USS Cochino, a 1526-ton Balao class submarine, was built at Groton, Connecticut. She went into commission in late August 1945, shortly after Japan's capitulation had ended World War II fighting in the Pacific. The new submarine therefore served in the Atlantic and Caribbean during the early post-war era. In 1948 she returned to her builder's yard to undergo the Guppy II conversion, which removed her deck guns, streamlined her hull and sail, altered her propulsion systems and fitted a snorkel, thus greatly improving her underwater performance. When this work was completed in February 1949 Cochino had been transformed into one of the World's most modern submarines.

Unfortunately, Cochino's subsequent career was short. After deploying to Europe in July, she was sent to Arctic waters. While operating in stormy seas off northern Norway she suffered a series of serious battery explosions that resulted in her loss on 26 August 1949. Though Cochino's crew was successfully rescued by USS Tusk (SS-426), the latter submarine lost seven of her own men during this difficult effort.