On 7 April 1922, Commander (later Fleet Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, along with his wife and three children, embarked on board Argonne at Pearl Harbor for passage to the east coast of the United States.
Nimitz was on his way to Newport, R.I., to study at the Naval War College.
The ship proceeded via Mare Island, where she underwent an overhaul period.
 Following that was a transit through the Panama Canal, Santo Domingo and Hampton Roads, bringing her voyage to a close on 21 June 1922.

Over the next two years, Argonne operated with the Naval Transportation Service on the through service between New York and Manila.
 Along with the transport USS Chaumont, Argonne provided this important service to the fleet.
During this time, she ranged from San Francisco to Guam and into the Yellow Sea, voyaging as far as Chefoo, China.
Selected for conversion to a submarine tender and classified as AS-10 on 1 July 1924, Argonne was permanently transferred to Navy ownership under terms of the executive order dated 6 August 1924, and arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 2 September 1924.

From September 1924 to March 1926, Argonne lay at Mare Island in reduced commission, undergoing her transformation from transport to tender.
Major alternations to the ship included the installation of a turbo-generator plant, a compressed-air plant, a machine shop and a low-pressure distilling plant.

   
Placed in full commission on 25 March 1926, Argonne was assigned to the newly formed Submarine Division (SubDiv) 20, which consisted, at that time, of the "V-boats": V-1 (SS-163); V-2 (SS-164); and V-3 (SS-165).
She sailed on 19 May to take up her duties.
From 19 May to 5 June, Argonne operated from the west coast ports of San Francisco, San Pedro and San Diego, before she sailed to transit the Panama Canal for operations in the Atlantic.

Owing to disorders in Nicaragua, and fears that excesses of violence from the feuding factions might endanger American lives and property, expeditionary forces of marines were sent to reinforce the sailors and marines already landed from ships of the Special Service Squadron.
Argonne participated in one of the early lifts, transporting the second Battalion, 5th Regiment — which had been encamped at Guantanamo Bay undergoing six months of training—from Guantanamo to Bluefields, Nicaragua, between 7 and 10 January 1927.

Maintaining the necessary neutral zones on the east coast for eight days, the battalion left one company at Rama before proceeding on, in Argonne, through the Panama Canal to the port of Corinto, on the west coast of Nicaragua.
There, she disembarked the rest of the battalion on 24 January to maintain the neutral zones between that port and the capital city of Managua, before returning thence into the Caribbean to resume tending operations with SubDiv 20.

During March Argonne provided tender services to ships engaged in Fleet Problem VII, in a large-scale exercise that pitted the combined Battle Fleet, Base Force and fleet submarines against the combined Scouting Fleet, Control Force and Train Squadron 1.
She rejoined the Special Service Squadron at the end of that month, however, to resume her transportation duties to Nicaraguan ports.

On 1 July 1927, Argonne became part of the Control Force, with which she carried out her previous duties with the Special Service Squadron, until being transferred with SubDiv 20 to the Battle Fleet, on 19 November.
She operated with the fleet on the Pacific Coast, principally at San Diego, San Pedro, or Mare Island, until she sailed for Hawaiian waters on 18 April 1928, to take part in Fleet Problem VIII, an exercise that pitted light cruisers and a detachment of ships from Pearl Harbor ("Orange") against the Battle Fleet and the Train ("Blue").
Reaching Pearl Harbor on the 28th, she then based at Lahaina, and carried out tactical exercises with the fleet, ultimately returning to Mare Island for her annual overhaul on 29 June.

Resuming her active service with the Battle Fleet in the San Diego-San Pedro area from 18 August 1928, she operated there until 15 January 1929 whe
On 7 April 1922, Commander (later Fleet Admiral) Chester W. Nimitz, along with his wife and three children, embarked on board Argonne at Pearl Harbor for passage to the east coast of the United States. Nimitz was on his way to Newport, R.I., to study at the Naval War College. The ship proceeded via Mare Island, where she underwent an overhaul period.  Following that was a transit through the Panama Canal, Santo Domingo and Hampton Roads, bringing her voyage to a close on 21 June 1922.
Over the next two years, Argonne operated with the Naval Transportation Service on the through service between New York and Manila.  Along with the transport USS Chaumont, Argonne provided this important service to the fleet. During this time, she ranged from San Francisco to Guam and into the Yellow Sea, voyaging as far as Chefoo, China. Selected for conversion to a submarine tender and classified as AS-10 on 1 July 1924, Argonne was permanently transferred to Navy ownership under terms of the executive order dated 6 August 1924, and arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 2 September 1924.
From September 1924 to March 1926, Argonne lay at Mare Island in reduced commission, undergoing her transformation from transport to tender. Major alternations to the ship included the installation of a turbo-generator plant, a compressed-air plant, a machine shop and a low-pressure distilling plant.
   
Placed in full commission on 25 March 1926, Argonne was assigned to the newly formed Submarine Division (SubDiv) 20, which consisted, at that time, of the "V-boats": V-1 (SS-163); V-2 (SS-164); and V-3 (SS-165). She sailed on 19 May to take up her duties. From 19 May to 5 June, Argonne operated from the west coast ports of San Francisco, San Pedro and San Diego, before she sailed to transit the Panama Canal for operations in the Atlantic.
Owing to disorders in Nicaragua, and fears that excesses of violence from the feuding factions might endanger American lives and property, expeditionary forces of marines were sent to reinforce the sailors and marines already landed from ships of the Special Service Squadron. Argonne participated in one of the early lifts, transporting the second Battalion, 5th Regiment — which had been encamped at Guantanamo Bay undergoing six months of training—from Guantanamo to Bluefields, Nicaragua, between 7 and 10 January 1927.
Maintaining the necessary neutral zones on the east coast for eight days, the battalion left one company at Rama before proceeding on, in Argonne, through the Panama Canal to the port of Corinto, on the west coast of Nicaragua. There, she disembarked the rest of the battalion on 24 January to maintain the neutral zones between that port and the capital city of Managua, before returning thence into the Caribbean to resume tending operations with SubDiv 20.
During March Argonne provided tender services to ships engaged in Fleet Problem VII, in a large-scale exercise that pitted the combined Battle Fleet, Base Force and fleet submarines against the combined Scouting Fleet, Control Force and Train Squadron 1. She rejoined the Special Service Squadron at the end of that month, however, to resume her transportation duties to Nicaraguan ports.
On 1 July 1927, Argonne became part of the Control Force, with which she carried out her previous duties with the Special Service Squadron, until being transferred with SubDiv 20 to the Battle Fleet, on 19 November. She operated with the fleet on the Pacific Coast, principally at San Diego, San Pedro, or Mare Island, until she sailed for Hawaiian waters on 18 April 1928, to take part in Fleet Problem VIII, an exercise that pitted light cruisers and a detachment of ships from Pearl Harbor ("Orange") against the Battle Fleet and the Train ("Blue"). Reaching Pearl Harbor on the 28th, she then based at Lahaina, and carried out tactical exercises with the fleet, ultimately returning to Mare Island for her annual overhaul on 29 June.
Resuming her active service with the Battle Fleet in the San Diego-San Pedro area from 18 August 1928, she operated there until 15 January 1929 whe
USS Argonne (AS-10)