USS Cod Submarine Memorial

07/18/2023

USS Cod's mission to serve our city goes beyond honoring veterans and educating and inspiring our youth. Thanks to crewman Tony Dalesio, a retired Cleveland firefighter, we've now added helping train first responders to our resume of community payback.

Recently on two consecutive mornings Cod helped furnish Cleveland Firefighters with realistic confined space rescue training. It's a win-win for us and the city's first responders because if we ever have someone incapacitated below decks these specialists will have the important job of getting that person topside and in the hands of medical professionals. Tony coordinated the project between Cod and the CFD with the assistance of shipmate Jon Bradrick and others. A number of early arriving Cod visitors were excited to witness the training exercise as well.

Now that the first round of training for the professionals is over Tony will coordinate an in-house program to help Cod crew deal with a range of potential health and safety issues. We're the first on the scene after all! We'll cover that project when it happens! As always a big salute to Cleveland Firefighters and to Tony for arranging the event. Our special thanks to Jon Bradrick for the images of the event!

07/13/2023

Today we decided to open up the ammo scuttle to illustrate this deck gun feature for our new crewmen. The pressure-proof tube set at an angle just aft of the conning tower fairwater allows 5-inch fixed ammunition to be passed from the Cod's magazine below the mess deck to waiting gun crew on deck. It can be opened and closed from either top or bottom ends. The 74-pound fixed ammunition is passed topside in metal shipping cans that cannot fall back in the tube thanks to a spring-loaded tab that allows the shells to pass upward but prevents them from sliding back down the tube. Periodically opening the scuttle ensures it will not freeze up from corrosion and crud accumulation.

07/10/2023

Our 2023 celebration of Cod's 1945 rescue of the crew of the Dutch submarine O-19 was a great success despite the rainy weather! CDR Stefan Luteijn of the Netherlands embassy in Washington was our guest of honor. Also on hand were a wonderful compliment of locals of Dutch ancestry as well as our honorary Dutch counsel Pete DeLaPort. A big surprise was a generous selection of Cod-O19 cookies brought along by the Obratil family of Cod crew. A talented baker in the Obratil family created them to honor Dutch-American friendship. Our sincerest thanks for the artful cookies.

07/06/2023

UNIQUE WWII SUBMARINE RESCUE BY COD REMEMBERED

USS Cod Submarine Memorial will honor her 1945 rescue of the crew of a Dutch submarine with a reenactment this Saturday, July 8, at 2 PM aboard the boat.

Cod's current crew will take to the water in an inflatable boat to reenact the final boatload of Dutch sub O-19 crewmen arriving aboard Cod as occurred on Ladd Reef on July 10, 1945, deep in enemy waters. This was history's only international sub-to-sub rescue and saved the lives of 55 Dutch submariners.

The event includes a brief presentation and then the water transfer of the Dutch flag aboard Cod followed by the national anthems of both Allies. A deck gun salute follows representing Cod's necessary destruction of the Dutch sub to prevent her capture by the enemy.

The public will be admitted free of charge beginning at 1 PM at Cod's dock on 1201 N. Marginal Rd.

06/29/2023

We've often said that working on USS Cod is always fascinating and frankly often weird. Here's a sampling of the strange and oddball aspects of life aboard our National Historic Landmark submarine that makes everyday unique. Check out the captions for descriptions.

06/22/2023

Our 80th anniversary of Cod's commissioning celebration was a great success thanks to Cod's very dedicated crew and the support of our friends in the community. Perfect weather and an enthusiastic crowd also contributed to a meaningful and fun day as we both honored Cod's continuing service to our Nation and rededicated this National Historic Landmark submarine as the place "where Cleveland honors veterans!"

Our special thanks to our guest speaker Admiral Cox, head of the US Navy History and Heritage Command and the Cleveland detachment of the Naval Sea Cadets for their fine color guard service. We were also honored by the presence of the Cleveland Fire Department's brand new fire boat at our celebration.

Best of all it was a great opportunity to honor our dedicated crew for their tireless service to maintain and interpret Cod to our visitors.

Now onwards to the centennial celebration ... or at least our annual Dutch Friendship celebration honoring Cod's wartime rescue of the crew of the Dutch submarine O-19 on Saturday, July 8 at 2 PM!

