USS Argonaut ( SM - 1 ) USS " Argonaut " ( SF - 7 / SM - 1 / APS - 1 / SS - 166 ( never formally held this classification ) ) was a submarine of the United States Navy , the first ship to carry the name . " Argonaut " was laid down as V - 4 on 1 May 1925 at Portsmouth Navy Yard . She was launched on 10 November 1927 , sponsored by Mrs . Philip Mason Sears , the daughter of Rear Admiral William D . MacDougall , and commissioned on 2 April 1928 , Lieutenant Commander W . M . Quigley in command . Design . " V - 4 " was the first of the second generation of V - boat s commissioned in the late 1920s , which remain the largest non - nuclear submarines ever built by the U . S . These submarines were exempt by special agreement from the armament and tonnage limitations of the Washington Treaty . " V - 4 " and her sister ships " V - 5 " ( ) and " V - 6 " ( ) were designed with larger and more powerful diesel engines than those that propelled earlier V - boats , which were failures . Unfortunately , the specially built engines failed to produce their design power , and some developed dangerous crankshaft explosions . " V - 4 " and her sisters were slow in diving and , when submerged , were unwieldy and slower than designed . They also presented an excellent target to surface ship sonar and had a large turning radius . Designed primarily as a minelayer , and built at a cost of US $ 6 , 150 , 000 , " V - 4 " was the first and only such specialized type ever built by the United States . She had four torpedo tube s forward and two minelaying tubes aft . At the time of construction , " V - 4 " was the largest submarine ever built in the U . S . , and was the largest in U . S . Navy service for 30 years . Her minelaying arrangements were " highly ingenious , but extremely complicated " , filling two aft compartments . A compensating tube ran down the center of the two spaces , to make up for the lost weight as mines were laid , as well as to store eight additional mines . The other mines were racked in three groups around this tube , two in the fore compartment , one aft , with a hydraulically driven rotating cage between them . Mines were moved by hydraulic worm shafts , the aft racks connecting directly to the launch tubes , which had vertically sliding hydraulic doors ( rather than the usual hinged ones of torpedo tubes ) . Each launch tube was normally loaded with four mines , and a water ' round mines ( WRM ) tube flooded to compensate as they were laid , then pumped into the compensating tube . Eight mines could be laid in 10 minutes . Inter - War Period . Following commissioning , " V - 4 " served with Submarine Division 12 based at Newport , Rhode Island . She proved perennially underpowered , but engine replacement was postponed by war , and her MAN diesels were a constant source of trouble . In January – February 1929 , " V - 4 " underwent a series of trials off Provincetown , Massachusetts . On a trial dive during this period , she submerged to a depth of . This mark was the greatest depth an American submarine had reached up to that time . On 26 February 1929 , " V - 4 " was assigned to Submarine Division 20 ( SubDiv 20 ) , and arrived at San Diego , California on 23 March . From there , she participated in battle exercises and made cruises along the West Coast . " V - 4 " was renamed Argonaut on 19 February 1931 , and redesignated SM - 1 ( submarine , minelayer ) on 1 July . On 30 June 1932 , she arrived at Pearl Harbor , where she was assigned to SubDiv 7 . She carried out minelaying operations , patrol duty , and other routine work . In October 1934 and again in May 1939 , " Argonaut " took part in joint Army - Navy exercises in the Hawaiian operating area . " Argonaut " became the flagship of Submarine Squadron 4 ( SubRon 4 , commanded by Captain Freeland A . Daubin ) in mid - 1939 ( although a known postmark dated 12 / 12 / 38 on an Argonaut cover [ U . S . Submarine Argonaut A - 1 ] reads between the killer bars : FLAGSHIP SQUADRON - 4 HAWAII ) . The submarine returned to the West Coast in April 1941 to participate in fleet tactical exercises . LT Richard O ' Kane , who would win the Medal of Honor as the most successful United States submarine officer of World War II , began qualification in submarines aboard " Argonaut " in 1938 and remained aboard until the 1942 overhaul at Mare Island . World War II . On 28 November 1941 — " Argonaut " , commanded by Stephen G . Barchet — left Pearl Harbor and was on patrol near Midway Island when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor . After sunset on 7 December , " Argonaut " surfaced and heard naval gunfire around Midway . It was assumed the Japanese were landing a large invasion force . " Argonaut " then submerged to make a sonar approach to the " invasion force . " While designed as a minelayer and not an attack submarine , " Argonaut " made the first wartime approach on enemy naval forces . The " invasion force " turned out to be two Japanese destroyer s whose mission was shore bombardment on Midway . The ships may have detected " Argonaut " , and one passed close by the submarine . They completed the bombardment then retired before " Argonaut " could make a second approach . One week later , " Argonaut " made contact with three or four Japanese destroyers . Barchet wisely decided not to attack . On 22 January 1942 , she returned to Pearl Harbor and , after a brief stop , proceeded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for major overhaul . While there , her diesels were replaced with Winton 12 - 258Ss and her minelaying gear was removed . She was also fitted with a Torpedo Data Computer ( lack of which likely inhibited her ability to score with torpedoes ) , new electronics , and two external torpedo tubes for storage . On return to Pearl Harbor , she was " hastily converted " to a troop transport submarine . " Argonaut " returned to action in the South Pacific in August . Admiral Chester W . Nimitz assigned " Argonaut " and " Nautilus " to transport and land Marine Raiders on Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands for the Makin Raid . This move was designed to relieve pressure on American forces that had just landed on Guadalcanal . On 8 August , the two submarines embarked 120 troops of Companies A and B , 2nd Raider Battalion , and got underway for Makin . Conditions during the transit were unpleasant , and most of the marines became seasick . The convoy arrived off Makin on 16 August , and at 03 : 30 the next day the Marines began landing . Their rubber rafts were swamped by the sea and most of the outboard motors drowned . The Japanese — either forewarned or extraordinarily alert — were ready for the Americans ' arrival . Snipers were hidden in the trees , and the landing beaches were in front of the Japanese forces instead of behind them as planned . However , by midnight of 18 August , the Japanese garrison of about 85 men was wiped out ; radio stations , fuel , and other supplies and installations were destroyed , and all but 30 of the troops had been recovered . Sinking . " Argonaut " arrived back in Pearl Harbor on 26 August . Her hull classification symbol was changed from SM - 1 to APS - 1 ( transport submarine ) on 22 September . She was never formally designated SS - 166 , but that hull number was reserved for her . Her base of operations was transferred to Brisbane , Queensland , later in the year . In December , she departed Brisbane under Lieutenant Commander John R . Pierce to patrol the hazardous area between New Britain and Bougainville Island , south of Bismarck Archipelago . On 2 January 1943 , " Argonaut " sank the Japanese gunboat " Ebon Maru " in the Bismark Sea . On 10 January , " Argonaut " spotted a convoy of five freighters and their escorting destroyer s — , , and — returning to Rabaul from Lae . By chance , an army aircraft — which was out of bombs — was flying overhead and witnessed " Argonaut " ′ s attack . A crewman on board the plane saw one destroyer hit by a torpedo , and the destroyers promptly counterattacking . " Argonaut " ′ s bow suddenly broke the water at an unusual angle . It was apparent that a depth charge had severely damaged the submarine . The destroyers continued circling " Argonaut " , pumping shells into her ; she slipped below the waves and was never heard from again . 102 officers and men went down with her , the worst loss of life for a wartime submarine . Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 February . Japanese reports made available at the end of the war recorded a depth charge attack followed by gunfire , at which time they " destroyed the top of the sub " . On the basis of the report given by the Army flier who witnessed the attack in which " Argonaut " perished , she was credited with damaging a Japanese destroyer on her last patrol . ( Postwar , the JANAC accounting gave her none . ) Since none of the histories of the three escorting destroyers report damage on 10 January 1943 , the destroyer " hit " may have been a premature explosion . Awards . " Argonaut " earned two battle star s for her World War II service .