USS Cavalla - Galveston, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Statement of Significance

Of the 77 Gato Class submarines built during World War Two, the USS Cavalla (known to her crew as "The Lucky Lady") is one of seven in existence in the United States.' Beginning in 1941, Gato Class submarines were built with a high surface speed enabling them to keep up with and scout for the fleet. They had a long range that enabled them to reach all Pacific waters within the interest sphere of the United States. Between 1941 and 1944, seventy-seven Gato Class submarines were built by four shipyards: Electric Boat Company, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. The USS Cavalla^ (SS244) was built in Groton, Connecticut by the Electric Boat Company. The Gato Class submarines were designed and built to operate in the conditions of the "Hot War" of the 1940s. In 1944-45, Cavalla served in the Pacific on six war patrols, sinking an aircraft carrier, a destroyer, and two cargo ships. She was present in Tokyo Bay during the Japanese surrender ceremony. Cavalla received the Presidential Unit Citation for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku (CV-6) during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Shokaku had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The Cavalla is a good example of the type of ship construction which enabled U.S. shipyards to produce an enormous number of ships efficiently, quickly and economically during the early stages of World War II. As an intact example of a Gato Class submarine, one of only seven remaining in the United States, the ship is nominated under Criteria A and C in the areas of military and architecture, at the national level of significance.

The Electric Boat Company, in Groton, Connecticut, built the Cavalla. Her keel was laid on 4 March 1943; she was launched on 14 November 1943 and commissioned on 29 February 1944. After trials and crew training (about one third of the crew had no previous submarine experience), Cavalla left New London, CT for Pearl Harbor on 11 April 1944. Crew training continued en route. After arriving in Pearl Harbor on 9 May, Cavalla received her final training exam — an exercise to conduct simulated attacks against an escorted American convoy heading to Pearl Harbor. Completing this test, Cavalla received orders and departed on her first war patrol on 31 May 1944. Just three months after commissioning, Cavalla and her crew were judged to be ready for combat.

Summary of Historical Significance.

Cavalla had a long active life, from 29 February 1944 to 30 December 1969. She saw duty during the World War II when Germany, Italy, and Japan threatened much of the civilized world. She continued to serve during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the United States competed for dominance and each had sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy the other. In both periods Cavalla contributed to the security of the United States.

Cavalla was built by the Electric Boat Company at a yard that did not exist before the war. From keel laying at the Victory Yard until commissioning, took just under a year, about half the time that was required in the pre-war period. When Cavalla was commissioned, about a third of her crew had no previous submarine experience. In less than four months, her crew had become a smooth team and was reporting the location of the Admiral Ozawa's Task Force, sinking an aircraft carrier, and eluding three destroyers that dropped 105 depth charges around her during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The carrier that Cavalla sank, the Shokaku, was a veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor and of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Cavalla went on to contribute further by sinking a destroyer and two merchant vessels. Cavalla is the only remaining submarine that sank an aircraft carrier during World War II.

In Down to the Sea in Subs, VADM Charles Lockwood states: "In the eyes of virtually all naval historians, the Marianas Campaign is an outstanding example of the successful coordination of surface craft, air and submarines." In U.S. Submarines in World War II, Theodore Roscoe states: "Effective scouting, efficient handling and several smashing torpedo attacks {Albacore & Cavalla) combined to give the submarine force a leading role in a victory which meant the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese navy." Cavalla was a central figure in the Marianas Campaign.

In the Cold War, Cavalla served in two ways. She made operational patrols to detect and track Soviet submarines in the Atlantic Ocean that were nuclear threats to the United States. Attached to Submarine Development Group II, Cavalla helped develop and test new weapons systems, improved sonar systems, sound isolation systems, and operational tactics that were needed to counter Soviet submarines. Those systems and tactics were adapted to the nuclear submarines that developed under Admiral Rickover beginning with Nautilus in 1950. Thus a WW II diesel submarine, Cavalla, helped develop systems that would be basic to the new submarines of the Nuclear Era. Cavalla played an important role in the Hot and Cold War Eras and contributed to the true submarines of the Nuclear Era - especially important times in the History of the United States.

With regard to Criteria A, Cavalla was a participant and a key factor in victory at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, which marked the beginning of the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Two days before the battle, Cavalla provided to US Task Force 58, the location and composition of a major Japanese Naval Force. On the morning of the battle, Cavalla torpedoed and sank the Japanese aircraft carrier, Shokaku. For her actions in this battle, Cavalla received the Presidential Unit Citation. Victory in this battle permitted the invasion of the Marianas to continue and to succeed. With the new bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, US bombers could now reach the Japanese home islands and the way for retaking the Philippines was opened. Cavalla was associated with a major battle that contributed to the ultimate surrender of Japan in World War II.<//p>

Cavalla was controlled and directed by the Commander, Submarines Pacific, VADM Charles A. Lockwood USN. This submarine command was a major component under the Commander in Chief, Pacific, ADMR Chester W. Nimitz USN. Both were submariners. In preparation for the invasion of the Marianas, ADMR Nimitz directed VADM Lockwood to provide submarine support to the invasion forces under Admiral Spruance. As the forces were being mobilized. Admiral Lockwood placed submarines around the Marianas to attack shipping bringing troops and supplies. Other submarines were placed at choke points to report Japanese Fleet movements. As US forces closed on the Marianas, the submarines were withdrawn from around those islands, except for two assigned lifeguard duties. After the initial bombardment. Admiral Lockwood placed submarines to cover the area between the Marianas and the Philippines. Cavalla on her first patrol was directed to relieve Flying Fish, which had been stationed at the eastern end of San Bernardino Strait. As Admiral Ozawa left Tawi Tawi and headed toward the Marianas, Admiral Lockwood moved his submarines to cover the expected Japanese tracks. Cavalla benefited from the Admiral's attention and directed assignments. After Cavalla reported a Japanese tanker convoy headed to refuel Admiral Ozawa's ships, she was moved to a new station. After she detected and reported a major element of the Japanese Force, Admiral Lockwood assigned Cavalla another position and here she found and sank the Japanese carrier, the Shokaku. Admirals Spruance and Mitscher of Task Force 58 benefited from Cavalla's reports and actions.

