Before steaming to China in 1930, "Beaver" led SubDiv 16 on a cruise through the southern Philippine Islands. Following port visits to Iloilo on Panay and Zamboanga on Mindanao, the submarine division then visited the Sultan of Sulu at Jolo, an island in the Sulu archipelago. On its return to Manila from China late that year, the division surveyed the unfamiliar waters off the east coast of Formosa. "Beaver" departed Manila on 1 May 1932, in company with six S-boats from SubDiv 9, and sailed for Hawaii, arriving in Pearl Harbor on the 30th. There, while submarines , , , , , and were placed in reserve commission, "Beaver" was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 4 (SubRon 4).