The U.S.S. Cobia was a member of the select company of World War II submarines which surviced almost two years of action in the Pacific. During six war patrols, she sank 13 Japanese vessels to account for a total of over 18.000 tons of Japanese shipping [According to Hans Ellerstöm no confirmed sinkings can be attributed to Cobia].
Cobia experienced her most exciting battle during her fourth patrol in 1945. In a running surface gun battle with two Japanese sea trucks, Cobia sent both to the bottom, but not before experiencing her first and only personnel casualty of World War II.
In 1946, Cobia was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet. After being placed in commission again in 1951 to train submarine school students, Cobia was again placed out of commission in 1954. Cobia was brought to Milwaukee in 1959, and she served as a training ship for the submarine reserves until July 1, 1970.
Twenty-five years after the last of 28 submarines built at Manitowoc left that port, the U.S.S. Cobia (AGS 245) was brought to Manitowoc to serve as a memorial.
In January, 1968, the Manitowoc Memorial Association and the Manitowoc Maritime Museum, Inc. (now the Wisconson Maritime Museum) was organized by a group of public spirited citizens. Purpose of the association was to spearhead a drive to return a submarine to Manitowoc as a memorial. Thier goal was reached when, on August 17, 1970, the U.S.S. Cobia was towed to Manitowoc and was officially dedicated on August 23, 1970 as a memorial to submariners throughout the world, and to the people who constructed the Manitowoc submarines.