Photos courtesy of Cod crewmen Bill Synk, Patricia Kellogg and Paul Farace.

06/20/2023

It's always special when family of Cod crew come aboard and the Cox family have been regular visitors over the years. Today his son and daughter and their children and grandchildren visited great-grandpa's sub. After watching color movies of Cod's last patrol in the crew's mess searching for the family patriarch and answering questions from other visitors, the Cox family moved to Cod's after engine room to look at engine number 3 -- the one William B. Cox, Jr. was in charge of on Cod. Cox was a motor mac on Cod's last four patrols and rode her home from the war zone. Already a veteran of submarine duty when he reported aboard Cod, "Coxie" -- as he was called -- had made earlier patrols on S Boats, including S-39 when she grounded on a reef in the Coral Sea in 1942. Cox and his shipmates made it ashore and were rescued by an Australian minesweeper. He and his Cod shipmates returned the favor on our last patrol by rescuing the crew of a Dutch sub that grounded on a reef in 1945. It was heartwarming to see a fourth Cox generation literally touch their family heritage. Come back soon!

06/15/2023

We were honored to host an overnight by Ryan Szimanski and the folks behind the highly successful Battleship New Jersey YouTube channel. Sadly they were on a tightly scheduled roadtrip that included visits to Buffalo Naval Park before they arrived in Cleveland. After a whirlwind video session this morning they left to get back to Camden, NJ for an evening event... such is the life of historic naval ship media celebrities I guess!

Look for their segments filmed aboard Cod coming soon to the Cod and Battleship New Jersey YouTube channels.

06/13/2023

It was two years ago today that Cod departed Cleveland for a 63-day refit at Donjon Shipbuilding in Erie, PA. The work of countless crew over decades came to fruition as Cod got under tow for the first time in 58 years. The drydocking project began in earnest with the discovery of a small hole in our 2B ballast tank two years earlier. Our crew came together and began making Cod ready for her trip. Cod returned home not only with a renewed bottom but a crew confident that they could tackle any challenge to keep their boat a shining memorial for the Nation.

06/12/2023

We've been blessed with sunny dry weather with the resulting large turnout of visitors in recent weeks. Our guides have been busy with tours and maintenance work continues in high gear. We also were suprised to see our old shipmate Ensign Kyle Wadley home on leave from his ship USS Truxton. Kyle presented Cod Director Paul Farace with a ship's cap adorned with scrambled eggs. Thank you Kyle!

Our redecking project is working in the crew's mess where Maintenance Manager Dave Krejci and crewman Ben Yanke are laying down the final flooring segments in preparation for reinstalling the tables and benches.

The USCG amazed our Saturday afternoon visitors by conducting a helicopter water rescue demonstration off the starboard deck. A USCG helo dropped a dummy into the lake followed by lowering a rescue swimmer into the water who saved the day. It's always exciting around the Cod dock!

06/05/2023

And now a message for our French comrades:

"Berce mon coeur d'une langueur monotone...

Berce mon coeur d'une langueur monotone...

Berce mon coeur d'une langueur monotone..."

06/02/2023

Check out our brief YouTube introduction to Big Henry, our 1945-vintage Hanson Mfg. torpedo crane truck. Big Henry was one of 267 vehicles built for the Navy in WWII and is the only known example that is fully functional.

https://youtu.be/zU0SXe5ONbs

05/31/2023

I often joke with modelers that I don't have time for anything other than 1:1-scale work as director of the USS Cod. That said, I must confess that I was blown away when in 1990 USS Pampanito manager Russ Booth showed me the 1:10-scale model of a Balao class submarine they had in their collection -- a donation from the 1983 ABC Circle Film "The Winds of War." It was at the time, and may still be, the most expensive model sub ever built. The model was capable of diving and surfacing and firing scale model torpedoes powered by a 9-volt transistor battery. The model was stored without its conning tower attached in an equally impressive wooden crate on wheels in the Pampanito's pier shed storage space in Fisherman's Wharf. It was taken out of storage in September of 1990 when the Navy asked that it be used as the centerpiece at the San Francisco Fleet Week gala at a downtown hotel ballroom. Russ agreed to the request but being a careful planner he scouted out the logistics of moving the model in advance of the ball. The route from Pier 45 to the hotel was doable for a 30-foot crate in a moving van, until they got to the hotel's freight elevator. Sadly no amount of angling would allow the model to fit into the elevator. A lot of submarine officers would be very disappointed that the head table would be "sans submarine" -- until Russ suggested that perhaps the detachable conning tower would be almost as exciting if it were displayed in a sea of flowers. His idea was immediately approved and Russ was asked to bring the conning tower to the ballroom as soon as possible. Russ informed me that the price of my peak at the model was to drive him and the conning tower to the hotel in my rental car. Driving the model was nerve wracking given how delicate the antennas and tiny guns and deck railings were. The conning tower barely fit across the back seat of my rental car and Russ rode the entire route with his arm reaching back from the passenger seat to steady the plastic resin model behind him. Obviously I wasn't going to reprise the San Francisco car chase scene from the Steve McQueen movie "Bullet."

