Yours truly in front of USS Cobia (SS-245), a WWII Gato-class submarine. Cobia was laid down on 17 March 1943 by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 28 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. C. W. Magruder), and commissioned on 29 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander Albert L. Becker in command.

Her war record isn't all that impressive, as only four of her six patrols were successful, and in the four that were, she sank a total of 16,835 tons of shipping. There is a reason for her low numbers, though. By the time she finished fitting out and had reached Pearl Harbor, it was 1944 and the war was winding down. A good portion of the Japanese freighters had been sunk already. However, she has at least one noteworthy kill under her belt.

Her first patrol started 26 June, 1944. On 13 July, 17 July, and 18 July, she attacked three Japanese freighters. The last, Nisshu Maru, was a troop transport carrying the 26th Tank Regiment to Iwo Jima. Casualties among the regiment were low, but all 22 of their tanks went to the bottom. It was not until December that replacements would arrive.

After the surrender of Japan, Cobia sailed on for Pearl Harbor, New York, Washington, and New London, where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 22 May 1946. Recommissioned 6 July 1951, Cobia trained reservists and Submarine School students at New London until placed in commission in reserve at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 29 October 1953. After overhaul, she was towed to New London, where she was again placed out of commission in reserve in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 19 March 1954.

By 1959, the Navy considered Cobia obsolete as a deployable warship and transferred her to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Naval Reserve Center. There she served as a training platform for the next eleven years. She was redesignated an Auxiliary Submarine, AGSS-245, 1 December 1962.


On 1 July 1970, the Navy struck Cobia from the Naval Register, and she was towed to Manitowoc, Wisconsin to serve as an international memorial to submariners. In 1986, Cobia was incorporated as a part of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, declared a National Historic Landmark, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Cobia is permanently docked at the Manitowoc River's mouth at Lake Michigan, where tours are given daily and overnight trips are available.
Ongoing restoration, maintenance, and preservation efforts keep Cobia in remarkably good condition, with many systems operational, including two of the main diesel engines, the radio shack, and the SJ-1 radar, which is considered to be the oldest operating radar set in the world. (The museum doesn't turn on the radar much, as it interferes with the local airstrip's radar, and, I quote a tour guide, "They get REALLY mad at us!")