USS Unicorn (SS-429)

History
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
Displacement	1,526 long tons (1,550 t) surfaced, 2,414 long tons (2,453 t) submerged
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 Diesel engines driving electric generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; two propellers ; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged
Range	11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced @ 10 kn (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged, 75 days on patrol
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 4-inch (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun; 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.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cite error: The named reference Register was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 270–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9. OCLC 24010356.
^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
^ 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.

[FriedmanSubs1-specs-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311

[Register-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Cite error: The named reference Register was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Register_275–280-3] Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 270–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9. OCLC 24010356.

[FriedmanSubs1-engines_261-4] U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261

[FriedmanSubs1-specs_305–311-5] U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[1]