I heard the ball was grand and I was glad I didn't have to drive the conning tower back to Pampanito. But I promised that if I ever won the lottery my dream mansion would have a bathtub big enough to float the entire submarine model!

05/27/2023

Old Glory through the attack periscope of USS Cod Submarine Memorial today. Let's remember our fallen military heroes this Memorial Day weekend...

05/23/2023

We not only have the most beautiful submarine in the fleet (I'll hit anyone who disagrees with a bag of mulch!) but we try to keep the grounds in similarly beautiful condition. Thanks to our hardworking flower crew we got our flower beds ready for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. A special thank you to Pat Kellogg who arranged a donation of flowers from Petiti Garden Centers.

05/22/2023

We’ve uploaded a new video! In this one we discuss Cod’s Battle Flag!!!

Like most American subs at the conclusion of WWII USS Cod's crew designed a commemorative battle flag to record their submarine's achievements. Cod has a col...

05/12/2023

To keep our Facebook posts timely here's an omnibus report of a variety of things we're doing currently. Later this month we are hosting a segment of the World of Warships' "Longest Night of Museums." From 7 to 7:45 PM on Thursday, May 18 we will be linked to a selection of warship memorials around the world and fans of the online game. We will provide insights into our fleet submarine and then take viewer's questions. Why not join us?

05/08/2023

Spotlight on Cod crewman Brian Burton (I expect to eventually introduce all of our crew in this forum). Like operating submarine crews our memorial staff has to be multi-talented and Brian is a perfect example of this. He's one of our shipkeepers, which means he greets the public as Cod's frontline representative and helps us generate 98% of our income. Brian has been a crewman for about 20 years. He's married, a devoted family man and involved in his church. He's a Cleveland school teacher when not working aboard the sub and also our chaplin, our go-to expert on notable military veterans, Tuskegee Airmen, historic aircraft and so much more. He's also a big fan of live music. If Brian's on duty say hello!

05/05/2023

In our new video we explore a torpedo tube mystery!

We all know that Gato, Balao and Tench class fleet subs have ten 21-inch diam. torpedo tubes, but did you know that the after tubes are 3-feet longer than th...

05/02/2023

We are incredibly blessed that in the late 1990s Marjorie Westbrook, widow of our last wartime captain, donated a picture album of his patrol in command of Cod. The pictures are a priceless window into life aboard a Navy sub in the final months of the war. We put the pictures to work on our tour route in the spot they were taken so that visitors can hold them up and compare Cod's restoration today with 1945. The rooms so documented include the forward torpedo room, the XO's stateroom, the wardroom, Captain Westbrook's stateroom, the control room, the radio shack, the galley, and the maneuvering room. Here are a few of the pictures in their places.

04/28/2023

We have uploaded our second video to Cod's YouTube channel, again on the theme of battle damage or "someone's trying to kill us!"

https://youtu.be/vbSPgpCBosA

04/25/2023

We recently had a visit from Ciro a member of the Cleveland Police K9 Unit, and his handler. The pair were training in the area and our shipkeeper invited them aboard where crewman Jon Bradrick photographed them near our 5-inch deckgun. Ciro isn't alone visiting Cod. Canines on Cod include our 1945 crew mascot Bozo and the many service dogs who accompany their humans touring the sub.

