USS G - 2 ( SS - 27 ) USS " G - 2 " ( SS - 27 ) was a " G " - class submarine of the United States Navy . While the four G - boats were nominally all of a class , they differed enough in significant details that they are sometimes considered to be four unique boats , each in a class by herself . " G - 2 " was named Tuna when her keel was laid down on 20 October 1909 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport , Connecticut , making her the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tuna , a large , vigorous , spiny - finned fish highly esteemed for sport and food . She was renamed " G - 2 " on 17 November 1911 , launched on 10 January 1912 sponsored by Ms . Marjorie F . Miller , towed to the New York Navy Yard after the termination of the Lake contract on 7 November 1913 where she was completed , and commissioned on 1 December 1913 with Lieutenant , junior grade Ralph C . Needham in command . Service history . Departing New York City under tow of submarine tender " Ozark " ( ex - " Arkansas " ) the submersible torpedo boat arrived at the torpedo station , Newport , Rhode Island , on 28 February 1914 . Attached to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla , " G - 2 " spent the next five months conducting dive training and engineering exercises with in Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay . During these trials the boat made six submerged runs to a maximum depth of . Her engines proved troublesome , however , and after the port armature shaft failed on 31 March , the boat was towed to New York for repairs . While there , financial considerations led to " G - 2 " being put in reserve commission on 15 June 1914 . " G - 2 " was placed in full commission at New York City on 6 February 1915 with Lt . Needham still in command . Attached to Division Three , Submarine Flotilla , Atlantic Fleet , the boat joined " G - 1 " , tender and tug , for a cruise to Norfolk , Virginia on 25 March . Arriving there two days later , the submersible conducted maneuvers in Hampton Roads before proceeding to Charleston , South Carolina in April , arriving there on 17 April . Following a short yard period for repairs , the division proceeded back to New York , mooring alongside the 135th Street pier on 9 May . On 18 May , " G - 2 " joined other warships and passed in review before President of the United States Woodrow Wilson , who looked on from the yacht . The boat then sailed to Nantucket , Massachusetts , to participate in a war problem off Block Island , before unloading her torpedo es at Newport on 25 May . Ordered back to New York for an overhaul , the submersible again transited the familiar waters of Long Island Sound before arriving at the mouth of the East River on 22 June . While standing down the river with , however , the two boats collided with submarine " K - 22 " in an unusual three - boat accident . Fortunately , none of the boats suffered any damage . " G - 2 " entered the Navy Yard there for an extended overhaul later that day . Escorted to Provincetown , Massachusetts , by " Ozark " and tug , " G - 2 " commenced final acceptance trials from 1 – 10 December . Following those successful evolutions , during which the Trial Board noted numerous items requiring modernization , the boat moved back to New York for an overhaul on 14 January 1916 . Six months later , " G - 2 " shifted to the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yard for completion , receiving new diving rudder gear , hydroplanes , electrical wiring and a new crankshaft . This yard work required extensive alterations and the boat did not return to service until convoyed to New London , Connecticut , by on 28 June 1917 . On 21 August , " G - 2 " sailed to Boston , Massachusetts via the Cape Cod Canal to operate with the destroyer , submarine chaser " SC - 6 " , and steam yacht . There , the boat helped a Navy Experimental Board embarked in " Margaret " carry out various sound detector tests in nearby waters . The submarine also conducted practice approaches and served as an instruction platform for officer and enlisted submarine students . Shifting back to New London on 20 October , " G - 2 " combined work on sound detection devices with training for the newly established Submarine School off Block Island and in Long Island Sound . During seven months of operations , she experimented with magnetic detectors and dragging devices and tried out new periscope s and other submarine equipment . The boat carried out these tests with section patrol boat s and , as well as numerous subchasers . Learning of the possible proximity of German U - boat s , she conducted four - day patrols off Block Island in late June 1918 and again in mid - July . " G - 2 " continued schoolship duty out of New London through the end of World War I , testing listening and flare signaling devices ( including the Very System Signal ) among other pieces of equipment . On 30 August , for example , her crew tested the strength of the pressure hull , and the reliability of electric equipment , against depth charge explosions . On 12 September , " Thetis " experimented with a magnetic detector while " G - 2 " lay on the bottom in of water and , in November , " G - 2 " even conducted experimental work with patrol seaplanes . This duty ended in January 1919 when she was scheduled for inactivation . Decommissioned on 2 April , the boat was designated as a target for testing depth charges and ordnance net s in Niantic Bay , Connecticut . During inspection by a six - man maintenance crew on 30 July , the boat suddenly flooded and sank at her moorings in Two Tree Channel near Niantic Bay . She went down in , drowning three of the inspection crew . Too deep and too old to salvage , the submarine was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 September .