This is a War Machine

An essay in photographs

USS Cavalla — Photo by the author

The USS Cavalla rests at Seawolf Park in Galveston, Texas. On June 19, 1944 she sank the Japanese carrier Shokaku, one of the warships responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Andrew and I climbed down the ladder into the sub, a giggling group of teenage girls behind us.

Inside the USS Cavalla

The Cavalla, decommissioned in 1946, was retrofitted as a “hunter/killer” sub in 1952 during the Soviet threat. She specialized in attacking other submarines.

Cramped quarters — the dials and wheels you shouldn’t touch

In 1971 the USS Cavalla was moved to Seawolf Park. The park is named for the USS Seawolf, a submarine lost at sea during WW II.

The sign at the entrance to the park reminds visitors the sub is a war machine. Not much has been changed inside the Cavalla, but they did add air-conditioning for the tourists.