USS Kraken (SS-370), a Balao-class

Balao class submarine

The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II, and with 122 units built, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

, was a ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 named for the kraken

Kraken

Kraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland.In modern German, Krake means octopus but can also refer to the legendary Kraken...

, a legendary sea monster

Sea monster

Sea monsters are sea-dwelling mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size.Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or multi-armed beasts. They can be slimy or scaly and are often pictured threatening ships or spouting jets of water...

 believed to haunt the coasts of Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

Kraken was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 30 April 1944, by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc.; sponsored by Mrs. John Z. Anderson, wife of Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 Anderson of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

; and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 8 September 1944, Commander Thomas H. Henry in command.

Kraken steamed by way of Chicago to Lockport, Ill.

Lockport, Illinois

Lockport is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, that incorporated in 1853. Lockport is located in northeastern Illinois, 30 miles southwest of Chicago, and north of Joliet, at locks connecting Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal with the Des Plaines River via the Lockport...

, 27 September 1944, and was carried in a floating drydock down the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 arriving at Algiers, La.

Algiers, Louisiana

Algiers is a neighborhood within the city of New Orleans. It is the portion of Orleans Parish on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.Algiers is also known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans.-History:...

, 4 October. Ten days later Kraken cleared Algiers, transited the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and underwent intensive training in the Gulf of Panama

Gulf of Panama

The Gulf of Panama is a gulf in the Pacific Ocean, near the southern coast of Panama. It has a maximum width of , a maximum depth of and the size of . The Panama Canal connects the Gulf of Panama with the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...

. She sailed for Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 4 November and arrived Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 November 21.

Kraken departed Pearl Harbor December 12, 1944, for her first war patrol, touched at Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 December 23, set course for Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 next morning. There she maintained lifeguard duty in support of 3rd Fleet carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 strikes. While on station she rescued a pilot from rough seas and evaded a strafing enemy plane by diving. Finding no targets, Kraken set course for Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, arriving there 14 February 1945.

Kraken departed on her second war patrol 15 March and maintained lifeguard duty in the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

 supporting aircraft carrier strikes against Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Saigon. She returned to Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, P.I.

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, 26 April.

Departing on her third war patrol on 19 May 1945, Kraken set course for the Gulf of Siam. After searching in vain for enemy targets, she shifted to the Java Sea

Java Sea

The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...

 where on 19 June she bombarded Merak and riddled a coaster and a small ship with 5 inches (127 mm) and 40 mm projectiles. She saw the coaster sink and she left the small ship ablaze before clearing the harbor.

Three days later, while chasing an eight-ship convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

, Krakens torpedoes sank an oiler and a coastal steamer and her guns inflicted heavy damage on one of the Japanese submarine chasers. Then Kraken proudly sailed into Fremantle, Australia, 3 July 1945, ending her most successful patrol.

Kraken sailed on her fourth and last patrol 29 July. While seeking the enemy in the Java Sea, her patrol was cut short when she received news of Japan's capitulation. Sailing for Subic Bay, she arrived 21 August.

Kraken cleared Subic Bay 31 August 1945, touched at Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Francisco 22 September. On 14 October she rendezvoused with Admiral William Halsey's 3rd Fleet and formed a part of honor escort for Halsey, as he passed under the Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...

 in his flagship, . Ten days later Kraken visited Longview, Wash.

Longview, Washington

Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the "Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area", which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 36,648 at the time of the 2010 census and is the largest city in Cowlitz County...

, for the first postwar Navy Day celebrations and returned to San Francisco 31 October where she was placed out of commission 4 May 1946 in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

SPS Almirante García de los Reyes (S-31)

Kraken remained in reserve status until 18 September 1958, when she was assigned to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for activation overhaul and given a Fleet Snorkel conversion preparatory to transfer on loan to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. After several months of familiarization at Pearl Harbor for her new crew, on 25 October 1959 she was commissioned SPS Almirante García de los Reyes, in memory of Don Mateo García de los Reyes (1862–1936), the Spanish Navy

Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...

's pioneer in submarines. The ship's unusually long name posed a practical problem, so the abbreviation A. G. de los Reyes was often used. Originally designated E-1, she was redesignated S-31 in 1961 to conform to the new, NATO-style numbering system adopted by the Spanish Navy. Almirante García de los Reyes was the only modern Spanish submarine in the 1960s (Spain, have got one Tipe VIIC, Ex U-573, and 3 insecure and old spanish D-class), and was nicknamed "treinta y único" ("thirty only-one") and became almost legendary.

A. G. de los Reyess voyage via the Panama Canal to Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...

 took till late January 1960.

García was decommissioned, 16 September 1974, sold to Spain, and struck from the US Naval Register, 1 November 1974. She was to have been cannibalized, but had to be overhauled and recommissioned, 1 September 1975, to replace Narciso Monturiol (S-33), ex-, which had suffered a severe engine failure the previous spring and had to be stricken. García was finally decommissioned in April 1981, struck from the Spanish Navy list, 1 April 1982, and scrapped.

External links

• SPS A. G. de los Reyes website (Spanish)