Tench class submarine
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Electric Boat Company, Boston Navy Yard[1] |
| Operators: |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Balao class |
| Succeeded by: | Tang class |
| Subclasses: | Corsair class |
| Built: | 1944–1951[2] |
| In commission: | 1944–1975[2] |
| Completed: | 29[1] |
| Cancelled: | 51[1] |
| Active: | 0[1] |
| Lost: | 0[1] |
| Retired: | 29[1] |
| Preserved: | 2[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced[1] 2,416–2,429 tons (2,455–2468 t) submerged[1] |
| Length: | 311 ft 8 in – 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m)[1] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in – 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)[1] |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[1] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × diesel engines driving electrical generators (Fairbanks-Morse or General Motors)[1] |
| Speed: | 20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Range: | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3] |
| Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 71 enlisted[3] |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 28 torpedoes [3] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun [3] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
Tench class submarines were a type of submarine built for the United States Navy (USN) between 1944 and 1951. They were evolutionary improvement over the Gato and Balao classes, only about 35 to 40 tons larger, but more strongly built and with a slightly improved internal layout. Further improvements were made beginning with SS-435, which are sometimes referred to as Corsair class.
Initial plans called for 146 to be built, but 115 were cancelled in 1944 and 1945 when it became apparent that they would not be needed to defeat Japan. The remaining 31 were commissioned between October 1944 (Tench) and February 1951 (Grenadier).
Two Tench subs from the USN went to the Republic of China Navy and re-classed as Hai Shih class submarines and two went to the Italy and re-classed as Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia class submarines. USS Argonaut (SS-475) was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1968, renamed HMCS Rainbow (SS-75), and decommissioned in 1974.
Some of the class were updated through the GUPPY (The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program). The difference is noticeable by the level foredeck and the rounded nose.[4]
[edit] Museums
Two Tench Class submarines are on display for the general public. One is the USS Requin (SS-481) at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The other is the USS Torsk (SS-423), moored at Pier Three, Baltimore's Inner Harbor, (alongside the National Aquarium in Baltimore) in Maryland. Both of these are the original versions, which were similar to the Balao class.
[edit] See also
Media related to Tench class submarines at Wikimedia Commons
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/guppy.htm
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