USS ''Cavalla'' (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a ''Gato''-class

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

, is a submarine of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

named for a salt water fish, best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shōkaku''. Her keel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 4 March 1943 by

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power ...

Co.,

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

. She was launched on 14 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. M. Comstock), and commissioned on 29 February 1944,

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

(later Rear Admiral) Herman J. Kossler, USN, (class of 1934) in command.

Operational history

Departing

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

11 April 1944, ''Cavalla'' arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

9 May, for voyage repairs and training. On 31 May 1944 the sub put to sea on active service for the first time.

First patrol

On her maiden patrol ''Cavalla'', en route to her station in the eastern

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, made contact with a large

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese task force on 17 June. ''Cavalla'' tracked the force for several hours, relaying information which contributed to the United States victory in the

Battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) was a major naval battle of World War II that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invas ...

(commonly known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot") on 19–20 June 1944. On 19 June, she caught the

carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

''Shōkaku'' recovering planes, and quickly fired a spread of six torpedoes, with three hits. ''Shōkaku'' sank at . After a severe

depth charging A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

by three

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s, ''Cavalla'' escaped to continue her patrol, having suffered relatively minor damage by depth charges from the . The feat earned her a Presidential Unit Citation.

Second patrol

''Cavalla's'' second patrol took her to the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. I ...

as a member of a wolfpack operating in support of the invasion of

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. H ...

15 September 1944.

Third patrol

On 25 November 1944, during her third patrol, ''Cavalla'' encountered two Japanese destroyers and made a surface attack which destroyed the ''Shimotsuki'' at . The companion destroyer began depth charge attacks, while ''Cavalla'' evaded on the surface. Later in the same patrol, on 5 January 1945 ''Cavalla'' made a night surface attack on an enemy convoy and sank two converted net tenders ('' Kanko Maru'', '' Shunsen Maru'') at .

Fourth and fifth patrols

''Cavalla'' cruised the

South China South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...

and

Java Sea The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its no ...

s on her fourth and fifth war patrols. Targets were few and far between, but she came to the aid of an ally on 21 May 1945. A month out on her fifth patrol, the submarine sighted , damaged by enemy depth charges and unable to submerge or make full speed. ''Cavalla'' stood by the damaged submarine and escorted her on the surface to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, arriving 27 May 1945.

Sixth patrol

''Cavalla'' received the cease-fire order of 15 August while

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features ...

ing off Japan on her sixth war patrol. A few minutes later she was bombed by a Japanese plane that apparently had not yet received the same information or heard the ''

Gyokuon-hōsō The was a radio broadcast of surrender given by Japanese Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa) on August 15, 1945. It announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese Government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration demanding the unconditional surrender o ...

'' radio broadcast. She joined the fleet units entering

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...

31 August, remained for the signing of the surrender on 2 September, then departed the next day for New London, arriving 6 October 1945. She was placed out of commission in reserve there 16 March 1946.

Postwar

Recommissioned 10 April 1951, ''Cavalla'' was assigned to

Submarine Squadron 8 A submarine squadron (SUBRON) is a naval formation or unit in such states such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia/Soviet Union. In France the equivalent unit is the ' (ESNA), part of the French submarine forces (and before the Second ...

and engaged in various fleet exercises in the

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and off

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. She was placed out of commission 3 September 1952 and entered Electric Boat Co. yard for conversion to a

hunter-killer submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

(reclassified SSK-244, 18 February 1953). The SSK conversion included remodeling ''Cavalla''s bow with the addition of a curved housing for a BQR-4 sonar system. The conversion included removal of two bow

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, along with remodeling the original conning tower and bridge into the sail visible today. ''Cavalla'' was recommissioned 15 July 1953 and assigned to

Submarine Squadron 10 Submarine Squadron 10 (SUBRON 10) was a unit of the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific and in the Atlantic Fleet after the war from 1951–1991. The number and type of submarines assigned to SUBRON 10 varied throughout its histo ...

. Her new sonar made ''Cavalla'' valuable for experimentation, and she was transferred to Submarine Development Group 2 on 1 January 1954, to evaluate new weapons and equipment, and to participate in fleet exercises. She also cruised to European waters several times to take part in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

exercises, and visited Norfolk, Va., for the

International Naval Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

(11–12 June 1957). On 15 August 1959, her classification reverted to SS-244. In November, 1961, ''Cavalla'' was ordered to Puerto Rico and provided electrical power via umbilical connection to which had suffered a diesel generator failure while the nuclear reactor was shut down. ''Cavalla'' successfully assisted ''Threshers restart of her reactor. ''Thresher'' was lost during post-overhaul sea trials on 10 April 1963 during a deep dive.

Fate

''Cavalla'' was reclassified an "auxiliary submarine", AGSS-244, in July 1963. ''Cavalla'' was decommissioned and struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 30 December 1969. On 21 January 1971, ''Cavalla'' was transferred to the Texas Submarine Veterans of World War II. She now resides a
Galveston Naval Museum
in

Seawolf Park Seawolf Park is a memorial to , a United States Navy mistakenly sunk by U.S. Navy forces in 1944 during World War II. It is located on Pelican Island (), just north of Galveston, Texas, in the United States. The park has two museum ships, submar ...

on Pelican Island, just north of

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

, Texas. ''Cavalla'' has undergone an extensive restoration process (see photos, below), and is open for self-guided tours. Among the early benefactors was then President of the Texas United States Submarine Veterans of World War II, Paul Francis Stolpman, and the former

Texas secretary of state The Secretary of State of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas ...

George Strake, Jr.

Gallery

Image:Usscavallass-244mess.jpg, The mess of the restored ''USS Cavalla'' (SS-244) Image:Usscavallass-244offquarters.jpg, The cramped officer quarters of ''Cavalla'' Image:Seawolf Park damage following Ike.jpg, Damage in Seawolf Park following Hurricane Ike

References

Attribution

External links

USS ''Cavalla'' Website
*
Houston Chronicle: USS Cavalla Restoration 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavalla (Ss-244) Gato-class submarines World War II submarines of the United States Cold War submarines of the United States Museum ships in Texas Museums in Galveston, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Galveston County, Texas Ships built in Groton, Connecticut Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas 1943 ships Military and war museums in Texas