USS Argonaut ( SS - 475 ) USS " Argonaut " ( SS - 475 ) was a operated by the United States Navy ( USN ) . Constructed at Portsmouth Navy Yard during the second half of 1944 , " Argonaut " was commissioned into the USN in 1945 and operated during the final year of World War II , although her only contact with the Japanese was when she sank a junk in August . During the 1950s , the submarine was modified for greater underwater endurance , and to carry a Regulus I missile . From 1963 to 1965 , " Argonaut " operated in the Mediterranean . The submarine was sold to Canada in 1968 , commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy as , and operated until the end of 1974 . The submarine was returned to the United States , and scrapped in 1977 . Construction . " Argonaut " was laid at Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery , Maine on 28 June 1944 . She was launched on 1 October 1944 sponsored by Mrs . Allan R . McCann and commissioned on 15 January 1945 , Lieutenant Commander John S . Schmidt in command . Service history . World War II . " Argonaut " held shakedown in the Portsmouth area and in Narragansett Bay and returned briefly to Portsmouth on 27 March for post - shakedown availability . She then sailed on 14 April for Key West , Florida , where she conducted special tests for lighter - than - air craft and training operations with the Fleet Sound School . " Argonaut " departed the Florida coast on 13 May to transit the Panama Canal en route Hawaii . Reaching Pearl Harbor on 11 June , the submarine spent two weeks in repairs and training exercises before beginning her first war patrol on 28 June . She made a fuel stop at Saipan on 10 July and then proceeded to the Formosa Strait and the East China and Yellow Seas to search for enemy shipping . On 16 July , " Argonaut " spotted a downed aviator , picked him up , and later transferred him to . Her only contact with Japanese vessels during the patrol came on 12 August , when " Argonaut " sank a 25 - ton junk with fire from her 40 mm and 20 mm guns . Since she terminated her patrol at Guam on 21 August , six days after Japan capitulated , this was her only combat action during World War II . Post - war . " Argonaut " departed Guam on 1 September and proceeded , via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal , to the Naval Frontier Base at Tompkinsville , New York . She arrived in New York on 4 October but continued on to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for an overhaul . Early in 1946 , " Argonaut " was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and was based at Panama . While en route to Panama , " Argonaut " collided with light cruiser USS ( CL - 48 ) off the United States East Coast between New York City and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania during a heavy fog . Both ships sustained minor damage and " Argonaut " continued on to Panama . Later in 1946 , " Argonaut " became a unit of Submarine Squadron 2 ( SubRon 2 ) based at New London , Connecticut . In July 1952 , the submarine underwent a major conversion at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , during which she received a snorkel system and a streamlined conning tower . These changes gave the submarine greater underwater endurance . " Argonaut " operated from New London until July 1955 , when she was reassigned to SubRon 6 at Norfolk , Virginia . Following this move , " Argonaut " was converted to a guided - missile submarine armed with a Regulus I missile . In 1958 , " Argonaut " s home port was changed to San Juan , Puerto Rico , where she remained for a year , engaged primarily in missile operations . The submarine returned to Norfolk , Virginia in 1959 . During an overhaul in early 1960 , " Argonaut " s missile equipment was removed . When the alterations were completed , the submarine resumed her routine of supporting antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) training operations out of Norfolk . Her Commanding Officer for 1960 to 1962 was lieutenant - commander ( LCDR ) Earl Resch . In June 1962 , LCDR Theodore A . Curtin became " Argonaut " s Commanding Officer . On 15 October 1962 , " Argonaut " performed duties in conjunction with the naval quarantine of Cuba . She then had a routine overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard . The yard work was completed on 13 May 1963 , and the submarine sailed to the New London area for refresher training . After further training in the Virginia Capes area , she got underway on 19 August for the Mediterranean and service with the 6th Fleet . Her ports of call during the deployment included Gibraltar ; $ 3 ; Rhodes , Greece ; İzmir , Turkey ; Toulon , France ; Marseille , France ; Sanremo , Italy and Naples , Italy . The submarine returned to home port on 15 December . " Argonaut " continued her routine of operations along the U . S . east coast with periodic deployments to the Mediterranean . LCDR Floyd Holloway became her Commanding Officer in June 1964 ( through 1966 ) . On 1 December 1965 " Argonaut " commenced overhaul at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard . " Argonaut " left the shipyard on 10 June 1966 for sea trials , and on 20 January headed for New London for refresher training . She then provided services to the submarine school at New London through the remainder of 1966 . The submarine moved to Norfolk early in 1967 , but left the Virginia Capes area on 9 January , bound for San Juan , Puerto Rico . " Argonaut " took part in Operation " Springboard " through the rest of January and most of February before leaving the Caribbean on 23 February to return to Norfolk , arriving there five days later . For the next two months , " Argonaut " prepared for a North Atlantic and Mediterranean cruise . She sailed on 26 May and made her first port call at Trondheim , Norway . The submarine also visited Cuxhaven , Germany ; Leith , Scotland ; Rota , Spain ; Naples , Italy ; and Valletta , Malta , before returning to her home port on 20 September . She remained in the local operating area through the duration of the year . The submarine traveled to New London on 6 February 1968 , entered drydock there on 9 February , and remained in it through 26 February . " Argonaut " left the keelblocks on 27 February and returned to Norfolk . She made a patrol in the Jacksonville , Florida operating area in mid - March and put in at Port Everglades , Florida on 22 March . Three days later the submarine got underway for her home port . Upon her arrival in Norfolk on 29 March , she assumed a schedule of local operations . This was interrupted by another cruise to Port Everglades in October . She returned that month to Norfolk and began preparations for deactivation . " Argonaut " was decommissioned on 2 December , and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register that same day . Royal Canadian Navy . She was sold to Canada , commissioned on 2 December 1968 in the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS " Rainbow " ( SS 75 ) and later decommissioned on 31 December 1974 , returned to the United States and scrapped in 1977 . Awards . " Argonaut " earned one battle star for her World War II service .