USS S-44 (SS-155) was a S-42 Class World War II era submarine.
On September 26, 1943, the S-44, captained by Lieutenant Commander Frank E. Brown, departed Attu Island to begin her fifth and final war patrol in the Kurile Islands area. She was not heard from again. The precise details of how she was sunk became known after two of her crew members were repatriated by the Allies at the end of the war from a Japanese prisoner of war camp. On the night of October 7, 1943, the S-44 mistakenly identified a radar contact as a Japanese merchant ship. It was actually the 860-ton IGN Shimushu class escort ship Ishigaki, armed with three .45-caliber guns and four 25mm anti-aircraft guns. The S-44 approached the vessel on the surface, firing at it with her deck gun. Ishigaki commenced firing at S-44 with its guns. S-44 was critically damaged and began sinking. The order was given to abandon ship. Only two crew members were picked up by Ishigaki even though many others were in the 40-degree water struggling to survive. Ishigaki's commanding officer probably feared the possible presence of other U. S. submarines and only needed two survivors to prove he had sunk S-44. The crew members left in the water likely succumbed to hypothermia and drowned. The two crew men picked up by Ishigaki were taken to the Japanese naval base at Paramushiro Island. Later they were transferred to the Naval Interrogation Camp at Ofuna. The two submariners spent the last year of World War II working in the Ashio copper mines. 1
S-44's loss was made public on February 8, 1944:
Navy Department Communique No. 504, February 8, 1944
1. The U. S. Submarine Cisco and the U. S. Submarine S-44 are overdue from patrol and must be presumed to be lost.
2. The next of kin of personnel in the Cisco and the S-44 have been so informed.
American codebreakers had intercepted Japanese radio communications regarding the sinking of S-44. Thus, Admiral Lockwood's staff did not have to wait until the end of the war to learn of her loss. However, as was the case with many other double-edged secrets, the information could not be disclosed lest the enemy changed their encryption codes. The commanding officer of the S-44, Lieutenant Commander Brown, who went down with the S-44, "...was the only American submarine skipper to lose two submarines." He had also been the skipper of USS S-39 (SS-144) when on August 13, 1942, she hit a submerged reef off Rossel Island, began breaking up, and was abandoned. 2
S-44 received two battle stars for World War II service. Her JANAC score is 17,070 tons of Japanese shipping sunk in three vessels. Her Alden-McDonald score is 16,970 tons sunk in three vessels. Her SORG score is four vessels sunk for 11,600 tons. The S-44 is most remembered for sinking the IJN heavy cruiser Kako. 3
A list of the personnel lost with S-44 is maintained at http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/uss-s-44-155.htm.
Patrol Data and Captains for the USS S-44 (SS-155)
| Patrol No. |
Patrol Area |
Patrol Duration DD-MM-YY |
Captain's Rank & Name |
Sailed From |
| 1 | Solomons | 24-Apr-42 to 23-May-42 | LT John R. Moore | Brisbane |
| 2 | Solomons | 07-Jun-42 to 05-Jul-42 | Same | Brisbane |
| 3 | Solomons | 24-Jul-42 to 23-Aug-42 | Same | Brisbane |
| 4 | Solomons | 16-Sep-42 to 14-Oct-42 | LT Reuben T. Whitaker | Brisbane 4 |
| 5 | Kurile Islands | 26-Sep-43 to Lost | LCDR Frank E. Brown | Attu |
JANAC Score for the USS S-44 (SS-155)
| Patrol No. |
Date DD-MM-YY |
Vessel Name |
Vessel Type |
Tonnage Sunk |
Location Sunk |
|
| 1 | 12-May-42 | Shoei Maru | Converted Salvage Vessel |
5,644 | 4-51S, 152-54E | |
| 2 | 21-Jun-42 | Keijo Maru | Converted Gunboat |
2,626 | 9-00S, 160-00E | |
| 3 | 10-Aug-42 | Kako | Heavy Cruiser | 8,800 | 2-15S, 152-15E | |
| TOTALS | 3 vessels | 17,070 tons | ||||
Alden-McDonald Score for the USS S-44 (SS-155)
| Date DD-MM-YY |
Vessel Name |
Vessel Type |
Tonnage Sunk |
Tonnage Damaged |
| 12-May-42 | Shoei Maru | Converted Repair Ship |
5,644 | |
| 22-Jun-42 | Keijo Maru | Converted Gunboat |
2,626 | |
| 08-Aug-42 | Kako | Heavy Cruiser | 8,700 | |
| TOTALS | 3 vessels sunk 0 vessels damaged |
Tons sunk 16,970 |
Tons damaged 0 |
|
SORG Score for the USS S-44 (SS-155)
SORG totals for S-44
4 vessels sunk for 11,600 tons
0 vessels damaged for 0 tons
October 2, 2011
1. Moore, Stephen L., Presumed Lost: The Incredible Ordeal of America's Submarine POWs during the Pacific War, p. 111-122.
2. Blair, Clay Jr., Silent Victory: The U. S. Submarine War Against Japan, p. 420.
3. Japanese Naval And Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II By All Causes, Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee, USS S-44 (SS-155), published online at http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-6.html#s-44 (accessed September 29, 2011); 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-44 (SS-155), Attack Nos. 152, 206, 269, and 347; Submarine war patrol reports on CD, USS S-44 (SS-155), 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."
4. Following her fourth patrol, the S-44 was sent to the the Philadelphia Navy Yard for an overhaul. She underwent the overhaul from April to June 1943, and then in July 1943 she got underway for duty in the Kurile Islands. The S-44 arrived at Dutch Harbor on September 16, 1943 and then headed for Attu Island, whence she began her final patrol on September 26, 1943.
