It was 80 years ago that the USS S-4 submarine was sunk in a collision with a Coast Guard destroyer off Provincetown. Today, a Cape Cod church honors the 40 men lost to a watery grave. The Dec. 17, 1927, accident is remembered annually by the congregation of the Church of St. Mary of the Harbor in Provincetown. This year, that Episcopal church will remember the 40th victim of the sunken steel shell, whose name had previously been left off a plaque at the church. “These men need to be remembered,” said the Rev. Terry Pannell. “It’s been a tradition almost as long as St. Mary has been here.” The tragic collision happened when the USCGC Pauling, unaware that the USS S-4 was submerged in the harbor for trials, careened into the front starboard of the S-boat. Water gushed into the battery room through the 2-foot-by-1-foot hole as the vessel sank more than 100 feet to the ocean floor. All 40 survived the ramming, but 34 men died soon after. The survivors inside the torpedo room communicated with would-be rescuers with Morse code. After seven days of failed attempts, rescuers gave up as a storm rolled in. The six suffocated but, in their final transmission,told the hindered rescue team, “We understand.” The S-4 was left until spring and then repaired and put back into commission. “Much of what they learned from the rescue attempt was put into use later to save other crews,” Pannell said. The congregation at St. Mary’s sings the first verse of the Navy hymn every Sunday, and a cross and plaque dedicated to the men are in the church’s garden. Today, the lost sailor whose name had been left off the plaque, Henry H. Brown, will be memorialized for the first time. A new plaque with his name will replace the old one after the service, Pannell said. The director of the Naval Chaplains School and Brown’s great-great-niece will be on hand for the reading of the men’s names, each followed by the tolling of bells. “Especially at a time that we’re losing so many, it’s important to remember,” Pannell said.
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