther aft on the fairwater than previous boats, and the prominent bulge of the gun access trunk at the forward end of the fairwater is apparent here. The triangular stanchion at the top of the fairwater supports the combination mine clearance wire and long-range radio aerial.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

S-42 and her crew in Dutch Harbor, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands, October 22, 1943. This is a photo of the change of command. LCDR Harley Kent Nauman (far right, front row) turned command over to LT Charles Francis Leigh (to Nauman's right). Nauman went on to command the USS Salmon (SS-182). John Allen, who supplied this photo is in the center rear in the photo.

Photo courtesy of crewmember John Allen. Used with permission.

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  Center, John Allen

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  Center, QM3 Miller

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  "Shorty" Howe

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  Center, The ship's cook

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  Left, LCDR Charles F. Leigh, right LCDR Harley K. Nauman

Closeups of the photo above, Change of Command Ceremony, Dutch Harbor, Alaska, October 22, 1943.

Photos courtesy of crewmember John Allen. Used with permission.

A bow view of S-42 at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, approximately 1943. Her hull number is still present on her bow, but it has been painted over in flat black. This was to prevent her from being identified if spotted by the Japanese. The rounded covers over the pivots for the bow planes have been removed, likely due to a corrosion problem. The bow planes are partially rigged out.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

An extensive overhaul in Philadelphia in the summer of 1943 provided S-42 with some important repair and modernization work. She is seen here in the center of a nest of her sister S-boats in Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, in the Admiralties off New Guinea. The date is the late summer of 1944. The configuration of her conning tower fairwater has been drastically changed, with a new gun deck forward of the bridge for a 20 mm Mk 10 mount. Her main deck gun has been changed to a 3"/50 caliber Mk 17 weapon. She has received SJ and SD radars, updated communications equipment, air conditioning, a rebuilt aft superstructure, and many other improvements. The other two boats in the nest are not identified.

Photo courtesy of crewmember John Allen. Used with permission.

Another view taken at the same time as the one above. This one was taken from the 20 mm gun deck and shows the S-42's forward deck. Just forward of the open torpedo room hatch is the combination JK/SC passive sonar, used to determine the bearing to a target.

Photo courtesy of crewmember John Allen. Used with permission.

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