USS Cavalla (SS-244)
hunter-killer submarine (SSK) configuration, with a streamlined sail and large bow sonar housing for the BQR-4 sonar system.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Cavalla |
Namesake | Cavalla |
Builder | Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1] |
Laid down | 4 March 1943[1] |
Launched | 14 November 1943[1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. M. Comstock |
Commissioned | 29 February 1944[1] |
Decommissioned | 16 March 1946[1] |
Recommissioned | 10 April 1951[1] |
Decommissioned | 3 September 1952[1] |
Recommissioned | 15 July 1953[1] |
Decommissioned | 3 June 1968[1] |
Reclassified |
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Stricken | 30 December 1969[1] |
Status | Museum ship at Galveston, Texas as of 21 January 1971[2] |
Notes | Sank the Japanese carrier Shōkaku |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | |
Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3] |
Endurance |
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Test depth | 300 ft (90 m)[3] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
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USS Cavalla (submarine) | |
Location | E. end of Seawolf Park, Galveston, Texas |
Coordinates | 29°20′08″N 94°46′42″W / 29.33556°N 94.77833°W |
Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 08000477[7] |
Added to NRHP | 27 May 2008 |
USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a
Her keel was
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.
First patrol
On her maiden patrol Cavalla, en route to her station in the eastern
Second patrol
Cavalla's second patrol took her to the
Third patrol
On 25 November 1944, during her third patrol, Cavalla encountered two Japanese destroyers and made a surface attack which destroyed the
Fourth and fifth patrols
Cavalla cruised the
Sixth patrol
Cavalla received the cease-fire order of 15 August while
Postwar
Recommissioned 10 April 1951, Cavalla was assigned to
Cavalla was recommissioned 15 July 1953 and assigned to
In November, 1961, Cavalla was ordered to Puerto Rico and provided electrical power via umbilical connection to USS Thresher (SSN-593) 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.[11]
Fate
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.[12]
Gallery
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The mess of the restored USS Cavalla (SS-244)
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The cramped officer quarters of Cavalla
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Damage in Seawolf Park following Hurricane Ike
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ OCLC 24010356.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
- ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2 November 2013.
- ^ Lettens, Jan (15 November 2014). "Kanko Maru [+1945]". wrecksite.eu.
- ^ "The Cavalla - Cold War Missions - SSK Conversion". Cavalla.org. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ Yarnall, Paul R. "USS Cavalla I (SS-244)". NavSource.org. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "The Cavalla-Thresher Incident". Cavalla.org. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "USS Cavalla: Sponsors and Contributors". cavalla.org. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.