USS Ulua (SS-428), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy named for the ulua, an important foodfish of the tropical Pacific. Her keel was laid down on 13 November 1943 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company, but the curtailment of naval construction programs, in the closing days of the war against Japan, resulted in the suspension of further construction on 12 August 1945. The partly completed submarine was launched on 23 April 1946 and towed to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine for maintenance, prior to beginning her career as a test hull. Towed to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1951, she participated in tests to gather research data on new weapon and submarine design. Ulua's usefulness to the Navy ended, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 12 June 1958. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 30 September 1958 to the Portsmouth Salvage Company, Incorporated.

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