USS Cavalla (SS-244)

Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsTemplate:Infobox NRHP

USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a Gato-class submarine, is a submarine of the United States Navy named for a salt water fish, best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku.

Her keel was laid down on 4 March 1943 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 14 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. M. Comstock), and commissioned on 29 February 1944, Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) Herman J. Kossler, USN, (class of 1934) in command.<ref name=DANFS>Template:Cite DANFS</ref>

Operational history

Departing New London 11 April 1944, Cavalla arrived at Pearl Harbor 9 May, for voyage repairs and training. On 31 May 1944 the sub put to sea on active service for the first time.<ref name=DANFS/>

First patrol

On her maiden patrol Cavalla, en route to her station in the eastern Philippines, made contact with a large Japanese 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 (commonly known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot") on 19–20 June 1944. The submarine first reported sighting what appeared to be fifteen or more large combatant ships and then reported in more detail course and speed information having tracked the enemy force from underneath. On 19 June, she caught the carrier Shōkaku recovering planes, and quickly fired a spread of five torpedoes, with four hits. Shōkaku sank at Template:Coord. After a severe depth charging by three destroyers, Cavalla escaped to continue her patrol, having suffered relatively minor damage by depth charges from the Template:Ship. The feat earned her a Presidential Unit Citation.<ref name=DANFS/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Second patrol

Cavalla's second patrol took her to the Philippine Sea as a member of a wolfpack operating in support of the invasion of Peleliu 15 September 1944.<ref name=DANFS/>

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 Template:Coord. 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 Template:Coord.<ref name=DANFS/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Fourth and fifth patrols

Cavalla cruised the South China and Java Seas 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 Template:HMS, 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, arriving 27 May 1945.<ref name=DANFS/>

Sixth patrol

Cavalla received the cease-fire order of 15 August while lifeguarding 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 radio broadcast. She joined the fleet units entering Tokyo Bay 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.<ref name=DANFS/>

Postwar

Recommissioned 10 April 1951, Cavalla was assigned to Submarine Squadron 8 and engaged in various fleet exercises in the Caribbean and off Nova Scotia. She was placed out of commission 3 September 1952 and entered Electric Boat Co. yard for conversion to a hunter-killer submarine (reclassified SSK-244, 18 February 1953). The SSK conversion included remodeling CavallaTemplate:'s bow with the addition of a curved housing for a BQR-4 sonar system. The conversion included removal of two bow torpedo tubes, along with remodeling the original conning tower and bridge into the sail visible today.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cavalla was recommissioned 15 July 1953 and assigned to Submarine Squadron 10. 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 exercises, and visited Norfolk, Va., for the International Naval Review (11–12 June 1957). On 15 August 1959, her classification reverted to SS-244.<ref name=DANFS/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In November, 1961, Cavalla was ordered to Puerto Rico and provided electrical power via umbilical connection to Template:USS which had suffered a diesel generator failure while the nuclear reactor was shut down. Cavalla successfully assisted Thresher's restart of her reactor. Thresher was lost during post-overhaul sea trials on 10 April 1963 during a deep dive.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Fate

USS Cavalla (SS-244), at the Seawolf Park in Galveston, Texas.

Cavalla was reclassified an "auxiliary submarine", AGSS-244, in July 1963. Cavalla was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register on 30 December 1969.

On 21 January 1971, Cavalla was transferred to the Texas Submarine Veterans of World War II. She now resides at Galveston Naval Museum in Seawolf Park on Pelican Island, just north of Galveston, 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 George Strake, Jr.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gallery

• 
  The mess of the restored USS Cavalla (SS-244)
• 
  The cramped officer quarters of Cavalla
• 
  Damage in Seawolf Park following Hurricane Ike

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Galveston County, Texas

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.{{#if:|{{#if:| The entries can be found [{{#if:1|{{{1}}}}} here] and [{{#if:1|{{{2}}}}} here].| The entry can be found [{{#if:1|{{{1}}}}} here].}}}}

External links

• USS Cavalla Website
• history.navy.mil: USS Cavalla
• NavSource: USS Cavalla
• hazegray.org: USS Cavalla Template:Webarchive
• Template:Hnsa
• Kill Record: USS CavallaTemplate:Dead link
• Houston Chronicle: USS Cavalla Restoration 2016