I’ve seen a lot of military stuff growing up in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Because of that, I think I’m less impressed than most when I see giant ships.
That changed when I did a self-guided tour of the USS Cod Submarine Memorial – a WWII submarine – that you can tour in the harbor of Cleveland, Ohio.
I’d never seen a sub up close and it was really cool. Then I provided it as a virtual field trip to my students, only to find out from one of their parents that the USS Cod is small compared to today’s subs which is amazing.
You start up on deck and head down into the belly of the boat through a hatch and ladder. They do say it at the beginning, but no joke – you do need to be reasonably fit and mobile to get in and out of the USS Cod. You start in the Forward Torpedo Room.
‘ 
There is a fantastic audio tour that you can play throughout the tour. When the audio tour wasn’t playing, you could hear period music that really added to the experience. Here’s a taste of what to expect from one of the recordings further down the submarine.
You move through the USS Cod and it’s just one room after another of interesting facts and equipment. providing an opportunity to see for yourself what life would’ve been like for the sailors aboard. The officers’ state rooms allowed for more space and privacy for officers, but that’s a relative term considering how small the shared spaces were.
You arrive at the Control Room where all the “action” happens that we picture from movies like The Hunt For Red October.
Above the Control Room is the Conning Tower which is where the periscopes are. It’s “Rigged for Red” as it was called, so that when sailors needed to go above in the night their eyes would already be adjusted to the darkness with the red lights instead of bright white lights. Using red lights in the dark, instead of white, is something we also learned about at the Star Party in Terlingua, TX. 
The radio room is transmitting a audio sound of Morse Code and its translation can be seen below.
I learned about the idea of “hot-bunking” on the submarine. We’re familiar with the concept of “hot-desking” in an office where work spaces are shared spaces based on who’s in the office and who’s out. The sailors on the USS Cod had to share bunks with one another and only had small bags of personal items. When one shift was awake the other is sleeping and then they switch shifts and bunks, hence “hot-bunking”.
The Forward and After Engine Rooms and The Maneuvering Room give more information about the running of the USS Cod. Electric GM motors were controlled by electricians from the Maneuvering Room.
You end the tour within the USS Cod in the After Torpedo Room which contains some memorabilia from the USS Cod and a memorial to the sailor Andrew Johnson who was lost at sea.
When you come back up top onto the deck you can see a few more artifacts, both on the deck, and on the shore, including getting to test out a periscope.
I highly recommend a visit to the USS Cod as I had a blast and spent an hour there. I wouldn’t even have known about it if I hadn’t driven by. They were requiring masks during my visit as it was the summer of 2020 during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
I was basically the only person in the submarine during my entire visit. A family was finishing as I entered and another family entered as I finished. If you have the opportunity to go, it’s well worth the price of the tour.
Address
USS Cod, 1201 N Marginal Rd, Cleveland, OH 44114
[…] you can see other planes taking off and landing and it’s right down the street from the USS Cod. There’s a ton of information about the women who took to the skies before it was a common […]