USS Cobia ( SS - 245 ) " Cobia " ( SS - 245 ) was laid down on 17 March 1943 by Electric Boat Co . , Groton , Conn . 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 . World War II . First patrol . " Cobia " reached Pearl Harbor from New London 3 June 1944 . On 26 June , she put to sea on her first war patrol , bound for the Bonin Islands . On 13 July , 17 July , and 18 July she sank Japan ese freighter s . The last , " Nisshu Maru " , was a troop transport carrying a Japanese tank regiment to Iwo Jima . Even though only two tank crewmen of the 26th Tank Regiment died , all of the regiment ' s 28 tanks went to the bottom of the sea . It would be December before 22 replacements were provided . On 20 July " Cobia " sank three small armed ships in a running gun battle . One of them rammed " Cobia " , causing minor damage , but the submarine continued her mission , sinking a converted yacht of 500 tons on 5 August . A survivor from the yacht was rescued as " Cobia " ' s first prisoner of war . Second and third patrols . After refitting at Majuro from 14 August to 6 September 1944 , " Cobia " sailed into the Luzon Strait for her second war patrol , a mission frequently punctuated by attacks by Japanese aircraft . On 22 October , the sub rescued two survivors of a Japanese ship previously sunk by another American submarine . " Cobia " put into Fremantle for refit 5 November , and cleared that harbor on her third war patrol 30 November . Sailing into the South China Sea , she reconnoitered off Balabac Strait between 12 December and 8 January 1945 , and on 14 January sank the minelayer " Yurishima " off the southeast coast of Malaya . Surfacing to photograph her sinking victim , " Cobia " was driven under by a Japanese bomber . Next day she rescued two Japanese from a raft on which they had been adrift 40 days . Fourth patrol . Once more she refitted at Fremantle ( between 24 January and 18 February ) , then sailed to the Java Sea for her fourth war patrol . On 26 February she engaged two " sea trucks " . One of the targets resisted with machine gun fire which damaged " Cobia " ' s radar equipment and killed Ralph Clark Huston Jr . , a 20 mm gun loader and the submarine ' s only casualty of the war . After sinking both sea trucks , " Cobia " interrupted her patrol for repairs at Fremantle from 4 – 8 March , then returned to the Java Sea , where on 8 April she rescued seven surviving crewmembers of a downed Army bomber . One of the crewmembers , Jean Vandruff , recounted the story of the rescue in his autobiography ( see external link ) . Fifth and sixth patrols . " Cobia " replenished at Subic Bay from 15 April to 9 May 1945 , then put out for the Gulf of Siam and her fifth war patrol . On 14 May she attacked a cargo ship , but was driven deep by depth charge s hurled by minelayer " Hatsutaka " . Her luck changed for the better on 8 June , when " Cobia " contacted a tanker convoy , and sank both a tanker and the landing craft " Hakusa " . She refitted once more at Fremantle between 18 June and 18 July , then sailed for her sixth and final war patrol . After landing intelligence teams along the coast of Java on 27 July , " Cobia " sailed to act as lifeguard during air strikes on Formosa until the end of hostilities , returning to Saipan 22 August . Of " Cobia " ' s six war patrols , the first , third , fourth , and fifth were designated as " successful " war patrols , for which she received four battle star s . She was credited with having sunk a total of 16 , 835 tons of shipping . Post - war service . " 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 both main diesel engines , the radio shack , and the SJ - 1 radar , which is considered to be the oldest operating radar set in the world .