 USSCod (SS-224) underway offBlock Island, Rhode Island in December 1951 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSCod |
| Namesake | Cod |
| Ordered | 9 September 1940 |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down | 21 July 1942[2] |
| Launched | 21 March 1943[2] |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. G.M. Mahoney |
| Acquired | 21 June 1943 |
| Commissioned | 21 June 1943[2] |
| Decommissioned | 21 June 1954 |
| In service | 21 March 1943 |
| Out of service | 15 December 1971 |
| Reclassified | AGSS-224, 1 December 1962, IXSS-224, 30 June 1971 |
| Stricken | 15 December 1971[2] |
| Honors & awards | Seven battle stars for her successfulWorld War II patrols |
| Status | Museum ship andmemorial inCleveland, Ohio since 1 May 1976[3] |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gato-classdiesel-electricsubmarine[3] |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 312 ft (95 m)[3] |
| Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3] |
| Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[3] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)[7] |
| Endurance |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[7] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[7] |
| Armament |
|
USSCod (Submarine) | |
.jpg) | |
    | |
| Location | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 41°30′36″N81°41′30″W / 41.51005°N 81.69164°W /41.51005; -81.69164 |
| Area | Less than one acre |
| Built | 1942 |
| Built by | Electric Boat Company,Groton, Connecticut |
| Architectural style | Submarine |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000088[8] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 14 January 1986 |
| Designated NHL | 14 January 1986 |
USSCod (SS/AGSS/IXSS-224) is aGato-classsubmarine, the only vessel of theUnited States Navy to be named for thecod, an important and very popular food fish of theNorth Atlantic andNorth Pacific oceans. She waslaunched on 21 March 1943, andcommissioned on 21 June 1943.
Cod is now aNational Historic Landmark, preserved as amuseum ship andmemorial permanently moored inCleveland, Ohio, and is open to visitors daily from May to November.
Cod'skeel was laid down by theElectric Boat Company atGroton, Connecticut, on 21 July 1942. The submarine's four main Cleveland Model 16-248V16diesel engines and one Cleveland Model 8-268auxiliary diesel engine were built byGeneral MotorsCleveland Diesel Engine Division on Cleveland's west side. She waslaunched on 21 March 1943, sponsored by Mrs. G.M. Mahoney, andcommissioned on 21 June 1943 withCommanderJames C. Dempsey, USN in command. Commander Dempsey had already won fame by sinking the first Japanesedestroyer lost inWorld War II while in command of the submarineUSS S-37 (SS-142).
On 30 August 1943, the AmericanType C1-Bcargo ship SSAlcoa Patriot opened gunfire onCod in theCaribbean Sea at12°25′N076°03′W / 12.417°N 76.050°W /12.417; -76.050, about 120 nautical miles (220 km; 140 mi) north-northwest ofBarranquilla, Colombia, and 330 nautical miles (610 km; 380 mi) east of the northern entrance to thePanama Canal. Less than three hours later,Alcoa Patriot again sightedCod and fired on her at12°02′N076°04′W / 12.033°N 76.067°W /12.033; -76.067, about 105 nautical miles (194 km; 121 mi) northwest of Barranquilla and 310 nautical miles (570 km; 360 mi) east of the northern entrance to thePanama Canal.Cod suffered no damage or casualties in either incident.[9]
Cod arrived inBrisbane, Australia, on 2 October 1943 to prepare for her firstwar patrol. She sailed from there 20 days later. Penetrating theSouth China Sea, she contacted few targets, and launched an attack only once, on 29 November, with unobserved results. She returned toFremantle, Australia, to refit from 16 December 1943 to 11 January 1944.
Cod put to sea for her second war patrol in the South China Sea, offJava, and offHalmahera. On 16 February, she surfaced to sink asampan by gunfire, and on 23 February,torpedoed a Japanesemerchantman. She sent another to the bottom on 27 February,Taisoku Maru (2,473 tons) and two days later attacked a third, only to be forced deep by a concentrateddepth charging delivered by a Japanese escort ship.
