S-44

S-44 undergoing a main propulsion motor change out in Coco Solo, Panama, 1926. In the pressure hull above the motor room is a "soft patch", a section of the pressure hull that can be unbolted and removed. A section of the aft superstructure skeg has also been removed to provide a clear path to hoist the large motor out. Note that the boat has been flooded down by the bow. This raises the aft part of the boat so that the wide open soft patch will remain above the water line. Even still, much care has to be taken to avoid flooding the boat.

U.S. Navy photo NH 80746 courtesy of the NHHC.

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Two photos of the crew of the S-44. Taken at Panama in 1926 while she was part of Submarine Division (SubDiv) 19.

The officer in the front row, third from the left and slightly leaning forward is Lieut. Marvin H. "Red" Grove of Salem, Virginia. He is one of two Lieutenants in this photo the other two are Lieutenant Junior Grade's. This would probably make him the Executive Officer. Very senior Chief Petty Officers sit at either end of the row.

Grove's granddaughter, Lillis Stern, has this to say about the photo; "My grandmother's handwriting on the back says the photo was from 1926 in the Panama Canal. My grandfather was medically discharged in 1931 from Mare Island."

It appears that one of the Stewards Mates, third from the right in the second row, is wearing a borrowed jumper. The sleeves are too long and hang down over his hands and have been folded under. There is another Filipino Steward 5th from the right and a Filipino Chief 8th from the right in the same row.

In the photo on the right, several things become apparent. The man at the very right in the photo and the man standing directly behind the seated Chief on the left are both wearing Gun Pointer First Class patches on their left sleeves. This means they were the men at the pointer and trainer positions at the deck gun during firing. The man behind the Chief is also wearing a Seaman Gunner patch below the Gun Pointer patch.

The chief on the end is a Torpedoman Chief with 5 hashmarks on his left sleeve. This means he has in excess of 20 years continuous duty and possibly as much as 24 years. Since the year is 1926 he could have joined the Navy anywhere between 1902 and 1905. Since the stripes are gold this means he has had no disciplinary actions on his record.

Photos contributed by Lillis Stern, granddaughter of Marvin Grove.

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Closeups of the above photos, showing the Chiefs and Officers. The Chief on the left is probably the senior enlisted man onboard, his title being Chief of the Boat. He is the principal enlisted assistant to the Commanding Officer and is the CO's "get it done" man. Note the embroidered silver Dolphins on his right sleeve. Enlisted men would not get their Dolphins as a breast badge until 1947.

Photos contributed by Lillis Stern, granddaughter of Marvin Grove.

S-44 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 1929. She has virtually no way on, and is probably preparing to moor to a tender. She is still in her as-built configuration, yet to receive the safety modifications.

U.S. Navy photo NH 42264 courtesy of the NHHC.

S-44 and her crew maneuvering up to retrieve a recently fired practice torpedo, location unknown, but the date is approximately 1929 or 1930. The floating torpedo can be barely seen just to the right of the extended bow plane. The sailor with the boat hook sitting on the bow plane will snag the weapon and pull it closer. Once a line is hooked around it, the weapon will be hoisted aboard and lowered into the torpedo room, where it will be refurbished for reuse. By simply swapping the water filled exercise head with an explosive filled head, the weapon can easily be turned into a warshot. It is hard to imagine this evolution taking place in today's Navy. Our perception of safety practices has changed a lot in the last 100 years.

U.S. Navy photo NH 80595 courtesy of the NHHC.

S-44 underway, likely off the California coast, approximately 1929 or 1930. Her aft skeg has been cut away, but she has not yet received safety modifications.

U.S. Navy photo NH 42262 courtesy of the NHHC.

Captain Ralph W. Christie, USN, (left) Commander Task Force 42 and Submarine Squadron Five congratulates Lieutenant Commander John R. Moore, USN, Commanding Officer of USS S-44 (SS-155), "as he returned to this South Pacific base after a very successful week of patrol activity" (quoted from original World War II photo caption). The original caption date is September 1, 1942, which is presumably a release date. S-44 returned to Brisbane, Australia, on August 23, 1942 at the end of a war patrol in the Solomon Islands, during which she sank the Japanese heavy cruiser Kako. The photograph was probably taken at about that time.

National Archives photo #80-G-12171.

A staged early war photograph of the S-44's gun crew manning the 4"/50 caliber Mk 9 gun, January, 1943. A bearded Chief Petty Officer on the far left is in charge of the gun crew. Note the "kill" flags painted on the forward edge of the bridge fairwater.

National Archives photo #80-G-33750.

This wartime photo of S-44 shows her essentially unmodified from her 1930's configuration, with the exception of having SJ radar added to her periscope shears. The photo was taken off the Panama Canal Zone in the Caribbean on February 6, 1943. She was enroute to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a thorough overhaul.

National Archives photo #19-N-41382.

Another photo taken at the same time as the one above, showing details of this early wartime configuration for S-44. The surface search SJ radar is clearly visible on the forward end of the periscope shears. There is a searchlight on a short angled mast aft of the periscopes.

National Archives photo #80-G-36129.

S-44 underway at the conclusion of her overhaul at Philadelphia, June 11, 1943. Her conning tower fairwater has been extensively rebuilt, and a separate mast has been added aft of the periscopes for the newly installed SD air-search radar.

National Archives photo #19-N-46194.

A starboard side view of S-44 following her Philadelphia overhaul, June 11, 1943. The changes to her fairwater are very apparent here, with the new deck for a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun forward of the bridge. You can also see details of how the SD radar mast was braced to the aft end of the periscope shears. Unusually, she has retained the 4"/50 caliber Mk 9 gun. Normally this would have been removed and replaced with a 3"/50 caliber model. The large gun was needed on the fleet boats.

National Archives photo #19-N-46193.

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