USS Unicorn (SS-429)
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Unicorn |
| Namesake: | The narwhal, sometimes called the "sea unicorn" |
| Builder: | Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (proposed) |
| Laid down: | Never |
| Fate: | Construction contract cancelled 29 July 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Balao class diesel-electric submarine[1] |
| Displacement: | 1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced,[1] 2,414 long tons (2,453 t) submerged[1] |
| Length: | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[1] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[1] |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum[1] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators[1][2] |
| Speed: | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced,[3] 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced @ 10 kn (19 km/h)[3] |
| Endurance: | 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged,[3] 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[3] |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes [3] 1 × 4-inch (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun [3] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
USS Unicorn (SS-429), a Balao-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy to be given that name for the narwhal, an Arctic marine cetacean with a single tusk suggesting the horn of a unicorn and therefore sometimes called the "sea unicorn." She was never built.
The contract for Unicorn's construction was authorized on 9 July 1942 and her keel was scheduled to be laid down by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but she was cancelled on 29 July 1944 before construction could begin.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261
- ^ a b c d e f g h i U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
