USS Harder ( SS - 568 ) USS " Harder " ( SS - 568 ) , a " Tang " - class submarine , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the harder , a fish of the mullet family found off South Africa . Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton , Connecticut , on 30 June 1950 . She was launched on 3 December 1951 sponsored by Kay Logan Cole , the widow of Lieutenant S . M . Logan , executive officer of " Harder " ( SS - 257 ) lost during World War II . " Harder " was commissioned on 19 August 1952 with Commander R . B . Laning in command . Service history . After shakedown out of Newport , Rhode Island , " Harder " made a 1000 - mile ( 1600 - km ) submerged passage from New London , Connecticut , to Nassau , Bahamas , while snorkeling . She then engaged in tests out of New London to evaluate fast attack type submarines . " Harder " began fleet operations out of New London in June 1953 . Shortly thereafter " Harder " departed for the British Isles . During this voyage , she experienced mechanical difficulties with her then - experimental Fairbanks type 3 engines . In August 1953 , her engines broke down completely off the east coast of Ireland . She was taken under tow by and endured the longest tow in submarine history , 2100 miles ( 3400 km ) across the Atlantic to New London , Connecticut . During the next several years " Harder " carried out a schedule of training and readiness operations with ships of the Atlantic Fleet and Allied NATO nations . Operating from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea , she engaged in sonar evaluation tests , supported ASW tactical exercises , and participated in submerged simulated attack operations . In March 1959 she participated in SUBICEX , during which she cruised 280 miles ( 450 km ) beneath the ice packs off Newfoundland , further than any conventionally powered submarine had previously gone . After completing a three - month advanced submarine exercise in the Atlantic , " Harder " changed her home port to Charleston , South Carolina , where she arrived 17 November and joined Submarine Squadron 4 . She continued operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean for more than a year , then departed Charleston 24 May 1961 for deployment off the western coast of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea . After reaching Bremerhaven , Germany , on 9 June , she supported ASW operations with ships of the Federal German Navy . The following month she steamed via Holy Loch , Scotland , and Rota , Spain , to the Mediterranean Sea where she supported peace - keeping operations of the 6th Fleet . " Harder " returned to Charleston 28 August . Training exercises and tests evaluating ASROC and other ASW systems kept " Harder " busy until she entered Charleston Naval Shipyard for overhaul in October 1962 . Ready for action in April 1963 , she operated along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean Sea for the next 2½ years polishing her underwater warfare tactics and operating with destroyer - type ships as they worked on ASW exercises . " Harder " again entered Charleston Naval Shipyard on 22 October for a thorough overhaul and modernization in which she received an 18 - foot hull extension to accommodate the new PUFFS passive sonar system , a redesigned superstructure , new engines as well as improved electrical and electronic equipment . Modernization completed early in 1967 , " Harder " rejoined the fleet . " Harder " was decommissioned on 31 January 1974 , struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 February 1974 , and sold to Italy . Commissioned on 18 August 1974 as " Romeo Romei " ( S - 516 ) , ex - " Harder " served the Italian Navy until she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1988 .