Constructed at Portsmouth Navy Yard during the second half of 1944, Argonaut was commissioned into the USN in 1945 and operated against Japan during the final year of World War II, although her only contact with the Japanese was when she sank a junk in August.

The submarine was sold to Canada in 1968, commissioned into Maritime Command as HMCS Rainbow (SS 75), and operated until the end of 1974.

She then sailed on 14 April for Key West, Florida, where she conducted special tests for lighter-than-air craft and training operations with the Fleet Sound School.

She made a fuel stop at Saipan on 10 July and then proceeded to the Formosa Strait and the East China and Yellow Seas to search for enemy shipping.

She terminated her patrol at Guam on 21 August, six days after Japan capitulated, ending World War II.

Argonaut departed Guam on 1 September and proceeded, via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal, to the Naval Frontier Base at Tompkinsville, New York.

While en route to Panama, Argonaut collided with light cruiser Honolulu off the United States East Coast between New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during a heavy fog.

When the alterations were completed, the submarine resumed her routine of supporting antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training operations out of Norfolk.

Her ports of call during the deployment included Gibraltar; Suda Bay, Crete; Rhodes, Greece; İzmir, Turkey; Toulon and Marseille, France; Sanremo and Naples, Italy.

Argonaut left the shipyard on 10 June 1966 for sea trials, and on 20 January headed for New London for refresher training.

The submarine moved to Norfolk early in 1967, but left the Virginia Capes area on 9 January, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The submarine also visited Cuxhaven, Germany; Leith, Scotland; Rota, Spain; Naples, Italy; and Valletta, Malta, before returning to her home port on 20 September.

The purchase was approved after Maritime Command said that Grilse was no longer fit for service and Canada needed a replacement for training purposes.

[8][10] The submarine caught fire twice while en route to British Columbia, and upon arrival was refused entry into port due to unpaid taxes and customs duty on her purchase.