04/21/2023

USS Cod Submarine Memorial is no stranger to YouTube videos. Over the years we've posted a variety of videos as have our friends and visitors. Today we're taking the next step by launching Cod's YouTube channel. We're not trying to compete with Ryan Szimanski and the Battleship New Jersey's excellent and prolific output. But like the submarine force of WWII we're doing something small and informal and hopefully entertaining and effective. You'll be the judge!

Here's the link to our channel and our first program. As they say -- "like, subscribe and click the notification bell!"

Dents on deck, overlooked for years as trival deformation, were discovered to be evidence of a WWII depth charge attack. Cod's WWII crew, attending a reunion...

04/19/2023

Hidden Spaces -- USS Cod's Motor Room

Let's face it, a WWII memorial fleet sub is not a battleship with its hundreds of compartments and spaces that can go unseen for months, according to their curators. Fleet subs have only one deck that you traverse and an equal-sized space below that isn't normally manned. Instead the lower half of the pressure hull contain batteries, engines, auxiliary equipment and in the case of the maneuvering room, the motor room. This tiny space below the "cage" and its switchboard is pretty darn important. It's where electrical energy from the batteries and generators becomes rotational energy through four electric motors. That mechanical energy is transferred to the two propellers via two reduction gears driving two telephone pole-sized prop shafts that (in service) mounted 8-ft diameter four-blade bronze propellers weighing 2,800 lbs each. On the surface the five generators provide 4,000 KW that becomes 5,400 SHP (surface). Submerged, the batteries generate 2,040 KW and 2,740 SHP. This moves Cod at speeds up to 22 knots surfaced and up to 9 knots submerged (until the batteries drain in 60 minutes at that speed).

As for being hidden, this space captured the interest of crewman Phil McCourt, who documented it in images for this post. The room is split into two parts -- a forward bay and shaft alley, separated by the four giant electric motors and their interconnects in the center. We occasionally visit shaft alley to inspect the packing glands that seal the point where our two shafts exit the pressure hull. Access to the forward bay is provided by a steel hatch hidden under rubber mats. The after part of the motor room has a hinged steel grate that furnishes both access and provides a limited view of the starboard shaft and thrust bearing that transfers propeller thrust to Cod's hull. The motor room remains virtually untouched since Cod was mothballed in 1954. Only the dust of decades and occasional items accidentally dropped by visitors impacts this hidden space. My thanks to Phil McCourt for his images and help with this post. What other Cod hidden spaces would you like to see next?

04/13/2023

Cod is now ready for inclement weather thanks to the installation today of a deck shelter over our after torpedo room hatch. Until now sudden rain storms required our crew to scramble to close the hatches. Regardless of how fast we acted significant amounts of water reached the interior and resulted in corrosion of the steel deck. Also on busy days sending visitors back through the sub to exit via the more sheltered forward torpedo room door created major congestion headaches. All that is hopefully in the past and with our year-round tour season these modifications are very welcome. The final phase of the project will cover the forward portion of the accommodation rails over the forward escape trunk door with clear acrylic. This will further block rain from entering the sub's FTR.

04/11/2023

Happy Submarine Day!

From fantasy to amazing fact, the submarine has captured the imagination of people all over the world. USS Cod Submarine Memorial is proud to be a part of that incredible story that stretches back more than 123 years. It's a story of dedication and sacrifice by the best America has to offer. Every day is Sub Day at Cod but today we salute those who have served, are serving and those who work tirelessly to ensure our proud submarine tradition is not forgotten by our fellow Americans.

04/10/2023

No day shall erase their memory...

Remembering the men of the USS Thresher on the 60th anniversary of its loss.🇺🇸

04/05/2023

Cod's radio room showing the ECM Mk.II cypher machine and the radiomen's stations facing to port. Not a lot of room but adequate for thin folks (but no public access to this space). HAMs -- I want a transcript of the message in the comments!

04/02/2023

Cross deck visits to other warships builds appreciation for the big picture of historic ship preservation. They're also a lot of fun and a treat for Cod crew able to drive three hours to Buffalo to see our friends who steward our sister sub USS Croaker, USS The Sullivans and USS Little Rock. Our April 1 trip was a pre-opening day treat for Cod crew and we're thankful for the warm reception from Shane Stevenson and others at Buffalo Naval and Serviceman's Park. We're also very grateful for our Cod shipmates who stayed home to welcome aboard a great number of visitors Saturday. Good job guys ... we owe you one!

