The USS Cavalla (SS 244)
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THE US CAVALLA (SS 244)
Length: 311 ft 9 in
Compliment: 54 enlisted submariners, 6 officers
Power: Diesel-Electric
Class: Gato
Test depth: 300 ft
Commissioned: February 29, 1944
Decommissioned: June 3, 1968
On her first patrol, USS Cavalla’s crew spotted
Japanese forces while in transit to her station in the Philippines. The crew was given strict
orders to observe and report only. Several hours later they made their report of the convoy’s location, which led to American success in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as Mariana’s Turkey Shoot.
Two days later, and with permission to engage, Cavalla came across IJN Shōkaku,
one of the carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor. Cavalla shot six torpedoes in a spread towards Shōkaku and three of them hit, sinking the carrier.
In 1952, Cavalla was refitted to be a Hunter-Killer submarine. During this
conversion, she lost two of her forward torpedo tubes and one engine to make room
for the latest passive sonar equipment, the BQR-4 array. Additionally, her conning tower
was remodeled into a sail as it exists today, to make her more streamlined.
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