USS Kraken (SS-370), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the kraken, a legendary sea monster believed to haunt the coasts of Norway. Kraken commissioned in September 1944 and saw action during the last year of World War II, serving in the Pacific Theater and making four war patrols. In 1946 she was placed in reserve. In 1959 Kraken was transferred to the Spanish Navy as Almirante García de los Reyes. She was scrapped in 1982. USS Kraken (SS-370) Kraken was launched 30 April 1944, by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co., Manitowoc, Wisc.; sponsored by Mrs. John Z. Anderson, wife of Congressman Anderson of California; and commissioned 8 September 1944. Kraken steamed by way of Chicago to Lockport, Ill., 27 September 1944, and was carried in a floating drydock down the Mississippi River arriving at Algiers, La., 4 October. Ten days later Kraken cleared Algiers, transited the Panama Canal and underwent intensive training in the Gulf of Panama. She sailed for Hawaii 4 November and arrived Pearl Harbor 21 November. Kraken departed Pearl Harbor 12 December 1944, for her first war patrol, touched at Saipan 23 December, set course for Indochina next morning. There she maintained lifeguard duty in support of 3rd Fleet carrier 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, Australia, arriving there 14 February 1945. Kraken departed on her second war patrol 15 March and maintained lifeguard duty in the South China Sea supporting aircraft carrier strikes against Singapore and Saigon. She returned to Subic Bay, P.I., 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 where on 19 June she bombarded Merak and riddled a coaster and a small ship with 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, 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