03/27/2023

Bits and pieces of Cod news:

We're planning s cross deck visit to our shipmates at the Buffalo Naval and Serviceman's Park on Saturday, April 1 -- no fooling! So look for an interesting post covering our roadtrip to our sister ships USS Croaker, USS The Sullivans and USS Littlerock next week. In the meantime our incredibly mild winter has given us a fantastic first winter tour season. Going forward we will essentially be open year round!

Here's an news update from Cleveland's "no so yellow submarine" (as our friends at the Rock Hall say).

03/20/2023

Happy 80th anniversary of USS Cod's launching!

March 21 marks a milestone in Cod's very blessed career that began the moment she tasted the champagne in a silver-encasted bottle that Mrs. Grace Mahoney smashed on her bow on this date in 1943. Several hundred employees and Navy personnel gathered at slip number 4 at Electric Boat Company's old north yard to see this Gato class sub slide down the ways into the Thames River. Still not yet complete for duty, Cod would spent the next three months fitting out and conducting trials before being commissioned on June 21. Mrs. Mahoney was chosen as our sponsor because her husband John, a veteran EBCo employee, won a lottery to select a sponsor for Cod. The bottle is still a treasured relic in the family. The Cod is a National Historic Landmark and has been treasured by Clevelanders ever since she arrived in Cleveland in 1959 to serve as a training boat. Cod's five powerful diesel engines were built here as was much of her steel.

We will recommission Cod in a special event on Wednesday, June 21 at 2 PM. Mark your calendars!🇺🇸

03/14/2023

We've been monitoring our Water Round Torpedo (WRT) tanks because on occasion some amount of water has found it's way into the tanks from sources unknown. Our crew has pumped them dry and begun a monitoring program to know what's happening in these relatively large tanks that rest against the pressure hull. But they are not fully visible from the tiny inspection hatches in the torpedo room bilges. Crewman Jon Bradrick, a drone pilot and retired surgeon, devised a novel method to take a deep look into the tanks to see if there are any leaks. He modified an aerial drone by removing the propellers and creating a control rig that in his words "mimics the controls of a marionette puppet." Squeezing the drone rig into the open hatch with the help of crewman Jim Newton, he was able to get high resolution images of remote areas of the tank to obtain baseline images for comparison with later inspection images.

03/07/2023

The crew of a submerged sub strives to achieve neutral buoyancy -- the boat neither rising or sinking -- and ensure the boat is level horizontally. Each day at sea a fleet sub conducted a trim dive so that later, if crash diving to avoid enemy attack, the boat would be stable once under. To achieve this stability water is pumped in or out of special tanks located around the boat by use of the trim manifold -- a series of valves, pumps and related gauges located in the aft power quarter of fleet sub control rooms. Trimming a big fleet boat required skill, calculation and a bit of luck. Minor issues with buoyancy could be dealt with the forward momentum of the sub and its bow and stern planes.

In peacetime the trimming of the sub was an opportunity for hijinks. Crewmen might challenge the trim officer's skill by quietly moving a group of off-duty men to the forward torpedo room while the boat was being trimmed, only to have them move to the stern once trim had been achieved. This was called a "Trim Party."

Because USS Cod served as a reserve trainer, some level of training on the trim manifold was desired. But with a stationary surfaced sub moving water between tanks and overboard to adjust trim wasn't practical. Before computer simulators a wooden scale model of a trim manifold was used to teach the basics of this arrangement of valves, including white and red colors for its suction and discharge sides. At turnover to civilian stewardship in 1976, the model was located in Cod's wardroom. Too bad the training lessons that were used with the model are lost to us.

Any other submarine memorials have similar models? Any veteran out there ever train on one of these training aids? Let us know in the comments!

03/02/2023

Cod will officially open the 2023 season on Saturday, April 15 - that is our admission booth will be manned by a shipkeeper daily from 10 to 5 PM and our current Dial-a-Tour program will be shelved until next winter. But before then we are working on some additional projects -- nothing sexy ... but necessary! Our awning behind the admission booth was damaged by recent high winds. Finding vendors willing to make new awnings has always been a challenge, especially so these days. If we can't find a vendor soon we may have to ask our friends with big ships if they have operating sail maker shops aboard able to help.