In the post-war period. Admiral Nimitz, then the Chief of Naval Operations, recognized the need for submarines to adapt to the new strategic problem of the Cold War that required submarines to fight submarines. Soviet surface forces were limited in size and egress into the open oceans. The main naval threat of the Soviet Union was its submarine fleet. Admiral Nimitz directed the establishment of Submarine Development Group -2, to lead in the development of submarine systems that would enable our submarines to attack submerged enemy submarines. Cavalla, assigned to SubDevGroup-2, was a test and development platform for new systems to meet the new strategic requirement of the "Cold War." While Cavalla was not in Admiral Rickover's line of command, he was aware of the systems Cavalla and SubDevGrp-2 were working on and adapted them for the nuclear submarines he was building.

With regard to Criteria C, Cavalla is representative of the diesel submarines that fought in World War II and of the last of the US diesel submarines that protected the country in the early stages of Cold War. She was a fleet submarine, one of the 77 Gato Class submarines that contributed significantly to victory in the Pacific. It was such a successful design, that the follow on Balao Class had only one major change; its "test depth" was increased by using high tensile steel and thicker plating. Other systems were upgraded, but remained essentially as in the Gato Class.

Cavalla was modified in '52/'53 to face the threat of the Cold War. Diesel submarines, kept in service for the Cold War, received modifications to streamline the superstructure and sail areas, improve their sonar capabilities, and had a snorkel installed to permit operation on its engines while submerged at shallow depth. As nuclear submarines entered service, diesel submarines were taken out of service. By 1975, the last of the World War II fleet submarines of the Gato and Balao classes were taken out of service. Cavalla is a prime example of the classic Gato class submarine.

Educational Value of the Submarine

To the casual visitor, a lesson in history, the technology of a submarine in the Navy, the hardships of a sailor's life with 80 shipmates in such a confined space, and the skills those sailors needed become clear as they proceed through the submarine. To a thoughtful and more inquiring visitor, Cavalla reveals deeper details of submariners and their ships. Leaming that this complicated system left New London, CT and set course for the war in the Pacific with just six weeks of on board crew training, and that one third of the crew had had no previous submarine experience, seems incredible. Furthermore, the new submarine had to be tested and shaken down in that same short period. That this small ship (1,526 tons), on its first patrol, sank a large veteran Japanese aircraft carrier (29,800 tons), that had battle experience starting with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, adds to the amazement of the visitor.

For more formal educational activities, Cavalla can provide lessons in history, science, engineering, human relationships and even medicine. A study of Cavalla's Patrol Reports and Deck Logs reveals fulfillment of the role for which the fleet submarine was designed, built and operated — to support the fleet. Cavalla performed a scouting role advising Task Force 58 of the location, course, speed and composition of the Japanese fleet prior to the battle. In the attrition role, Cavalla sank a major element of that Japanese fleet during the course of the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The student of military history and the war in the Paciflc can learn much from Cavalla and her patrol reports.

Submarines provide a wide range of scientific topics that can be learning experiences for middle school, high school, college and even graduate students. Diving and trimming a submarine barkens all the way back to the "Eureka" of Archimedes. Detection and tracking by sonar and radar provide further lessons in the sciences of sound and electromagnetic radiation. The list is almost endless — galvanic action, electrical currents and their generation, usage and storage, internal combustion engines, centrifugal force to separate oil and water, and countless more. Engineering topics include the many complicated systems that derive from the above scientific fields.

Submarine crews had to live in very close contact with each other; every man's life depended upon every shipmate’s ability to do his job correctly and to be able to react to any emergency that might occur wherever he might be in the submarine. Close confinement for periods of two months, while under the stress of operating in enemy waters, tested the adaptability of each crew member, and provides insight into problems facing today's space travelers. Submarines on patrol had a hospital corpsman, but no doctor, sulfa drugs, but no antibiotics. Accidental injuries had to be treated, ruptured appendix occurred, etc. For example, one submarine treated a sailor with a ruptured appendix by surgery on the wardroom table. The medical corpsman wielded the knife and untrained crew assistants using bent spoons held the incision open. The operation was a success; the sailor lived. Cavalla also had a sailor with a ruptured appendix. The corpsman treated the patient with sulfa drugs, bed rest, special diet (no more eggs for the crew) and nearly a month later, when Cavalla returned to port (Fremantle, Australia), the sailor was transferred to the Sub Tender and operated on. He missed one patrol on Cavalla, but returned for her next patrol. Submarines can provide many lessons for students of all ages on the resilience of humans to harsh environments.

Cavalla is providing these educational experiences to her visitors. She is a living memory of past periods of dedication and sacrifice as the people of the United States rose above themselves to save their way of life for their country and as an example to the world. Cavalla is fully worthy of placement in the National Register of Historic Places.

Street address: East End of Seawolf Park Galveston, TX USA 77550 County / Borough / Parish: Galveston Year listed: 2008 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949 Historic function: Defense: Naval Facility - Submarine Current function: Recreation and Culture: Museum Privately owned?: yes Season start / Season finish: From: 01/01/2020 To: 12/31/2020 Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Secondary Website 2: [Web Link] Hours of operation: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/16/2021 bro.bobby70 visited it