Allied Warships

S-31 (SS-136)

Submarine of the S-1 class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	S-1
Pennant	136
Built by	Union Iron Works (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	13 Apr 1918
Launched	28 Dec 1918
Commissioned	11 May 1922
End service	19 Oct 1945
History	Decommissioned 4 October 1922. Recommissioned 8 March 1923. Decommissioned 7 December 1937. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned 18 September 1940. Decommissioned 19 October 1945. Stricken 1 November 1945. Sold in May 1946 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS S-31 (136)

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. Mannert Lincoln Abele, USN	18 Sep 1940	Nov 1941
2	Thomas F. Williamson, USN	Nov 1941	10 Aug 1942
3	Lt. Robert Frederick Sellars, USN	10 Aug 1942	Dec 1943
4	William R. Lennox, USNR	Dec 1943	Oct 1944
5	Lt. William Newkirk Durley, USNR	1 Oct 1944	19 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving S-31 include:

10 Mar 1942
USS S-31 (Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson) departed from Coco Solo, Panama for a defensive war patrol.

31 Mar 1942
USS S-31 (Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson) returns to Coco Solo, Panama.

14 Apr 1942
USS S-31 (Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson) departed from Coco Solo, Panama for another defensive war patrol.

13 May 1942
USS S-31 (Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson) returns to Coco Solo, Panama.

7 Jul 1942
USS S-31 (Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson) departed from Dutch Harbour, Alaska for her 1st offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol of the western Aleutians.

10 Aug 1942
The commanding officer of USS S-31, Lt.Cdr. T.F. Williamson is wounded by the accidental explosion of a flare. He dies of his wounds on the 28th.

S-31 also ended her 1st offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

11 Aug 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Dutch Harbour bound for San Diego, California. She is to serve at the Sound School there and in early 1943 she undergoes and overhaul.

26 Aug 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 2nd offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off Adak.

28 Sep 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) ended her 2nd offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

13 Oct 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Dutch Harbour for her 3rd offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the Kurils.

26 Oct 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) torpedoed and sank the Japanese transport ship Keizan Maru (2864 BRT) off Paramushiro, Kurils in position 50°10'N, 155°36'E.

8 Nov 1942
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) ended her 3rd offensive war patrol at Dutch Harbour.

11 Mar 1943
With her overhaul completed USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Pearl Harbor for her 4th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the Marshall Islands area.

9 Apr 1943
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) ended her 4th offensive war patrol at Noumea, New Caledonia.

5 Jul 1943
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Noumea, New Caledonia for her 5th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol off the New Hebrides.

26 Jul 1943
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) ended her 5th offensive war patrol at Noumea.

22 Aug 1943
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) departed from Noumea, New Caledonia for her 6th offensive war patrol. She was ordered to patrol in the St. George Channel.

17 Sep 1943
USS S-31 (Lt. R.F. Sellars) ended her 6th offensive war patrol at Brisbane, Australia. She is now assigned to training duties.