The Silent Prowler and the Submarine School Graduate: USS Cod’s War Patrols 2 and 3 through the Eyes of Calvin Baker

The USS Cod was one of the Silent Service’s proud hunters in World War II, a steel prowler built to stalk and sink the ships that kept Japan’s war machine alive. Commissioned in June of 1943, she quickly entered the fight in the South China Sea and the waters off Java and Luzon. Aboard her during the second and third war patrols was Calvin Baker, a young man who had graduated from submarine school on September 3, 1943.

Baker’s story is not about medals or headlines, but about stepping out of the classroom and into the unforgiving world of submarine warfare. On the Cod he endured depth charges, celebrated victories, and became a true submariner. This episode of Patrol Reports tells the tale of Cod’s daring patrols through Baker’s eyes, reminding us that history is not only about ships sunk, but about the men who lived, fought, and survived beneath the sea.