Collision with USCG Paulding
On December 17, while surfacing from a submerged run over the measured-mile off Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass., S-4 was accidentally rammed and sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Paulding (CG-17, ex USN destroyer DD-22). ... The only thing to surface, as Paulding stopped and lowered life boats, was a small amount of oil and air bubbles. Rescue and salvage operations were commenced, only to be thwarted by severe weather setting in. ... Gallant efforts were made to rescue six known survivors trapped in the forward torpedo room, who had exchanged a series of signals with divers, by tapping on the hull. However, despite the efforts, the men were lost. ... S-4 was finally raised on 17 March 1928 and towed to the Boston Navy Yard for dry-docking. She was decommissioned on the 19th.