Departing from New London, Connecticut, on 31 May 1921, S-16 was attached to Submarine Division 18 (SubDiv 18) and proceeded via the Panama Canal, California, Hawaii, and Guam to the Philippine Islands.

Departing Manila on 15 May 1923, she visited Shanghai, Yantai, and Qinhuangdao in China before returning, via Wusong and Amoy, to Cavite on 11 September 1923.

Following voyages to Bermuda and the Panama Canal Zone, she operated at Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands from December 1941 (during which the United States entered World War II with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December) to March 1942, then in the Panama Canal area from April to August 1942.

[2][3] The Gulf Stream flows over the hull, allowing little coral growth and making wreck diving difficult to impossible.

In the novel, the fictional S-16 is taken out of decommissioned status, recommissioned and prepared for war by the characters in the story, and then turned over to the Polish Navy.