USS S-13 (SS-118)

USS S-13 (SS-118) was a second-group (S-3 or "Government") S-class submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on 14 February 1920 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 20 October 1921 sponsored by Miss Mary Howe, and commissioned on 14 July 1923 with Lieutenant Wilder D. Baker in command.

History
United States
Name:	USS S-13
Builder:	Portsmouth Navy Yard
Laid down:	14 February 1920
Launched:	20 October 1921
Commissioned:	14 July 1923
Decommissioned:	10 April 1945
Stricken:	19 May 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:	S-class submarine
Displacement:	876 long tons (890 t) surfaced 1,092 long tons (1,110 t) submerged
Length:	231 ft (70 m)
Beam:	21 ft 10 in (6.65 m)
Draft:	13 ft 1 in (3.99 m)
Speed:	15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h) surfaced 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) submerged
Complement:	42 officers and men
Armament:	1 × 4 in (100 mm)/50 deck gun 5 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes

Following duty along the northeast coast in 1923, S-13 visited the Panama Canal Zone, Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and Trinidad from January into April 1924. Sailing from New London, Connecticut, on 24 November, she proceeded, via the Panama Canal and California, visited Hawaii from 27 April to 25 May 1925, and returned to New London on 12 July. In addition to service in the northeast from then through 1928, S-13 operated in the Panama Canal area from February through April 1926; visited Kingston, Jamaica, from 20–28 March 1927; and served again in the Panama Canal area from February into April 1928. From 1929 into 1936, S-13 operated almost exclusively in the Panama Canal area, although she visited Baltimore, Maryland, from 15 May to 5 June 1933, and New London from 15 May to 1 June 1935. Departing Coco Solo on 13 June 1936, S-13 was decommissioned on 30 September that year at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

S-13 was recommissioned on 28 October 1940. Following voyages to Bermuda, S-13 operated in the Panama Canal area from December 1941 into June 1942; off Guantanamo from June into August; in the Panama Canal area from August into January 1944; at Trinidad from February into May; at Guantanamo from May through July; and in the Panama Canal area through the remainder of the year. Departing Coco Solo on 3 January 1945, S-13 proceeded to Philadelphia for inactivation. She was decommissioned on 10 April 1945, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 May and sold on 28 October of that year to Rosoff Brothers of New York City. Resold to Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on an unspecified date, she was scrapped.

The 1930 John Ford film Men Without Women is set in an entirely fictional submarine named USS S-13.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.