USS R - 10 ( SS - 87 ) USS " R - 10 " ( SS - 87 ) was an " R " - class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 21 March 1918 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy , Massachusetts . She was launched 28 June 1919 sponsored by Mrs . Philip C . Ransom , and commissioned on 20 August 1919 , Lieutenant Commander John A . Brownell in command . Service history . 1919 – 1930 . Fitted out at Boston , Massachusetts , during the fall of 1919 , " R - 10 " joined Submarine Division 9 with the new year , 1920 , and departed for winter maneuvers in the Gulf of Mexico on 15 January . Based at Pensacola , Florida , she completed final trials during March and in mid - April returned to New England . On 18 May she arrived at Newport , Rhode Island and , given hull classification symbol SS - 87 in July , operated out of there and New London , Connecticut . With the fall she proceeded south again , underwent overhaul at Norfolk , Virginia , remaining until April 1921 . She then headed for the Panama Canal and duty in the Pacific . " R - 10 " arrived at San Pedro , California , on 30 June for a two - year tour . Toward the end of September , she added salvage operations to her record as she assisted in raising from the bottom of San Pedro Harbor on 13 October , then resumed individual and squadron exercises . In July 1923 , the R - boat shifted to Pearl Harbor where , for the next seven and a half years she conducted training operations , including fleet problems , made occasional runs as far west as Midway Island and as far east as the West Coast , and participated in air - sea rescue operations for planes initiating transpacific air travel . Ordered back to the Atlantic in 1930 , " R - 10 " cleared Pearl Harbor for the last time on 12 December . 1931 – 1939 . On 9 February 1931 , " R - 10 " arrived at New London and assumed training duties for the Submarine School there . During the spring , she underwent overhaul at Portsmouth , New Hampshire , and in the summer added ASW destroyer training and NROTC cruises to her mission . Through the decade she continued her role as a training submarine and operated primarily off the New England coast with occasional temporary duty at stations on the mid - Atlantic seaboard , including the Diving School at Piney Point , Maryland , in May 1937 . 1940 – 1946 . In September 1940 , " R - 10 " participated in Bureau of Ordnance tests at Norfolk , then returned to New London . The following year she was transferred to Key West , Florida . From 1941 until the winter of 1943 , she alternated patrols in the Yucatan Channel and the Florida Straits with operations for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West . Then , for the remainder of World War II , she concentrated on training duties . During February and into March 1945 she operated out of Port Everglades , Florida , then returned to Key West where she remained until 4 June . On that date " R - 10 " headed north for Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , and inactivation . Arriving on 8 June , she decommissioned on 18 June and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 July . In January 1946 she was sold for scrap to the North American Smelting Company in Philadelphia .