USS Cavalla (SS-244) - March 12th, 2019
Cavalla Interior Photos Lost Subs to each State Sub Memorials by State List of All US Sub Museums Tour of USS Pampanito Colorized Battleship Photos
Visit the USS Cavalla (SSK-224) at Seawolf Park
Lower torpedo tubes floated out of the ground during Hurricane Ike in 2008
Cavalla sank the Japanese Carrier Shōkaku that attacked Pearl Harbor
The only submarine that avenged the December 7th, 1941 attack
Board the ship from the aft deck and walk forward
Pass by the conning tower to the forward hatches
Displayed beside the Edsall Class destroyer escort USS Stewart (DE-238)
Beyond the parking lot and fog is the concrete oil tanker SS Selma
Parts of two subs on display between the Cavalla and ferry Robert C. Lanier
Enter the sub through the torpedo loading hatch before the escape hatch
A torpedo and memorials plaques are displayed beside the ship
The ship was loaded with 16 torpedoes in the bow with 6 in the tubes
Forward torpedo room with firm crew beds supported by extra torpedoes
Two of six tubes removed in 1953 for forward sonar equipment
The girls revel in visiting the business end of the mighty warship
It takes a special kind of person to soundly sleep upon high explosives
Exit the forward torpedo room and continue toward the Officers Quarters
The Pantry prepared food for the officers, separate from the enlisted
Officers Wardroom provided space for the six to eight officers onboard
Captain's quarters is the only one with a single bed
Two navigators shared the quarters with two beds
Chief Petty Officer quarters accommodated five
The Yoeman's Office is where the sub's administration work was done
Depart the officers quarters and head toward the Control Room
High and low pressure air system controls to blow ballast tanks
Also has the radio room and emergency steering station
Access to the conning tower is closed off to the general public
The Galley prepared three meals a day for the 60 sailors onboard
Please donate to help restore these vessels because rust never sleeps!
Backgammon and checkers boards provided entertainment between meals
Coffee opposite the crew mess facing toward control room & officers quarters
The main crew quarters is where most of the enlisted men slept
Due to 24 hour operations, light levels were kept to a minimum and quiet
Forward Engine Room has one diesel engine, left, and AC plant on the right
Addition of 1953 sonar equipment up front moved the AC unit back here
After Engine Room still has both of its diesel engines giving the ship three
Fwd Engine Room water distillers converted 700 gallons of salt water/day
Aft Engine Room had centrifuge/purifiers to separate sea water from oil
Maneuvering Room housed equipment to control electric power
Transformer distributed power to motors from generators or batteries here
Power Control Station operated by two electrician's mates
Port and starboard side motors operated by multiple control levers
First Mate bumps up the engine output to pass a slow League City Sub
Power was sent to motors, charged batteries and everything else onboard
A very flexible system that allowed many combinations of source & load
The tour inside the submarine concludes in the After Torpedo Room
The after torpedo room has four tubes and room for four reloads
The tubes are a basically a large air gun that ejects the torpedo
Looking up at the aft crew escape hatch
3000 pound torpedoes could be loaded into place in just a few minutes
Veteran and POW/MIA Memorial Stone with fallen soldier battle cross
2nd Cavalla (SSN-684) served from 1973-1998 & crossed bows here in 1978
52 Submarines lost during WWII now memorialized in each state
Crew of the USS Seawolf lost on October 3, 1944, Texas' assigned memorial
Seawolf was sunk by friendly fire on her 15th patrol
17 special forces soldiers were also killed aboard the Seawolf
Cromwell purposely went down with his ship (Sculpin) to avoid capture
Submarine Corps had the highest causality rate (23%) of any service
Herzstein & Strake Foundations provided much funds to maintain the ships
US Submarine Veterans who assisted in establishing Seawolf Park
The girls sit on a Mark XVI torpedo used during WWII
The bow is lightly loaded with a one foot draft
The protector left, the hunter right and hunted (SS Selma) offshore
Cavalla's bow was rounded in 1953 to house a BQR-4 sonar system
Now a hunter-killer, Cavalla (SSK-244) hunted other submarines
Conning tower compartment of the Balao class USS Carp (SS-338)
Sail of the Sturgeon Class attack sub USS Tautog (SSN-639)
USS Tautog served 1968–1996 and was scrapped in 2004
Compass rose encircled by plaques honoring each submarine lost
Fifty Two submarines were lost during WWII and each are listed with their date and general area where they were sent on eternal patrol
After WWII, each state was assigned a submarine to honor, Texas honors the loss of USS Seawolf (SS-197) and does so with the USS Cavalla (SSK-224)
Only two torpedo tubes were above ground prior to Hurricane Ike in 2008
Cavalla briefly sailed again, dirt filled in under her, to the joy of her visitors