USS Fulton ( AS - 1 ) USS " Fulton " ( AS - 1 ) was the lead ship of her class of submarine tender s . She later was converted into a gunboat and redesignated PG - 49 . " Fulton " should not be confused with , a patrol vessel that operated from 1917 to 1919 while " Fulton " ( AS - 1 ) was in commission . Construction and commissioning . The " Fulton " was launched on 6 June 1914 by New London Ship and Engine Company , Groton , Connecticut . The ship was sponsored by Mrs . A . T . Sutcliffe , great granddaughter of Robert Fulton , for whom the ship is named . " Fulton " was commissioned on 7 December 1914 , Lieutenant J . D . Wilson in command . Operational history . During her first six months of service , " Fulton " tended submarine s at Norfolk , Charleston , New York , and Newport , then after overhaul , arrived at New London on 2 November 1915 , where in 1918 she was the base ship for the newly formed Submarine School . Through 1922 , this was to be her principal base for operations with submarines along the east coast and in the Caribbean from Cape Cod to Cuba . She took part in maneuvers and war games , served as station ship at New London , and in the summer of 1922 was flagship of Commander , Atlantic Submarine Flotillas . Reassigned as tender for the Submarine Base at Coco Solo , Canal Zone , " Fulton " arrived there on 4 April 1923 , and during the following year joined in exercises on both sides of the Panama Canal Zone as well as making a survey of Almirante Bay , Panama . She returned to Philadelphia on 14 July 1925 , and there was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 5 October . " Fulton " was recommissioned on 2 September 1930 for duty as a survey ship in the Panama Canal Zone , reclassified as a gunboat , PG - 49 , on 29 September . On 3 March 1931 , she returned to Balboa . Aside from a voyage north for overhaul in the winter of 1931 - 32 , she conducted surveys in the Canal Zone area until arriving at San Diego on 13 August 1932 to prepare for duty in the Asiatic Fleet . Her assigned station was Hong Kong , where she arrived on 3 November . With infrequent voyages to Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines , " Fulton " patrolled the south China coast from Hong Kong to Canton until 14 March 1934 . On that day , a fire broke out amidships when exhaust lines from two cylinders of a diesel engine carried away and ignited oil on the engine . The crew assembled on the bow and stern , and were taken off by the British destroyer and the merchant ship SS " Tsinan " , three of the men having minor injuries , and brought to the Royal Navy Dockyard at Hong Kong . The British destroyer stood by the burning ship until a salvage party got the fire under sufficient control to allow her to be taken in tow for Junk Bay in Hong Kong . On 24 March , an American tug came to tow " Fulton " into Hong Kong , where she received emergency repairs to allow her to be towed to Cavite . The United States Department of the Navy later passed thanks to British naval authorities for the assistance " Wishart " and " Whitshed " provided to " Fulton " and her crew . Decommissioning and disposal . " Fulton " was decommissioned at Cavite on 12 May 1934 . She was scrapped later that year .