USS Cod (SS-224) was built by the Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on March 21, 1943, and was commissioned on June 21, 1943.
USS Cod is a fleet-type submarine (built to maintain speeds averaging 17 knots) of the Gato class. The deck is teakwood, and the submarine’s exterior is painted black and haze grey. USS Cod is a pre-snorkle submarine, operating underwater on batteries, and powered by a diesel electric system.
USS Cod is now moored adjacent to the Naval Reserve Center on Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. USS Cod is in good condition and is the only submarine memorial that has not been modified for civilian visitor access. Visitors to USS Cod are required to climb down one of the access hatches in a manner similar to wartime crew access. USS Cod is missing her submarine deck armament. The 5” deck gun on the boat was the type used by a surface vessel during the war and is not a submarine deck gun. With the exception of its deck guns, USS Cod retains her World War II integrity.
Role of the Submarine in World War II
In the conflict against Japan in World War II, the role and importance of the submarine forces of the United States cannot be overestimated. American submarines sank more than 600,000 tons of enemy warships and more than 5,000,000 tons of merchant shipping, thus destroying much of Japan’s ocean commerce. This was accomplished by a force that never numbered more than two percent of naval personnel engaged in the war. The American submarine war against Japan created a blockade that denied her the oil, iron ore, food, and other raw materials she needed to continue to fight. By 1945 this submarine war made it all but impossible for any Japanese ship to sail the ocean. Without this commerce and the raw materials it supplied to her war effort, Japan found it impossible to continue the war outside of the homeland. 
USS Cod represents U.S. submarine forces that fought against Japan in World War II for the following reasons:
Edwin P. Hoyt, Submarines at War--The History of the American Silent Service (New York: Stein and Day, 1983), pp. 297-98.
Richard H. O’Kane, Clear the Bridge (New York: Bantam Books, 1981), pp. 465-67.
Alden, John A. The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy--a Design and Construction History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979.
Bagnasco, Erminio. Submarines of World War II. London, England: Arms and Armour Press, 1977.
Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory--The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1975.
Hoyt, Edwin P. Submarine at War--The History of the American Silent Service. New York: Stein and Day, 1983.
Middleton, Drew. Submarine--The Ultimate Naval Weapon-Its Past, Present, and Future. Chicago, Illinois: Playboy Press, 1976.
Roscoe, Theodore. United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1965.
(click on the above photographs for a more detailed view)