USS R-11 (SS-88) was an R-class coastal and harbor defense submarine

United States R class submarine

The R-class submarines were a class of United States Navy submarines active from 1918 until 1945. The R-boats R-21 to R-27, built by Lake Torpedo Boat, slightly smaller and faster than the others, are sometimes regarded as a separate class from R-1 to R-20 built by Fore River Shipyard and Union...

 of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Her keel was laid down on by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

, on 18 March 1918. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 21 July 1919 sponsored by Miss Dorothy Batchelder, and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 5 September 1919 with Lieutenant Commander Charles S. Alden in command.

1919–1930

R-11 remained inactive at Boston, Massachusetts with a crew of only two men for two months following commissioning. Then, with the new year 1920, she commenced training cruises along the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 coast and, in April, to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

. On completion of training cruises, she returned to New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, whence she sailed 31 May for the Pacific. Given hull classification symbol

Hull classification symbol

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...

 SS-88 in July, she arrived at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 4 August. Homeported there for the next ten years, she conducted operations in the Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

an area, searched for missing ships, including the seagoing tug Conestoga (AT-54)

USS Conestoga (AT-54)

The second USS Conestoga was an ocean-going tug in the United States Navy.Originally built as the civilian ship Conestoga in 1904 by Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland, she was purchased on 14 September 1917 for the World War I duty and designated SP-1128. She was commissioned on 10...

, and planes; participated in tactical exercises; and engaged in fleet maneuvers.

1931–1946

On 12 December 1930, the R-boat departed Pearl Harbor for the last time and steamed east to San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, whence she continued on through the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

, to New London. She returned to that Thames River

Thames River (Connecticut)

The Thames River is a short river and tidal estuary in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It flows south for through eastern Connecticut from the junction of the Yantic and Shetucket rivers at Norwich, to New London and Groton, which flank its mouth at the Long Island Sound.Differing from its...

 base 9 February 1931 and for the remainder of the decade served as a training ship primarily for the Submarine School at New London and occasionally for NROTC

Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps

The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.-Origins:...

 units in the southern New England area. Transferred to Key West, Florida

Key West, Florida

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

, on 1 June 1941, R-11 continued her training ship duties throughout the remainder of her career.

Decommissioned 5 September 1945, R-11 was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 11 October 1945; sold to Macey O. Smith Miami, Florida, 13 March 1946; and scrapped in 1948.