until January 1946, when she received orders to proceed to Pearl Harbor and then continue on to San Diego, California. She reached San Diego in February 1946, and her crew took leave in groups until mid-March 1946. After intensive daily training underway, Bugara proceeded to Pearl Harbor, her new home port, in May 1946 and reported for duty with Submarine Squadron 5. On 28 May 1946, Bugara took part in training off Oahu during which she sank the captured Japanese submarine as a torpedo target to keep technology out of Soviet hands as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated prior to the onset of the Cold War. On 21 June 1946, Bugara began an overhaul at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. After completion of the overhaul, Bugara made a training cruise into the Bering Sea and port visits to Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, before returning to Pearl Harbor. Through all of 1947, Bugara pursued an intensive training and operations schedule, and she participated in Navy Day exercises at Stockton, California, in October 1947. In November 1947, she took part in fleet exercises off Southern California under Commander, First Task Fleet. On 14 November 1947, during a submerged practice attack against the destroyer , Bugara collided with Orleck, suffering a jammed periscope and radar but able to proceed without assistance. Investigation of the damage soon thereafter revealed the periscope shears bent 10 degrees, with the lower periscope jammed in the lower position. Bugara underwent repairs and an overhaul at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California, between 20 November 1947 and 19 March 1948. Bugara departed San Francisco on 27 March 1948 and made for Pearl Harbor, where she reported for duty with Submarine Squadron 5 on 7 April 1948. She spent the next six weeks in training, often rendering services to other U.S. Navy units, as well as conducting a short United States Naval Reserve training cruise in the Hawaiian Islands from Pearl Harbor to Kauai from 30 April to 2 May 1948. On 21 May 1948, Bugara departed Pearl Harbor for Melbourne, Australia. During her voyage, one of her crewmen fell ill, and she diverted on 29 May 1948 to make an unscheduled stop at Pago Pago on Tutuila in American Samoa, where she transferred the sailor ashore on 30 May 1948 for treatment at the U.S. Naval Dispensary at Pago Pago. On 31 May 1948, Bugara departed