USS S-13 (SS-118) was a second-group (S-3 or "Government") S-class submarine

United States S class submarine

The United States' S-class submarines, often simply called S-boats , were the first class of submarines built to a United States Navy design....

 of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Her keel was laid down on 14 February 1920 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 20 October 1921 sponsored by Miss Mary Howe, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 14 July 1923 with Lieutenant Wilder D. Baker in command.

Following duty along the northeast coast in 1923, S-13 visited the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

, Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, and Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

 from January into April 1924. Sailing from New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, on 24 November, she proceeded, via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, visited Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 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

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

, 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 l935. Departing Coco Solo

Coco Solo

Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colón, Panama....

 on 13 June 1936, S-13 was decommissioned on 30 September that year at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

.

S-13 was recommissioned on 28 October 1940. Following voyages to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, 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

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 19 May and sold on 28 October of that year to Rosoff Brothers of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Resold to Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on an unspecified date, she was scrapped.

The 1930 John Ford

John Ford

John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...

 film Men Without Women

Men Without Women (film)

Men Without Women is an American drama film directed and written by John Ford, from the script by James Kevin McGuinness. The film also starred Kenneth MacKenna, Frank Albertson, and J. Farrell MacDonald.-Cast:...

is set in an entirely fictional submarine named USS S-13.