Refitting at Fremantle again from 13 March – 6 April 1944,Cod sailed to theSulu Sea and the South China Sea offLuzon for her third war patrol. On 10 May, she attacked a heavily escortedconvoy of 32 ships and sank thedestroyerKarukaya and cargo merchantmanShohei Maru (7,256 tons) before the escorts drove her down withdepth charges. She returned to Fremantle to replenish on 1 June 1944.
Cod was put to sea again 3 July on her fourth war patrol. She ranged from the coast of Luzon to Java. She sank the convertednet tender,Seiko Maru (708 tons) on 3 August, and alanding craft,LSV-129, on 14 August, and, once more successful, she returned to Fremantle 25 August.
Cod put to sea on her fifth war patrol 18 September 1944, bound forPhilippine waters. She made her first contact, a cargo ship,Tatsushiro Maru (6,886 tons) on 5 October, and sank it. Two days later, she inflicted heavy damage on a tanker. Contacting a large convoy on 25 October,Cod launched several attacks without success. With all her torpedoes expended, she continued to shadow the convoy for another day to report its position. In November she took up a lifeguard station off Luzon, ready to rescue carrier pilots carrying out the series of air strikes on Japanese bases which paved the way for theBattle of Leyte later that month.
Cod returned toPearl Harbor Naval Base on 20 November 1944, and sailed on to a stateside overhaul atMare Island Naval Shipyard, returning toPearl Harbor on 7 March 1945.
On 24 March she sailed from Pearl Harbor for the East China Sea on her sixth war patrol. Assigned primarily to lifeguard duty, she used her deck gun to sink atugboat and its tow on 17 April, rescuing three survivors, and on 24 April launched an attack on a convoy which resulted in the most severe depth charging of her career. The next day, she sent theminesweeperW-41 to the bottom. On 26 AprilCod was threatened by a fire in the aft torpedo room, but the ship's crew brought the fire under control and manually launched a torpedo already in its tube before the fire could detonate it. QM2c Lawrence E. Foley and S1c Andrew G. Johnson were washed overboard while freeing the torpedo room hatch. Foley was recovered the next morning, but Johnson drowned during the night. This wasCod's only fatality duringWorld War II.[10]
After refitting atGuam between 29 May and 26 June 1945,Cod put out for theGulf of Siam and the coast ofIndo-China on her seventh war patrol. On 9 and 10 July she went to the rescue of a groundedDutch submarine,O-19, taking its crew on board and destroying the Dutch submarine when it could not be gotten off the reef. This was the only international submarine-to-submarine rescue in history. After returning the Dutch sailors toU.S. Naval Base Subic Bay, between 21 July and 1 AugustCod made 20 gunfire attacks on the junks, motor sampans, and barges which were all that remained to supply the Japanese atSingapore. After inspecting each contact to rescue civilian crew,Cod sank it by gunfire and torpedoes, sending to the bottom a total of 23. On 1 August, an enemy planestrafedCod, forcing her to dive, leaving one of her boarding parties behind. The men were rescued two days later byUSS Blenny (SS-324).
WhenCod returned to Fremantle 13 August 1945, the crew ofO-19 was waiting to throw a party for their rescuers. During that celebration, the two crews learned of the Japanese surrender. To symbolize that moment, another symbol was added toCod's battle flag: the nameO-19 under amartini glass.[11][12]
Cod sailed for home on 31 August. Arriving atNaval Submarine Base New London, on 3 November after a visit toMiami, Florida,Cod sailed to thePhiladelphia Navy Yard for a overhaul, returning toNew London, Connecticut where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 22 June 1946.
Cod wasmothballed in 1946,Cod was recommissioned in 1951 to participate inNATO anti-submarine training exercises. During theCold War,Cod traveled toSt. John's, Newfoundland, as well asCuba andSouth America.
