USS C-2 (Submarine Number 13) was christened by Miss E. Stevens and launched on 8 April 1909 as USS Stingray by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from the Electric Boat Company. The submersible was commissioned on 23 November 1909, with Ensign E. B. Armstrong in command. She was renamed USS C-2 on 17 November 1911.

When commissioned, the submarine was 105'4" in length overall; had an extreme beam of 13'11"; had a normal surface displacement of 238 tons (and a mean draft of eleven feet when in that condition) and a submerged displacement of 275 tons; was manned by one officer and 14 enlisted men; could safely dive to 200'; was armed with two 18-inch torpedo tubes (four torpedoes were carried on board); could make 10.5 knots on the surface and 9 knots submerged; carried 3,900 gallons of gasoline to power two 240 brake horsepower gasoline internal combustion engines manufactured by the James Craig Machine and Engine Works at Jersey City, New Jersey; and had 120 Exide battery cells to power two 115 horsepower electric motors manufactured by the Electro Dynamic Company at Bayonne, New Jersey, for propulsion when submerged. She was a C class submarine.

C class submarines were the first submersibles in the United States Navy to be equipped with two propeller shafts and two propellers.

The submarine was assigned to the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet and later to the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla. She cruised in east coast waters until 20 May 1913, when she cleared Norfolk, Virginia, for six months of operations from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In December, she based at Cristobal in the Panama Canal Zone and began an operating schedule of torpedo practice, exploration of anchorages, and harbor defense duty at ports of the Panama Canal Zone. During the latter part of World War I, USS C-2 patrolled off the Florida coast. The submarine was placed in ordinary at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, on 22 August 1919, and was decommissioned there on 23 December 1919. USS C-2 (SS-13) was sold on 13 April 1920.

Of Note: In 1913, the five C Class submarines (USS C-1, USS C-2, USS C-3, USS C-4, and USS C-5), under the command of a Lieutenant Junior Grade, successfully completed the longest cruise made up to that time by United States Navy submarines operating under their own power. Accompanied by several surface ships, including USS Ozark... which was acting as tender, the C boats completed a 700 mile passage between Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, without serious engineering mishap.