USS Cod, hull number SS/AGSS/IXSS-224, is the Gato-class submarine in front of you, the only vessel in the United States Navy ever named for the cod, that important and very popular food fish of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. She was launched here in the story of her life on 21 March 1943 and commissioned a few months later on 21 June 1943. Her keel was laid down a year earlier on 21 July 1942 by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut, and her power came from engines built right here in Cleveland: four main Cleveland Model 16-248 V16 diesels and an auxiliary Cleveland Model 8-268, built by General Motors Cleveland Diesel Engine Division on Cleveland’s west side.
She was sponsored by Mrs. G.M. Mahoney and commissioned under Commander James C. Dempsey, USN, a man already known for sinking the first Japanese destroyer lost in World War II while commanding USS S-37 (SS-142). Today Cod is a National Historic Landmark, preserved as a museum ship and memorial, permanently moored in Cleveland and open to visitors daily from May to November. Commissioned in 1943 under Commander Dempsey, this National Historic Landmark now welcomes you aboard daily from May to November.