USS Cavalla (SS-244)

USS Cavalla (SS-244) was a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy that served with distinction during World War II. Commissioned in 1944, she is most famous for her first war patrol, during which she sank the Japanese aircraft carrier ''Shōkaku'', a veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of the Coral Sea. After the war, Cavalla continued to serve through the Cold War before being preserved as a museum ship in Texas.

Construction and commissioning

The submarine's keel was laid down on 4 March 1943 at the Groton, Connecticut shipyard of the Electric Boat Company. She was launched on 14 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. H. R. Green, and officially commissioned into the United States Navy on 29 February 1944 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Herman J. Kossler. Her construction was part of the massive American submarine building program that produced over 200 Gato, Balao, and Tench class boats to wage war against the Empire of Japan.

Service history

Following her shakedown cruise off the coast of New England, Cavalla transited the Panama Canal and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in May 1944. Assigned to the command of Commander Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, she was immediately sent into combat as part of the United States submarine campaign against Japanese shipping. Her service spanned the critical final years of the Pacific War, operating in major areas such as the Philippine Sea, the South China Sea, and the East China Sea.

World War II patrols

Cavalla conducted six war patrols, all under the command of Herman J. Kossler. On her very first patrol, on 19 June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, she torpedoed and sank the fleet carrier ''Shōkaku'', a major participant in the attack on Pearl Harbor. This action earned her the Presidential Unit Citation. Subsequent patrols were also successful; she damaged the light carrier ''Jun'yō'' and sank the destroyer ''Shimotsuki'' in November 1944. Her final patrols, conducted off the coast of Indochina and in the Gulf of Siam, focused on destroying Japanese merchant shipping during the Allied blockade of Japan.

Post-war service and fate

Following Victory over Japan Day, Cavalla was decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 16 March 1946 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. With the onset of the Korean War, she was recommissioned in 1951 and converted to a hunter-killer submarine under the GUPPY program, redesignated SSK-244. She served in this new role during the Cold War, conducting surveillance and training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. After her final decommissioning on 3 June 1968, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. Saved from scrapping, she was transferred to the Texas Submarine Veterans of World War II and permanently docked at Seawolf Park in Galveston, Texas, where she serves as a memorial and museum.

Awards and legacy

For her World War II service, USS Cavalla received the Presidential Unit Citation and four battle stars. Her sinking of the Shōkaku remains one of the most significant individual actions by an American submarine in the war. As a museum ship, she is a focal point for veterans' events and historical education, maintained by the Cavalla Historical Foundation. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated National Historic Landmark, preserving the legacy of the United States Navy Submarine Service for future generations.

Category:Gato-class submarines Category:Museum ships in Texas Category:World War II submarines of the United States