| Year | Date | Historical Events |
| 1917 | Dec 4 | Keel laid down by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, ME. |
| 1919 | Aug 27 | Launched. |
| | Nov 19 | Commissioned with LCDR. Percy K. Robottom in command.
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| 1920 | Jan 14 | S-4 visited Havana, Cuba. |
| | Nov 18 | S-4 departed New London, CT. to rendezvous with her assigned division, SubDiv 12, and SubDiv 18 off New Hampshire. The two divisions were about to embark on a voyage which, at that time, was to be the longest cruise undertaken by American submarines. |
| 1921 | Dec 1 | S-4 arrived at Cavite, Philippines via the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| 1924 | Oct 29 | S-4 departed Cavite, Philippines for the West Coast. |
| | Dec 30 | S-4 Arrived at Mare Island, CA. |
| 1927 | Feb 10 | S-4 departed Mare Island, CA. and sailed to the Panama Canal Zone, where she operated through March and April. |
| | May 3 | S-4 arrived at New London, CT. |
| | Dec 17 | While surfacing from a submerged run over the measured mile off Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA., S-4 was accidentally rammed and sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Paulding. 38 men lost.
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| 1928 | Mar 17 | S-4 was finally raised, by a salvage effort commanded by CAPT. Ernest J. King, and towed to the Boston Navy Yard for dry docking. |
| | Mar 19 | S-4 was decommissioned. |
| | Oct 16 | S-4 was recommissioned, after repairs. She served at Key West, FL., early in 1929 and 1930, and in the Northeast during the remainder of those years. In 1931, she operated again at New London, CT. |
| 1932 | Jan 3 | S-4 departed New London, CT. for Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| | Aug 29 | S-4 arrived at Pearl Harbor, HI. |
| 1933 | Apr 7 | S-4 was decommissioned and laid up. |
| 1936 | Jan 15 | S-4 was struck from the Naval Register. |
| | May 15 | S-4 was destroyed by sinking. |