On 21 May 2002, at about 2330 PDT, while operating approximately off the coast of San Diego, California, Dolphin was cruising on the surface, recharging her batteries, when a torpedo tube door gasket failed, and the boat began to flood.
After 90 minutes, with fire and flooding beyond the ability of the crew to control, Commander Stephen Kelety, Dolphins commanding officer, ordered the crew of 41 and two civilian Navy employees to abandon ship.