USS Searaven (SS-196), a Sargo-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sea raven, a sculpin of the northern Atlantic coast of America.

In the two years preceding the United States's entry into World War II, Searaven operated in Philippine waters conducting training and maneuvers.

At the outbreak of war between the United States and the Japanese Empire, the submarine was at the Cavite Navy Yard in Manila Bay.

During her first two war patrols in December 1941 and the spring of 1942, she ran supplies to the American and Filipino troops besieged on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island.

On 18 April, she rescued 32 Royal Australian Air Force men from enemy-held Timor, an act for which two of her officers were awarded the Navy Cross.

She plied the waters off the northeastern coast of Honshū, Japan, but found no enemy ship worth a torpedo.

On 25 November, she got her second confirmed kill, sending the 10,052-ton tanker Toa Maru to the bottom with four torpedoes, then survived a depth charge attack from the Japanese destroyer Akigumo without damage.

On 21 September 1944, in a night surface attack, the submarine torpedoed and sank an unescorted Japanese freighter, Rizan Maru which had dropped behind her convoy.

Searaven passed down the column of eight sampans and two trawlers, 250 yards (230 m) abeam, engaging from one to three at a time at practically point blank range.

On 1 November 1944, Searaven sailed on her final war patrol as part of a coordinated attack group which also included the submarines Pampanito, Sea Cat, and Pipefish.

Operating in the South China Sea, east of Hainan Island, the submarine closed out her combat career by sinking one Heinan Maru-class transport and an Omurosan Maru-type oiler.