Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS G-4 (SS-26)
Thrasher (Submarine No. 26) was laid down on 9 July 1910 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp & Sons; renamed USS G-4 (SS-26) on 17 November 1911; launched 15 August 1912; sponsored by Miss Grace Anna Taussig; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 22 January 1914, Lt. Ernest D. McWhorter in command.
At the end of October the boat shifted to New London, Conn., and from there she sailed on to Newport, R.I., in mid-November. Moving back to New York on 22 November, USS G-4 (SS-26) received post-shakedown repairs to her engines, which suffered from sea water damage owing to leaky exhaust lines and salt contamination of the oil system. USS G-4 (SS-26) departed Philadelphia on 12 May 1915 and sailed to New York for a naval review before President Woodrow Wilson. USS G-4 (SS-26) then conducted maneuvers with the submarine flotilla off Newport in late May and again in October, in addition to local training operations out of New York and the submarine base in New London.
Sailing to New London on 24 April, USS G-4 (SS-26) was attached to Division Three, Submarine Flotilla. For the next year, she combined experimental work with new sound detection devices with training new student crews in submarine operations and torpedo firing, a period of time punctuated by her joining Fulton (Submarine Tender No.1) for harbor net defense experiments. In March 1918, USS G-4 (SS-26) shifted from New London to Newport, where she conducted magnetic detector experiments with motor patrol boat Owera (SP-167). The submarine also conducted practice approaches and torpedo instruction for officer and enlisted submarine students. On 21 May, G-4 commenced test firing the new Mark VII torpedo for installation in O and N-class submarines, evolutions that lasted through mid-July. The boat then returned to New London for a yard period, undergoing motor and electrical repairs through October. Although USS G-4 (SS-26) resumed training and instruction duties on 4 November 1918, the boat was slated for inactivation on 24 February 1919.
Declared surplus and having been stripped of machinery and fittings, USS G-4 (SS-26) was decommissioned at New London on 5 September 1919. The hulk was sold for scrap to Connecticut Iron & Metal Company on 15 April 1920. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 August 1921.
For a complete history of USS G-4 (SS-26) please see its DANFS page.