Tambor-class submarine
USS Tambor (SS-198)
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Tambor class |
Builders | Electric Boat Company, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1] |
Operators | United States Navy |
Preceded by | Sargo class[1] |
Succeeded by | Mackerel class[1] |
Built | 1939–1941[2] |
In commission | 1940–1946[2] |
Completed | 12[1] |
Lost | 7[1] |
Retired | 5[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Diesel-electric submarine |
Displacement | |
Length | 307 ft 2 in (93.62 m)[3] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[3] |
Draft | 14 ft 7+1⁄2 in (4.458 m)[3] |
Propulsion | |
Speed | |
Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3] |
Endurance | 48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] |
Test depth | 250–300 ft (76–91 m) Crush Depth Possible 500 ft (150 m)[3] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
|
The Tambor-class submarine was a
Design history
Preliminary designs
Early U.S. submarine designs of World War I assigned to escort shipping revealed that they had minimal ability to deter an aggressive threat. Despite the fact that German U-boats proved beyond a doubt that no navy could be a world sea power without submarines, the role played by U.S. submarines in the defense of the Pacific would have to be rethought by Navy planners.
Following the
The first attempt to produce a fleet submarine was the
A different direction, that of a large, long-range
After the unsuccessful attempts outlined above, Navy designers finally worked towards a practical fleet submarine. The first successful approaches to this were the
Tambor-class proposal
In the fall of 1937 a proposal for an improved fleet submarine was put forward by the team of officers put together by then-Commander
However, the design concepts faced opposition from Admiral Thomas Hart, Chairman of the General Board. Hart stubbornly defended the building of small, coastal defense boats (without "luxuries" like air conditioning, whose primary function was not comfort but the elimination of prevalent electrical shorts). Through determination and skilled political maneuvering, the design of Lockwood's team prevailed (though Hart would consent to only a 3-inch (76 mm) gun). As with other classes, the small gun was to prevent submarines from attempting to engage heavily armed escorts on the surface. This design was finally adopted by the Navy's General Board and the Submarine Officers' Conference for the 1939 program.
Design specifications
The Tambors had several key improvements over the Sargo class. For the first time in a US submarine, six bow torpedo tubes were equipped. This had been delayed for several years due to an overestimate of the tonnage required for the two extra tubes. The four stern tubes of the Sargos were retained. Larger torpedo rooms eliminated the deck stowage of torpedoes on previous classes, which was abandoned during World War II in any case.[5] Combat efficiency was improved by relocating the sonar operators and the Torpedo Data Computer into an enlarged conning tower to enable direct communication with the captain, and a new periscope with a small head to avoid detection was equipped.[6][13] The "negative tank" or "down express" tank found on some World War I-era S-boats was revived; this could be quickly flooded when diving to provide negative buoyancy and get the submarine under water more quickly. The hull had improved streamlining for a higher cruising speed.[5]
Although the Tambors were initially equipped with a
The full diesel-electric propulsion plant found in a few Sargos was continued, and probably improvements over the Porpoise class eliminated the arcing that had plagued those boats. The "new S-class" had boats with either
The Tambors had a significant weakness: all four engines were in one compartment, making the boat very vulnerable to damage. This was corrected in the Gato class, whose test depth was also increased from 250 ft (76 m) to 300 ft (91 m), based on testing of depth charges against Tambor.[17]
Mine armament
The Tambor class could substitute mines in place of torpedoes. For the Mk 10 and Mk 12 type mines used in World War II, each torpedo could be replaced by as many as two mines, giving the submarine a true maximum capacity of 48 mines. However, doctrine was to retain at least four torpedoes on mine laying missions, which would limit the capacity to 40 mines, and this is often stated as the maximum in various publications. In practice during the war, submarines went out with at least 8 torpedoes, and the largest minefields laid were 32 mines. Post-war, the Mk 49 mine replaced the Mk 12, while the larger Mk 27 mine was also carried which only allowed one mine replacing one torpedo.[18]
Service
Six Tambors were in Hawaiian waters or the Central Pacific on 7 December 1941, with
Submarines in class
