USS Cod ( SS - 224 ) USS Cod ( SS / AGSS / IXSS - 224 ) is a " Gato " - class submarine , the only vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the cod , the well - known food fish of the North Atlantic and North Pacific . Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company of Groton , Connecticut on 21 July 1942 . She was launched on 21 March 1943 ( sponsored by Mrs . G . M . Mahoney ) , and commissioned on 21 June 1943 with Lieutenant Commander James C . Dempsey ( Class of 1931 ) in command . She is now permanently moored in Cleveland , Ohio and is open to visitors . World War II . First and second patrols . " Cod " arrived in Brisbane , Australia , on 2 October 1943 to prepare for her first war patrol . She sailed from there 20 days later . Penetrating the South China Sea , she contacted few targets , and launched an attack only once , on 29 November , with unobserved results . Returning to Fremantle , Western Australia , to refit from 16 December 1943 to 11 January 1944 , " Cod " put to sea for her second war patrol in the South China Sea , off Java , and off Halmahera . On 16 February , she surfaced to sink a sampan by gunfire , and on 23 February , torpedo ed a Japanese merchantman . She sent another to the bottom on 27 February and two days later attacked a third , only to be forced deep by a concentrated depth charging delivered by an alert escort ship . Third and fourth patrols . Refitting at Fremantle again from 13 March – 6 April 1944 , " Cod " sailed to the Sulu Sea and the South China Sea off Luzon for her third war patrol . On 10 May , she daringly attacked a heavily escorted convoy of 32 ships and sank destroyer " Karukaya " and a cargo ship before the escorts drove her down with depth charges . Returning to Fremantle to replenish 1 June , she cleared 3 July on her fourth war patrol , under the command of Commander James " Caddy " Adkins . She ranged from the coast of Luzon to Java . She sank a merchantman on 3 August , and a landing craft , " LSV - 129 " , on 14 August , and , once more successful , returned to Fremantle 25 August . Fifth patrol . " Cod " put to sea on her fifth war patrol 18 September 1944 , bound for Philippine waters . She made her first contact , a cargo ship , on 5 October , and sent it to the bottom . Two days later , she inflicted heavy damage on a tanker . Contacting a large convoy on 25 October , " Cod " launched several attacks without success . With all her torpedoes expended , she continued to shadow the convoy for another day to report its position . In November she took up a lifeguard station off Luzon , ready to rescue carrier pilots carrying out the series of air strikes on Japanese bases which paved the way for the invasion of Leyte later that month . " Cod " returned to Pearl Harbor on 20 November 1944 , and sailed on to a stateside overhaul , returning to Pearl Harbor on 7 March 1945 . Sixth and seventh patrols . On 24 March she sailed from Pearl Harbor for the East China Sea on her sixth war patrol . Assigned primarily to lifeguard duty , she used her deck gun to sink a tug and its tow on 17 April , rescuing three survivors , and on 24 April launched an attack on a convoy which resulted in the most severe depth charging of her career . The next day , she sent the minesweeper " W - 41 " to the bottom . On 26 April " Cod " was threatened by a fire in the aft torpedo room , but was saved by the heroism and skill of her men who brought the fire under control and manually launched a torpedo already in its tube before the fire could detonate it . QM2c L . E . Foley and S1c A . G . Johnson were washed overboard while freeing the torpedo room hatch . Foley was recovered the next morning , but Johnson was drowned during the night , the " Cod " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s only fatal casualty during the war . After refitting at Guam between 29 May and 26 June 1945 , " Cod " put out for the Gulf of Siam and the coast of Indo - China on her seventh war patrol under the command of Lieutenant Commander Edwin M . Westbrook , Jr . On 9 and 10 July she went to the rescue of a grounded Dutch submarine , " O - 19 " , taking its crew on board and destroying the Dutch boat when it could not be gotten off the reef . This was the only international submarine - to - submarine rescue in history . After returning the Dutch sailors to Subic Bay , between 21 July and 1 August , " Cod " made 20 gunfire attacks on the junks , motor sampans , and barges which were all that remained to supply the Japanese at Singapore . After inspecting each contact to rescue friendly natives , " Cod " sank it by gunfire , sending to the bottom a total of 23 . On 1 August , an enemy plane strafed " Cod " , forcing her to dive , leaving one of her boarding parties behind . The men were rescued two days later by . When " Cod " returned to Fremantle 13 August 1945 , the crew of " O - 19 " was waiting to throw a party for their rescuers . During that celebration , the two crews learned of the Japanese surrender . To symbolize that happy moment , another symbol was added to " Cod " s battle flag : the name " O - 19 " under a martini glass . " Cod " sailed for home on 31 August . Arriving in New London , on 3 November after a visit to Miami , Florida , " Cod " sailed to Philadelphia for overhaul , returning to New London where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 22 June 1946 . 1951 – 1971 . " Cod " was recommissioned in 1951 , under the command of Captain Francis E . Rich , to participate in NATO anti - submarine training exercises . Her Cold War voyages took " Cod " to St . John ' s Newfoundland , as well as ports in Cuba and South America . During LANTFLEX ' 52 fleet exercise , Cod was credited with " sinking " a U . S . aircraft carrier . " Cod " was decommissioned in 1954 and placed in reserve . In 1959 she was towed through the newly opened St . Lawrence Seaway to serve as a naval reserve training vessel in Cleveland , Ohio . The veteran submarine was an instant hit with school children who visited her on field trips . " Cod " was reclassified an Auxiliary Submarine ( AGSS - 224 ) , 1 December 1962 , and a Miscellaneous Unclassified Submarine ( IXSS - 224 ) , 30 June 1971 . In 1971 , no longer useful as a training ship , " Cod " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register . " Cod " is credited with sinking more than 12 enemy vessels totaling more than 37 , 000 tons , and damaging another 36 , 000 tons of enemy shipping . All seven of her war patrols were considered " successful " and " Cod " was awarded seven battle star s . Museum ship . A handful of Clevelanders formed the Cleveland Coordinating Committee to Save " Cod " , Inc . , to preserve her as a memorial on the city ' s lakefront . In January 1976 , the Navy gave guardianship of the submarine to the group . " Cod " began her career as a floating memorial in May 1976 when she opened for public tours and quickly established herself as a popular tourist attraction . In 1986 , the U . S . Department of the Interior designated " Cod " a National Historic Landmark . " Cod " is now a museum ship in Cleveland , Ohio and is maintained and operated as a memorial to the more than 3900 submariners who lost their lives during the 100 year history of the United States Navy Submarine Force . The public is invited to visit the boat daily between 1 May and 30 September each year . " Cod " is one of the finest restored submarines on display . Visitors to this proud ship use the same vertical ladders and hatches that were used by her crew ; unlike most other museum submarines , " Cod " has never had an access door cut in the side of her hull . Cleveland can claim partial credit as " Cod " ' s birthplace , since the submarine ' s four massive diesel engines were built by General Motors ' Cleveland Diesel plant on Cleveland ' s west side . The " Cod " memorial recently acquired two GM Cleveland Model 248 engines that had originally been used aboard another World War II submarine , . The two engines will be used for parts for the restoration of " Cod " ' s engines .