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AS-11 was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Robert Fulton, inventor and ship designer. The FULTON was built by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. Her keel was laid in July 1939 and she was launched on 27 December 1940 under the sponsorship of Mrs. Arthur T. Sutcliff, the great granddaughter of Robert Fulton. USS FULTON (AS-11) was commissioned on 12 September 1941.
She was conducting her shakedown cruise, under the command of Commander A. D. Douglas, when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred. During WWII, she serviced fleet submarines operating in the Pacific. As U. S. Forces closed in on Japan, FULTON moved progressively from Pearl Harbor to Brisbane, Australia to Milne Bay, New Guinea. Halfway through the war, FULTON returned to the United States for overhaul, and then returned to the Western Pacific Theater on her second support mission. During this tour she tended submarines at Midway, Saipan, and Guam where she remained through the last patrols of the war.
One of FULTON's most notable wartime achievements was her rendezvous with the cruiser PORTLAND and the destroyer RUSSELL to receive 101 officers and 1,790 enlisted men who had survived the sinking of the aircraft carrier USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) which was lost in the historical battle of Midway. FULTON also played an important role as support tender for submarines engaged in experiments and test of sonar mine detection devices which enabled American submarines to successfully penetrate the minefields guarding the Inland Sea of Japan.
FULTON took part in the Bikini Atoll atomic experiment following the war and was decommissioned on 3 April 1947.
In April 1951, FULTON was recommissioned and assigned to the newly reactivated Submarine Squadron TEN at New London, Connecticut, where she resumed her role in support of the submarine fleet. She has spent the ensuing years performing this mission at State Pier in New London, with brief absences for training cruises and temporary relief of sister tenders. She has operated on training cruises in Argentia, Newfoundland; Rothesay, Scotland; Portland, England and the Caribbean.
The importance of FULTON's support mission was heightened in 1958 with the assignment of three nuclear powered submarines, NAUTILUS, SKATE, and the SEA WOLF to Submarine Squadron TEN, making her the first submarine tender to support nuclear fast attack submarines.
In 1972, FULTON made a five month deployment to the Mediterranean. The FULTON's mission was to prepare for full time use an advance refit site for nuclear powered fast attack submarines. This was the first deployment of a World War II vintage submarine tender to the Mediterranean since World War II. After a shipyard overhaul in 1976, FULTON returned to New London to continue to support Atlantic Fleet Submarines. FULTON was modernized in 1983-84 during an extensive overhaul conducted at Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut and General Dynamics, Quincy, Massachusetts. In January 1985, FULTON made a 4 month deployment to the Mediterranean where she provided maintenance for the U. S. Sixth Fleet submarines in La Maddalena, Italy.
FULTON made cruises to Puerto Rico in January 1986 and Bermuda in March 1987. During the period 13 January to 12 March 1988, FULTON completed a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability at Norfolk Shipbuilding Company, Norfolk, Virginia. FULTON returned to State Pier and continued to support Squadron TEN submarines until her decommissioning in 1991.
In 1988 Submarine Squadron TEN, of which FULTON was the flagship, included the USS JACK (SSN-605), USS TINOSA (SSN-606), USS WHALE (SSN-638), USS GREENLING (SSN-614), USS GATO (SSN-615), USS PARGO (SSN-650), USS TREPANG (SSN-674), USS BILLFISH (SSN-676) and the Torpedo Retriever TWR-681.