Cod was decommissioned in 1954 and placed in reserve. In 1959 she was towed through theSt. Lawrence Seaway toCleveland, Ohio and was used as a training vessel. TheCod served as a training platform during the reservists' weekend drills. TheCod was reclassified first as an Auxiliary Submarine (AGSS-224) on 1 December 1962, and later as a Unclassified Miscellaneous Submarine (IXSS-224) on 30 June 1971. TheCod was in commission, but classed as "in commission in reserve". On 15 December 1971, theCod was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register.
Cod is credited with sinking more than 12 enemy vessels totaling more than 37,000 tons, and damaging another 36,000 tons of enemy shipping. All seven of her war patrols were considered successful andCod was awarded sevenbattle stars for her service inWorld War II,Cod's battleflag and conning tower both carry a cocktail glass above the nameO-19 to commemorate the rescue and the party.
   
|
| American Campaign Medal | |||
| Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with sevenbattle stars | World War II Victory Medal | National Defense Service Medal | Philippine Liberation Medal |
A group of Cleveland residents formed the Cleveland Coordinating Committee to SaveCod, Inc., with the goal of preserving the ship as a memorial. On 25 January 1976, theUnited States Navy gave guardianship of the submarine to the group.Cod opened for public tours as a floating memorial on 1 May 1976. In 1986, theU.S. Department of the Interior designatedCod aNational Historic Landmark. The memorial is open daily between May and November of each year.
Today,Cod is the onlyWorld War II United States Navy museum submarine that has not had stairways and doors cut into her pressure hull for public access[13] and is the only World War IIFleet submarine that is still intact and in her wartime configuration.[14] Visitors to the ship use the same vertical ladders and hatches that were used by her crew. The ship's 5-inch deck gun,Mark IV Torpedo Data Computer,SJ-5 radar,Sound-powered telephone, and all five diesel engines have been restored and are fully operable.
Cleveland can claim partial credit asCod's birthplace, since the submarine's four main diesel engines, and one auxiliary diesel engine were built at theGeneral MotorsCleveland Diesel Engine Division on Cleveland's west side.Cod acquired twoGeneral Motors Cleveland Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines that had originally been used aboard anotherWorld War II submarine,USS Stingray (SS-186). The engines are held in reserve for parts for the restoration ofCod's engines.
TheCod operates anamateur radio station, W8COD,[15] and participates in variousamateur radio contests and other events such asField Day.
On 13 June 2021,Cod departed Cleveland under tow to Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair inErie, Pennsylvania for dry docking to repair and renew her underwater hull. The last time theCod was in dry dock for repairs was in 1963 inLorain, Ohio.Cod was closed to tours for approximately 64 days for a dry dock maintenance program.[16] The goal of the $1.1 million project, partially funded by a $395,050 grant from the Save America's Treasures grant program administered by theU.S. Department of the Interior, is to conserve and restore the underwater hull of the submarine.Cod returned to Cleveland on 18 August 2021 to the 1201 North Marginal Road berth that she has occupied since her arrival inCleveland in 1959.[17][18]
On 21 June 2023,Cod celebrated its 80th anniversary of her commissioning duringWorld War II.[19]
Cod was subject of the television seriesThe Silent Service and was the main plot for an episode titledThe USS Cod's Lost Boarding Party which aired on 30 May 1958 onNBC.[20]
Cod was used for exterior and interior scenes for theSmithsonian Channel war documentaryHell Below to depictUSS Tang,U-99 andU-100. Filming took place aboard theCod in 2015. The documentary aired on 17 July 2016.[21]
Cod was the subject of a two-part documentary on theWorld of WarshipsYouTube channel titledNaval Legends: USS Cod. The documentary published on 2 and 4 July 2019.[22]
Cod was used for exterior and interior scenes for theDolph Lundgren motion pictureOperation Seawolf to depictWorld War IIGerman U-Boats. The motion picture released on 7 October 2022.[23]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Topics | |
|---|---|
| Lists by state |
|
| Lists by insular areas | |
| Lists by associated state | |
| Other areas | |
| Lists of specific structure types | |
| Related | |
