USS S-50 (SS-161) was a fourth-group (S-48) S-class submarine

United States S class submarine

The United States' S-class submarines, often simply called S-boats , were the first class of submarines built to a United States Navy design....

 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 15 March 1920 by the Lake Torpedo Boat

Lake Torpedo Boat

The Lake Torpedo Boat Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut was an early maker of submarines for the U.S. Navy. Founded by Simon Lake in 1912, the firm competed with John Philip Holland's Electric Boat Company until financial difficulties led to the company's demise in 1924.-External links:**...

 Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...

. 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 18 June 1921 sponsored by Mrs. William G. Esmond, 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 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

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....

, and, until mid-June, conducted trials in the Block Island

Block Island

Block Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximately south of the coast of Rhode Island, east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The United States Census Bureau defines Block...

 area. She then visited Poughkeepsie, New York

Poughkeepsie (city), New York

Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...

, and New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

, 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

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, and Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

. 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

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. 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

United States S class submarine

The United States' S-class submarines, often simply called S-boats , were the first class of submarines built to a United States Navy design....

 proceeded to Staten Island

Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, whence, on 4 January 1924, she headed south to participate in Fleet Problem III, a test of Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 defenses and transit facilities of 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...

. On completion of the problem, she put into Coco Solo

Coco Solo

Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base established in 1918 on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colón, Panama....

. Toward the end of the month, she moved into the Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...

 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

Battery (electricity)

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

 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

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...

. Towed initially to Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

, she was taken to New London and then to Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, 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

Virginia Capes

The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....

 to participate in sound tests for the Naval Experiment Laboratory in November and December, 1926, and to southern Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 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

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, 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

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 31 March 1931, and her hulk was scrapped the following fall.