Visiting the USS Cod Submarine Memorial

“The Shadows the Ocean Keeps” is set aboard Gato-class submarines in WWII. Today, there are multiple Gato-class submarines on exhibit throughout the country, one of which is in Cleveland, OH — just under eight hours from my hometown by car.

The USS Cod (SS-224) completed seven war patrols in the Pacific, having sunk 12 vessels and damaged others during her time. In July 1945, the Cod rescued 56 Dutch crew members from a grounded submarine, O-19. The memorial was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 after being moored in Cleveland, OH in 1976.

What sets the USS Cod Submarine Memorial apart is that, unlike many other submarine museums, there have been no cuts to her pressure hull for stairways or doorways, meaning that visitors enter and walk through the submarine the same way her crew would have done.

To help with historical accuracy and writing the novel, I’m excited to visit the USS Cod in October 2026 at the start of a planned trip to see family in Indiana!

During the visit, my goal is to better understand the boat’s layout, her torpedo room configuration, how the men moved through the space, what they would’ve seen every day, and how different evolutions might have occurred. And, one burning question I've yet to find a clean answer to - did the racks aboard the submarine have curtains for privacy?

I plan to take ample photos, videos, and audio notes (all already cleared with the museum staff). This should significantly impact the story well beyond my time in Ohio by supporting revisions to the initial manuscript, strengthening the story and ensuring that the legacy of Gato-class submarines remains intact through my writing.

Be sure to follow my Instagram and TikTok for behind-the-scenes content of my visit to the USS Cod Submarine Memorial, and learn more about here by visiting her website: https://usscod.org/!