USS G - 4 ( SS - 26 ) USS " G - 4 " ( SS - 26 ) 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 - 4 " was named Thrasher when her keel was laid down on 9 July 1910 by William Cramp and Sons in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , making her the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the thrasher , a thrushlike bird known as a singer and mimic . She was renamed G - 4 on 17 November 1911 , launched on 15 August 1912 sponsored by Ms . Grace Anna Taussig , and commissioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 22 January 1914 , Lieutenant L . D . McWhorter in command . Service history . After fitting out , " G - 4 " proceeded to the New York Navy Yard on 25 April for service with Division Three , Submarine Flotilla , Atlantic Fleet . Based on plans purchased from Italian designer Cesare Laurenti , " G - 4 " was an even keel boat , meaning the round pressure hull was flat on the bottom . When surrounded by a streamlined outer hull , the boat was theoretically more stable than the earlier Holland - type boats . The different equipment and operating procedures meant " G - 4 " spent the next five months conducting trial runs and diving tests , many of which failed owing to engine machinery breakdown . Still , almost all of her preliminary trials were completed by the end of August , and the boat was conditionally accepted by the Navy on 21 September . At the end of October , the boat shifted to New London , Connecticut , and from there she sailed on to Newport , Rhode Island in mid - November . Moving back to New York on 22 November , " G - 4 " received post - shakedown repairs to her engines , which suffered from sea water damage owing to leaky exhaust lines and salt contamination of the oil system . After failing several engine trials that winter , the boat proceeded south to her builder ' s yard in Philadelphia on 9 March 1915 . Following two months of repairs , " G - 4 " departed Philadelphia on 12 May and sailed to New York for a Naval Review before President of the United States Woodrow Wilson . " G - 4 " then conducted maneuvers with the submarine flotilla off Newport in late May and again in October , in addition to local training operations out of New York and the submarine base in New London . On 14 January 1916 , " G - 4 " commenced a planned three - month overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard . Workers installed a gyrocompass and repaired equipment in preparation for final acceptance trials on 7 March . Although successfully put through her paces , the boat returned to the yard for further alterations , including the installation of new diving rudders . Trouble with the Sperry gyrocompass rudder control mechanism — as well as continued modifications to engines and other machinery — kept the boat in the New York Navy Yard through the end of the year . Finally tested at sea in February 1917 , the gyro stabilizer and diving rudders then failed in heavy weather . After " G - 4 " returned to the yard , the broken rudders were repaired and the stabilizer mechanism removed by 10 March . Sailing to New London on 24 April , " G - 4 " was attached to Division Three , Submarine Flotilla . For the next year , she combined experimental work with new sound detection devices with training new student crews in submarine operations and torpedo firing , a period of time punctuated by her joining the submarine tender for harbor submarine net defense experiments . Later in the month , " G - 4 " carried out sound experiments with and in the Thames River and in Long Island Sound . In late July , she conducted battle exercises and submerged attack drills against " SC - 6 " . On 22 October , " Thetis " experimented with sound and magnetic detectors while " G - 4 " lay on the bottom of Long Island Sound . Over the winter , she conducted numerous sound experiments with the newly established Submarine School in the area of Block Island Sound and Long Island Sound . In March 1918 , " G - 4 " shifted from New London to Newport , where she conducted magnetic detector experiments with . The submarine also conducted practice approaches and torpedo instruction for officer and enlisted submarine students . On 21 May , " G - 4 " commenced test firing the new Mark VII torpedo for installation in " O " and " N " - class submarines , evolutions that lasted through mid - July . The boat then returned to New London for a yard period , undergoing motor and electrical repairs through October . Although " G - 4 " resumed training and instruction duties on 4 November , the boat was slated for inactivation on 24 February 1919 . " G - 4 " continued her training and experimental duties until 1 March , when she was placed in ordinary for stripping and inactivation . She decommissioned on 5 September , was designated as a target for depth charge and ordnance tests on 6 December , and was sold for scrapping to Connecticut Iron and Metal Company of New London on 15 April 1920 . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 August 1921 .