Name | Hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tambor | SS-198 | Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
|
16 January 1939 | 20 December 1939 | 3 June 1940 | Decommissioned 10 December 1945. Reserve training ship postwar; sold for scrap 1 September 1959. |
Tautog | SS-199 | 1 March 1939 | 27 January 1940 | 3 July 1940 | Decommissioned 8 December 1945. Reserve training ship postwar; sold for scrap 15 November 1959, to the Bultema Dock and Dredge Company of Manistee, Michigan. | |
Thresher | SS-200 | 27 April 1939 | 27 March 1940 | 27 August 1940 | Decommissioned 13 December 1945. Sold for scrap 18 March 1948 to Max Siegel of Everett, Massachusetts. | |
Triton | SS-201 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine
|
5 July 1939 | 25 March 1940 | 15 August 1940 | Lost to attack by three destroyers 20 March 1943. |
Trout | SS-202 | 8 August 1939 | 21 May 1940 | 15 November 1940 | Lost around 29 February 1944, probably to enemy action. | |
Tuna | SS-203 | Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California
|
19 July 1939 | 2 October 1940 | 2 January 1941 | Decommissioned on 11 December 1946. Expended as target 24 September 1948. |
The last six of the Tambor class are often listed as "Gar-class" submarines. They were ordered in fiscal year 1940 (FY40); the previous six were ordered in FY39, and some design differences were anticipated. On 17 December 1938, the secretary of the navy decided that the FY40 class would duplicate the FY39 class. However, design collapse depth was increased from 450 feet (140 m) to 500 feet (150 m), with test depth remaining at 250 feet (76 m).[5]
Name | Hull no. | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gar | SS-206 | Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut | 27 December 1939 | 27 November 1940 | 14 April 1941 | Decommissioned on 11 December 1945. Reserve training ship postwar; sold for scrap 18 November 1959 to Acme Scrap Iron and Metal Company. |
Grampus | SS-207 | 14 February 1940 | 23 December 1940 | 23 May 1941 | Lost 5 March 1943, probably to enemy action. | |
Grayback | SS-208 | 3 April 1940 | 31 January 1941 | 30 June 1941 | Lost to enemy action 27 February 1944. | |
Grayling | SS-209 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine | 15 December 1939 | 29 November 1940 | 1 March 1941 | Lost between 9 and 12 September 1943, to accident or enemy action. |
Grenadier | SS-210 | 2 April 1940 | 29 November 1940 | 1 May 1941 | Scuttled following enemy action April 22, 1943. | |
Gudgeon | SS-211 | Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California | 22 November 1939 | 25 January 1941 | 21 April 1941 | Lost between 7 April and 7 June 1944, to accident or enemy action. |
See also
- List of most successful American submarines in World War II
- Allied submarines in the Pacific War
- Fleet submarine
- Unrestricted submarine warfare
- Torpedo
- List of submarine classes of the United States Navy
- List of lost United States submarines
- List of submarines of the Second World War
References
Citations
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ a b c d Friedman, pp. 204-205
- ^ a b Tambor class article at The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Silverstone, pp. 190-193
- ^ Friedman, pp. 163-165
- ^ Friedman, p. 163
- ^ Friedman, pp. 99-100
- ^ Friedman, pp. 112-113
- ^ Friedman, pp. 173-182
- ^ Friedman, pp. 196-197
- ^ Friedman, pp. 214-218
- ^ Friedman, pp. 263, 360-361
- ^ Friedman, pp. 360-361
- ^ Friedman, pp. 205-206, 310
- ^ ORD696 Operational Characteristics of U.S. Naval Mines
Sources
- Alden, John D., Commander (USN, Ret). The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85368-203-8.
- ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan. New York: Bantam, 1976. ISBN 0-553-01050-6.
- Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two (Naval Institute Press, 1985), ISBN 0-87021-459-4
- ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- Gardiner, Robert and Chesneau, Roger, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946, London: Conway Maritime Press, 1980. ISBN 0-83170-303-2.
- Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (Navies of the Second World War) (Doubleday, 1973), ISBN 0-38504-761-4.
- Roscoe, Theodore. United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1949. ISBN 0-87021-731-3.
- Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships of World War II (Ian Allan, 1965), ISBN 0-87021-773-9.
External links
- On Eternal Patrol, website for lost US subs
- Navsource.org fleet submarines photo index page
- Pigboats.com pre-1941 submarine photo site
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com later 3"/50 caliber gun
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 4"/50 caliber gun
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com 5"/51 caliber gun
- List of USN World War II fleet submarines at The Wayback Machine, archived from www.fleetsubmarine.com