Our newest project is actually an old one. Some of our ladders have missing grip treads. I was told that back in the 60s the grit-impregnated brass plates were taken to scrappers by reservists for beer money! Modern ladders are different so we're going to have to replicate the 1 1/2 x 10 3/4-in. treads at decidedly non-beer prices! We're looking for brass foundries now.

02/27/2023

Our boat is enjoying the very mild winter so far. Visitors are discovering the submarine on Cleveland's Lakefront and our dedicated crew is busy giving tours, working on restoration projects and warming up with hot coffee and snacks between work and tours in our toasty warm Navy Dive Locker.

02/23/2023

Following up on yesterday's post: ringer restoration detail images by Cod crewman Phil McCourt illustrate the fine wire and other restoration challenges involved in his restoration and rewinding of sound-powered phone system ringers. Some are AC and some are DC, some parts are missing and some telephone stations have no ringers at all! All show evidence of almost 80 years of hard service. Phil is taking the complex job step by step with the ultimate goal of restoration of the sound-powered communications systems aboard Cod.

02/21/2023

Ernestine the Laugh-In phone operator often said "one ringy dingy ... two ringy dingies..." (only us old folks will get that reference) -- and Cod crewmen Phil McCourt is making sure all the ringy-dingies are chiming by fixing the many broken sound-powered phone ringers aboard Cod. It's a time consuming process that has required him to rewind hair-thin wire on several coils! Our hats are off to Phil and our other shipmates who are tackling the small but important details on historic ship preservation.

02/16/2023

Recently I was looking through papers from Cod's early years as a memorial. It was an interesting but bittersweet experience. Before the internet, email and free long distance calls, it was necessary for folks to write us letters asking about hours and requesting Cod brochures. Many requests were from people living behind the Iron Curtain. With little hope of traveling to the West, a brochure describing an old submarine in Cleveland was an exotic gem.

But my heart stopped when I came across a 1982 handwritten letter from 17-year-old Clayton Hartwig asking for a summer job aboard Cod. He expressed his fascination with the WWII US Navy and his thrill when visiting Cod. Clayton was hired and did maintenance work and gave tours aboard Cod for at least one and maybe more seasons. Clayton later joined the Navy and became a gunners mate, like his father in WWII.

Sadly Clayton made headlines in 1989 when he and 46 shipmates were killed in the explosion in USS Iowa's turret 2 during a gunfire training incident. The initial Navy investigation into the disaster focused on theories that Clayton caused the explosion as a su***de method because of personal depression over a homosexual relationship. The direction of the investigation sparked an immediate outcry from families, friends and shipmates. Little or no evidence existed to support the gay su***de accusations while at the same time evidence surfaced of incidents involving dangerous overramming of powder bags and unauthorized experiments with WWII-era powder bags aboard the ship. Subsequent investigations cleared Clayton and blamed over ramming of unstable powder bags for the explosion.

When the results of the initial investigation were released Clayton's sister Kathy Kubicina contacted me asking permission to hold a news conference aboard Cod to dispute the Navy's findings. I was Cod's curator at the time; that decision was a matter for our director at the time. As a Reserve Navy Captain who didn't want to strain Cod's relation with the Navy, he declined. She eventually held her event on the steps of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland's Public Square. The controversy would play out over the following years in Congress and the media. Iowa became a memorial ship in LA and when visiting it a few years ago I felt a special connection to the memorial outside turret two despite only a hazy memory of a teenager cutting grass and painting rusty metal at Cod the summer I got married.

Two years ago when a small budget movie was being filmed aboard Cod I was introduced to the still photographer. We exchanged cards and I saw on hers a familiar name. She was Kathy Kubicina's daughter-in-law. I sadly discovered that the lioness sister who fought the entire US Navy had lost a final battle with cancer. As a sage once said, "Time is a crazy river..."

02/04/2023

We're off! -- The 2023 Great Big Home + Garden Show is underway at the IX Center and Cod crew is spreading the news about our great ship from our booth ( #1654). It's a mini submarine museum and art gallery all in one set up by Cod crew. The show runs until Sunday, Feb. 12 and gives folks a chance to check out home and garden products and services as well as James Popovic's great cycloramic images of Cod's interior. Oh, and our collection of ASW weapons and a video of our recent drydocking. Our thanks to our crew who set up and are manning the booth during the show.