USS Baya (SS/AGSS-318), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the baya. During World War II, she completed five war patrols in the South China Sea, Gulf of Siam, Java Sea, and Philippine Sea between 23 August 1944 and 25 July 1945. She sank four Japanese vessels totaling 8855 gross register tons, and shared credit with the submarine for sinking a Japanese 8,407-gross register ton passenger-cargo ship. After World War II, she saw service as a research submarine during the Cold War and operated off Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Construction and commissioning Baya was launched on 2 January 1944 by Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut; sponsored by Mrs. Charles C. Kirkpatrick, and commissioned on 20 May 1944. Service history World War II Following a month of sea trials and training off the coast of New England, Baya departed New London, Connecticut, on 25 June 1944. As she proceeded via the Panama Canal to Hawaii, she continuously drilled and conducted exercises. She arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in August 1944 and carried out a final round of training there. First war patrol Baya embarked on her first war patrol on 23 August 1944, departing Pearl Harbor in company with the submarines and , with which she formed a coordinated attack group. After a brief stop at Saipan in the Mariana Islands for fuel, the three submarines proceeded to the Palau Islands, where they joined two other coordinated attack groups in intelligence-gathering missions in support of U.S. forces invading the islands. The reconnaissance group shifted position several times as it gathered information for Admiral William Halsey, Jr.’s United States Third Fleet, but for the submarines on patrol, it proved to be only a month of fighting heavy seas while not encountering any Japanese ships. During the night of 25 September 1944, while patrolling in Luzon Strait, Baya submerged to avoid discovery by a Japanese airplane. She surfaced in rough seas about 30 minutes later. Her executive officer, engineering officer, and quartermaster were topside when a large wave crashed over Baya’s stern, washing the three men overboard and flooding Baya through the conning tower hatch. Baya sank to a deoth of before the hatch was secured. Her crew, fortunately at battle stations already, drained the conning tower, surfaced, and recovered the men washed overboard within half an hour. Repairs took a few hours at most, and