Seawolf Park, Naval memorial park in Galveston, United States.
Seawolf Park sits on Pelican Island and offers a long fishing pier, green spaces for picnicking, and areas for waterfront recreation. Two historic warships are permanently moored and open for interior tours.
After World War II, Congress directed each state to create a memorial park honoring a Navy submarine lost in the war, and Texas chose a site on Pelican Island, a former immigration location. The park was named for USS Seawolf (SS-197), sunk in the Pacific in 1944. In 1971 the Gato-class submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244) was transferred from the Navy and towed to the site; the destroyer escort USS Stewart (DE-238) is also preserved here.
The memorial preserves military history through the submarine USS Cavalla and destroyer escort USS Stewart, both open for visitors to board and explore. People walk through the narrow corridors of the submarine to get a sense of crew life below deck during wartime missions.
Visitors pay a vehicle entry fee, though residents of Galveston Island enter free. Access to the fishing pier and vessels is available in most weather, and comfortable shoes help when climbing the steep ladders aboard the ships.
The remains of SS Selma, the largest concrete ship ever built during World War I, lie northwest of the fishing pier in shallow water. At low tide the broken sections of the hull rise clearly above the waterline.
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