USS Kraken

History
United States
Name	USS Kraken (SS-370)
Builder	Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin[1]
Laid down	13 December 1943[1]
Launched	30 April 1944[1]
Commissioned	8 September 1944[1]
Decommissioned	4 May 1948[1]
Recommissioned	4 July 1959[3][1]
Decommissioned	24 October 1959[1]
Stricken	1 November 1974[2]
Fate	Transferred to Spain, 24 October 1959,[2] sold to Spain, 1 November 1974[1]
Spain
Name	Almirante García de los Reyes (S-31)
Commissioned	25 October 1959
Decommissioned	16 September 1974
Recommissioned	1 September 1975
Decommissioned	April 1981
Stricken	1 April 1982
Fate	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × electrical generators 2 × 126- batteries 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears 2 × propellers 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[4] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[4]
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[4]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[4] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)[4]
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[4]
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft 24 torpedoes[5] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[5] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Kraken (SS-370), a

.

Kraken commissioned in September 1944 and saw action during the last year of

.

In 1959 Kraken was transferred to the Spanish Navy as Almirante García de los Reyes. She was scrapped in 1982.

USS Kraken (SS-370)

Kraken was

8 September 1944.

Kraken steamed by way of

21 November.

Kraken departed Pearl Harbor 12 December 1944, for her first war patrol, touched at

, arriving there 14 February 1945.

Kraken departed on her second war patrol 15 March and maintained lifeguard duty in the

, 26 April.

Departing on her third war patrol on 19 May 1945, Kraken set course for the

Merak

and riddled a coaster and a small ship with 5-inch (130 mm) and 40 mm projectiles. She saw the coaster sink and she left the small ship ablaze before clearing the harbor.

Three days later, while chasing an eight-ship convoy, Kraken's torpedoes sank an oiler and a coastal steamer and her guns inflicted heavy damage on one of the Japanese submarine chasers. Then Kraken proudly sailed into Fremantle, Australia, 3 July 1945, ending her most successful patrol.

Kraken sailed on her fourth and last patrol 29 July. While seeking the enemy in the Java Sea, her patrol was cut short when she received news of Japan's capitulation. Sailing for Subic Bay, she arrived 21 August.

Kraken cleared Subic Bay 31 August 1945, touched at Pearl Harbor, and arrived at

.

Almirante García de los Reyes (S-31)

Kraken remained in reserve status until 18 September 1958, when she was assigned to

, and 3 "insecure" and old Spanish D-class submarines), and was nicknamed "treinta y único" ("thirty only-one") and became almost legendary.

A. G. de los Reyes's voyage via the Panama Canal to Cartagena, Spain took till late January 1960.

García was decommissioned, 16 September 1974, sold to Spain, and struck from the US

, which had suffered a severe engine failure the previous spring and had to be stricken. García was finally decommissioned in April 1981, struck from the Spanish Navy list, 1 April 1982, and scrapped.

Honors and awards

• battle star
• World War II Victory Medal
• Philippine Liberation Medal

See also

• List of submarines of the Spanish Navy

References

External links

• Photo gallery of Kraken at NavSource Naval History
• A. G. de los Reyes website Archived 15 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine (Spanish)