The USS S-28 (SS-133) was a S-1 class World War II era submarine.
On July 3, 1944, the S-28, captained by reservist Lieutenant Commander Jack G. Campbell, left the submarine base at Pearl Harbor to conduct training exercises with the Coast Guard cutter Reliance. On July 3 and 4, she acted as a target for Reliance's crew to help train them in American anti-submarine warfare techniques. During the late afternoon of July 4, all contact with the S-28 was suddenly lost. 1
A thorough search was conducted for the S-28 through the afternoon of July 6, 1944, when a diesel oil slick was found in the area where she had been operating. A subsequent Court of Inquiry stated that the S-28 lost depth control "...from either a material casualty or an operating error of personnel, or both, and that depth control was never regained. The exact cause of the loss of the S-28 cannot be determined." It was also stated that the loss of the S-28 was not caused by negligence or inefficiency of any person or persons. Because of the depth of the water (1400 fathoms), salvage operations were deemed impossible. 2
The S-28 was awarded one battle star for her services in World War II. Her JANAC score is one ship sunk, the 1,368-ton converted gunboat Katsura Maru No. 2, on September 19, 1943. Her Alden-McDonald score is the same. Her SORG score is one vessel sunk worth 4,000 tons. 3
A list of the personnel lost with the S-28 is maintained at http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-s-28-133.htm.
Patrol Data and Captains for the USS S-28 (SS-133)
| Patrol No. |
Patrol Area |
Patrol Duration DD-MM-YY |
Captain's Rank & Name |
Sailed From |
| 1 | Aleutians | 20-May-42 to 28-Jun-42 | LCDR John D. Crowley | San Diego 4 |
| 2 | Aleutians | 15-Jul-42 to 18-Aug-42 | Same | Dutch Harbor |
| 3 | Aleutians | 16-Sep-42 to 10-Oct-42 | Same | Dutch Harbor |
| 4 | Aleutians | 09-Dec-42 to 21-Jan-43 | Same | Dutch Harbor |
| 5 | Aleutians | 04-Feb-43 to 28-Feb-43 | Same | Dutch Harbor |
| 6 | Aleutians | 13-Jul-43 to 16-Aug-43 | LCDR Vincent A. Sisler, Jr. | Dutch Harbor 5 |
| 7 | Aleutians | 08-Sep-43 to 18-Oct-43 | Same | Attu |
October 2, 2011
1. Roscoe, Theodore, United States Submarine Operations in World War II, p. 347.
2. Ibid., p. 347-348.
3. Alden, John D., and Craig R. McDonald, United States and Allied Submarine Successes in the Pacific and Far East During World War II, Fourth Edition, see USS S-28 (SS-133), Attack No. 1127; Submarine war patrol reports on CD, data collected by the Submarine Operations Research Group (SORG) in the report "Results of U. S. Submarine War Patrols Listed Alphabetically by Name of Submarine"; Japanese Naval And Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II By All Causes, Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee, USS S-28 (SS-133), published online at http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-6.html#s-28 (accessed September 29, 2011).
4. Crowley had assumed command of the S-28 on July 26, 1941. The S-28 was undergoing a complete overhaul at the Mare Island Naval Yard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th. On May 20, 1942, the S-28 in company with three other S-boats, sailed from San Diego for Dutch Harbor. The S-28 moored at the American base there on June 28, 1942. On March 20, 1943, Vincent A. Sisler, Jr. replaced Crowley as the skipper of the S-28. The changeover was made at the Canadian naval base at Esquimalt, on Vancouver Island. The S-28 then operated with the Canadian Navy and Air Force through April 15, 1943, conducting anti-submarine warfare training exercises. The S-28 then underwent two months of repairs and refitting at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. She returned to Dutch Harbor on July 3, 1943. The S-28 made two more patrols in northern waters before arriving at Pearl Harbor on November 16, 1943, for overhaul and use as a training vessel. Crowley returned to the States to attend the Prospective Commanding Officer School at New London and thence supervised the outfitting of his new command, the brand-new fleet submarine the USS Flier (SS-250). On April 30, 1945, Sisler became the commanding officer of the USS Mapiro (SS-376). See Sturma, Michael, The USS Flier: Death and Survival on a World War II Submarine, p. 12-15; Submarine war patrol reports on CD, USS S-28 (SS-133).
5. On August 13, 1943, the S-28 ended her sixth patrol at the submarine base at Massacre Bay on Attu Island. On September 8, 1943, she sailed from there for her seventh and last war patrol. On October 18, 1943, the S-28 ended her last war patrol at Dutch Harbor.
