USS Fulton ( AS - 11 ) USS " Fulton " ( AS - 11 ) was the leader of her class of seven submarine tender s , launched on 27 December 1940 by Mare Island Navy Yard and sponsored by Mrs . A . T . Sutcliffe , great - granddaughter of Robert Fulton . " Fulton " was commissioned on 12 September 1941 , with Commander A . D . Douglas in command . Service history . World War II . Underway on her shakedown cruise out of San Diego when the Japan ese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , " Fulton " was ordered at once to Panama , arriving on 9 December . During the next month , she established advanced seaplane bases in the Gulf of Fonseca , Nicaragua , and in the Galapagos Islands , then returned to San Diego to prepare for Pacific duty . She tended Pacific Fleet submarine s at Pearl Harbor from 15 March - 8 July 1942 , putting to sea during the Battle of Midway . She transported many of the survivors of the sunken aircraft carrier back to Pearl Harbor , arriving on 8 June . She was at Midway until 17 October ; and at Brisbane from 9 November . There she established a submarine base and rest camp , and in addition to refitting submarines between their war patrols , acted as tender to other types of ships . Milne Bay , New Guinea was her station from 29 October 1943 – 17 March 1944 , when she sailed for a west coast overhaul . Returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1944 , " Fulton " gave her services to submarines there for a month , then at Midway from 18 July - 8 September , and then at Saipan until 25 April 1945 . She returned to duty at Pearl Harbor from 7 May - 9 June , and then sailed for Guam , where she refitted submarines for the last patrols of the war . Post - war service . 1946 - 1947 . After a west coast overhaul , " Fulton " served as tender at Pearl Harbor from February – May 1946 , then sailed for Bikini Atoll to participate in Operation Crossroads — atomic weapons tests in the Marshalls — that summer . In addition to caring for the six submarines assigned to the project , she acted as repair ship for other vessels in the task force . On 18 September 1946 , she arrived at Mare Island Navy Yard , where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 3 April 1947 . 1951 - 1960 . Recommissioned on 10 April 1951 , " Fulton " sailed three weeks later for New London , her home port until she was decommissioned in 1991 . Although her primary assignment was as tender for Submarine Squadron 10 ( SubRon 10 ) at New London , she occasionally relieved fellow tender at Norfolk , and also left New London for exercises from Newfoundland and Iceland to the Caribbean . She first crossed the Atlantic in the fall of 1957 for Operation Natoflex , visiting Rothesay , Scotland , and Portland , England , before returning to New London . A heightening of her responsibility came on 1 April 1958 , when three nuclear submarines were assigned to her squadron . In August , she sailed to New York City for the celebration of the arrival of from her historic submerged passage under the North Pole . From August 1959 - January 1960 , the tender underwent a modernization overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in order to be able to service both nuclear and conventional submarines , whether at home or overseas , making her the world ' s first nuclear support tender . 1972 - 1991 . In 1972 , " Fulton " made a five - month deployment to the Mediterranean . Her mission was to prepare for full - time use as an advance refit site for nuclear - powered fast attack submarine s . This was the first deployment of a World War II - vintage submarine tender to the Mediterranean since World War II . After a shipyard overhaul in 1976 , " Fulton " returned to New London to continue to support Atlantic Fleet Submarines . She was modernized in 1983 - 1984 during an extensive overhaul conducted at Electric Boat in Groton , Connecticut and General Dynamics , Quincy , Massachusetts . In January 1985 , she made a four - month deployment to the Mediterranean where she provided maintenance for the 6th Fleet submarines in La Maddalena , Italy . The tender made cruises to Puerto Rico in January 1986 and Bermuda in March 1987 . From 13 January - 12 March 1988 , she completed a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability at Norfolk Shipbuilding Company , Norfolk , Virginia . She returned to State Pier and continued to support SubRon 10 submarines until her decommissioning in 1991 . In 1988 , Submarine Squadron 10 ( SubRon 10 ) — of which " Fulton " was the flagship — included , , , , , , , , and the Torpedo Retriever " Labrador " TWR - 681 . On 30 September 1991 , SubRon 10 was disbanded and " Fulton " was decommissioned at her berth in New London , Connecticut . At this time , she was the third oldest commissioned ship in the Navy exceeded only by the ( AR - 5 ) and the . " Vulcan " was decommissioned on the same day as " Fulton " . Awards . During her career the USS " Fulton " earned the following awards -