USS S - 50 ( SS - 161 ) USS " S - 50 " ( SS - 161 ) was a fourth - group ( " S - 48 " ) " S " - class submarine of the United States Navy . Her keel was laid down on 15 March 1920 by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in Bridgeport , Connecticut . She was launched on 18 June 1921 sponsored by Mrs . William G . Esmond , and commissioned on 20 May 1922 with Lieutenant J . A . Crutchfield in command . Service history . Initially assigned to experimental Submarine Division ( SubDiv ) Zero , then to SubDiv 4 , " S - 50 " was based at New London , Connecticut , and , until mid - June , conducted trials in the Block Island area . She then visited Poughkeepsie , New York , and New Haven , Connecticut , and , in July , moved south to Washington , DC . At the end of the month she returned to New London , whence she continued north for operations off Portsmouth , New Hampshire , and Portland , Maine . On 11 August , she returned to New London , then proceeded to Bridgeport , and remained in the builder ' s yard until mid - October . Resuming active duty , she operated in the New London area into January 1923 , then proceeded to New York City . Repairs and alterations at the navy yard there took her into August , when she resumed tests and exercises in the Block Island - New London area . At the end of December , the S - boat proceeded to Staten Island , whence , on 4 January 1924 , she headed south to participate in Fleet Problem III , a test of Caribbean Sea defenses and transit facilities of the Panama Canal . On completion of the problem , she put into Coco Solo . Toward the end of the month , she moved into the Virgin Islands for further operations and exercises . At about 03 : 30 on 6 February , a fire started in the after battery compartment . The room was sealed . At 06 : 57 , the room was ventilated . Four minutes later , the battery exploded , and the room was sealed for another four hours . Temporary repairs were soon started , and later that month , she began the trip back to New England . Towed initially to Guantanamo Bay , she was taken to New London and then to Portsmouth , New Hampshire , for yard work . In September , " S - 50 " departed Portsmouth , under her own power , arrived at New London on 23 February ; and reported to Commander , SubDiv 2 . Three weeks later , she shifted to New York , where , for the next ten months , she was used in experimental engineering work . In mid - July 1925 , " S - 50 " returned to New London and for the next two years was primarily engaged in conducting experimental tests and performing exercises for the Submarine School . During that period , she regularly interrupted those duties for annual overhauls and individual , division , and fleet exercises ; and , in July 1926 , was called on to assist in salvage operations for sister ship . Experimental work during the period took her to the Virginia Capes to participate in sound tests for the Naval Experiment Laboratory in November and December , 1926 , and to southern Florida for engineering tests in January and February , 1927 . On her return from Florida in March 1927 , " S - 50 " was ordered inactivated . At the end of the month , she proceeded to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where she was decommissioned on 20 August 1927 and remained berthed as a unit of the inactive fleet there until the 1930s . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 March 1931 , and her hulk was scrapped the following fall .