USS Cachalot (SS-170)
 USS Cachalot SS-170
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Cachalot |
| Namesake | sperm whale |
| Builder | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Seavey's Island, Kittery, Maine[1] |
| Laid down | 21 October 1931[1] |
| Launched | 19 October 1933[1] |
| Commissioned | 1 December 1933[1] |
| Decommissioned | 17 October 1945[1] |
| Stricken | 1 November 1945, reinstated 28 November 1945, stricken again 8 July 1946[1] |
| Honors and awards | battle stars |
| Fate | Sold for breaking up, 26 January 1947[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | V-8 (Cachalot)-class composite |
| Displacement | 1,110 tons (1,130 t) surfaced, standard,[2] 1,650 tons (1,680 t) submerged[2] |
| Length | 271 ft 11 in (82.88 m)[9] |
| Beam | 24 ft 11 in (7.59 m)[9] |
| Draft | 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) maximum[9] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 17 kn (31 km/h) surfaced,[2] 8 kn (15 km/h) submerged,[2] 7 knots (13 km/h) submerged, service, 1939[2] |
| Range | 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h),[2] 14,000 nmi (26,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h) with fuel in main ballast tanks,[2] 83,290 US gallons (315,300 L) oil fuel[3] |
| Endurance | 10 hours at 5 kn (9.3 km/h)[2] |
| Test depth | 250 ft (80 m)[2] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 39 enlisted (peacetime);[2] 7 officers, 48 enlisted (war)[3] |
| Armament | 6 × 21 inch (533 mm) |
USS Cachalot (SC-4/SS-170) was a
launched on 19 October 1933 as V-8 (SC-4) sponsored by Miss K. D. Kempff, and commissioned on 1 December 1933 with Lieutenant Commander Merril Comstock[10] in command. Cachalot was the first submarine to have the Torpedo Data Computer, Arma Corporation's Mark 1,[11]
installed.
Design
Cachalot was built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, as were most of the previous V-boats. Design conservatism and economic realities forced Portsmouth to continue to use riveting in the construction of the inner and outer hulls, although non-critical areas like the superstructure, piping brackets, support framing, and interior tankage were actually welded. Her sister, Cuttlefish (the first submarine built by
Electric Boat since the S-class of 1925) had most of the outer hull and fuel tanks welded, while retaining riveting for the inner hull.[12] Both were medium-sized submarines built under the tonnage limits of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. An extensive study was conducted to determine the optimum submarine size under the treaty restrictions, factoring in total force, endurance, and percentage of the force that could be maintained on station far from a base, as in a Pacific war scenario.[13] Despite the calculation process, size reduction had gone too far with the Cachalots, limiting their patrol endurance.[3] After three Pacific war patrols, Cachalot was relegated to training duties in September 1942, once numerous Gato-class boats became available.[14]
The as-built engine specifications were two
diesel-electric system providing power to the main electric motors. As with most V-boats, the main engines proved troublesome, and were replaced in 1937-38 by two Winton GM 16-278 16-cylinder four-cycle diesels, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each.[6]
Service history
Inter-war period
After shakedown, further construction, tests, and overhaul, Cachalot sailed for
San Diego, California, where on 17 October 1934 she joined the Submarine Force, U.S. Fleet. Operating until 1937 principally on the West Coast, she engaged in fleet problems, torpedo practice, and antisubmarine, tactical, and sonar training exercises. She cruised twice to Hawaiian waters and once to the Panama Canal
Zone to participate in large-scale fleet exercises.
Cachalot cleared San Diego on 16 June 1937, bound for
Scouting Force
.
World War II
War came to Cachalot as she lay in
Eniwetok, Ponape, Truk, Namonuito, and the Hall Islands, returning to Pearl Harbor on 18 March with vitally needed intelligence of Japanese bases. Her second war patrol, for which she cleared from Midway on 9 June, was conducted off the Japanese home islands, where she damaged an enemy tanker. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 26 July, she cleared on her final war patrol on 23 September, penetrating the frigid waters of the Bering Sea in support of the Aleutian Islands
operations.
Over-age and lacking endurance for strenuous war patrols, Cachalot still had a key role to play, acting as training ship for the Submarine School at New London. She served there from late 1942 until 30 June 1945, when she sailed to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, being decommissioned there on 17 October. She was sold for scrap on 26 January 1947.
Awards
- American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
American Campaign Medal- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle stars for World War IIservice
World War II Victory MedalGallery
-
Souvenir of the launch of the USS Cachalot
See also
Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ a b c Alden, p.38.
- ^ Alden, John D., Commander, USN (retired). The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1979), p.211.
- ^ a b U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 360
- ^ a b c d e Alden, p.210.
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 310
- ^ a b c Alden, p.211.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- Lockwood's Chief of Staff. Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975), p.549.
- ^ Blair, p.986.
- ^ Johnston, pp. 49, 57-60
- ^ Friedman, pp. 189-193
- ^ Alden, p.39.
References
- Alden, John D. The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: An Illustrated Design History, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1979 ISBN 0-87021-187-0.
- Schlesman, Bruce and Roberts, Stephen S., "Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants" (Greenwood Press, 1991), ISBN 0-313-26202-0
- Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (Navies of the Second World War) (Doubleday, 1973), ISBN 0-38504-761-4
- Silverstone, Paul H., U.S. Warships of World War II (Ian Allan, 1965), ISBN 0-87021-773-9
- Campbell, John Naval Weapons of World War Two (Naval Institute Press, 1985), ISBN 0-87021-459-4
- Whitman, Edward C. "The Navy's Variegated V-Class: Out of One, Many?" Undersea Warfare, Fall 2003, Issue 20
- https://web.archive.org/web/20140322093118/http://www.fleetsubmarine.com/sublist.html
- Gardiner, Robert, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Conway Maritime Press, 1980. ISBN 0-83170-303-2.
- Friedman, Norman US Submarines through 1945: An Illustrated Design History, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- Johnston, David "No More Heads or Tails: The Adoption of Welding in U.S. Navy Submarines", The Submarine Review, June 2020, pp. 46–64.
- Navsource.org USS Cachalot page
- Pigboats.com V-7, V-8, and V-9 photo page
- DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com later 3"/50 caliber gun
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
