USS Cuttlefish (SS-171)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Cuttlefish |
| Builder | Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut[1] |
| Laid down | 7 October 1931[1] |
| Launched | 21 November 1933[1] |
| Commissioned | 8 June 1934[1] |
| Decommissioned | 24 October 1945[1] |
| Stricken | 3 July 1946[1] |
| Fate | Sold for breaking up, 12 February 1947[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | V-8 (Cachalot)-class direct-drive diesel and electric submarine[4] |
| Displacement | 1,130 tons (1,150 t) surfaced, standard,[4] 1,650 tons (1,680 t) submerged[4] |
| Length | 274 ft (83.5 m)[4] |
| Beam | 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)[4] |
| Draft | 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) maximum[4] |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 17 kn (31 km/h) surfaced;[4] 8 kn (15 km/h) submerged[4] |
| Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h),[2] 14,000 nmi (26,000 km) @ 10 kn with fuel in main ballast tanks,[2] 83,290 US gal (315,300 L) oil fuel[3] |
| Endurance | 10 hours at 5 knots (9 km/h)[2] |
| Test depth | 250 ft (80 m)[2] |
| Complement | 6 officers, 39 men (peacetime); 7 officers, 48 men (war)[3] |
| Armament |
|
USS Cuttlefish (SC-5/SS-171), a
Fore River Shipbuilding of Quincy, Massachusetts. Four Peruvian R-class submarines had previously been finished in Groton, using material from cancelled S-boats salvaged from Fore River.[3][10]
Design
Cuttlefish differed from her sister Cachalot (built by the
Portsmouth Navy Yard) mainly in her different internal arrangements and the incorporation of the first air conditioning plant in a USN submarine. Like all of the other V-boats (except V-1, 2, and 3), she was built to a partial riveted/partial welded construction.[11] Electric Boat expanded on the use of welding pioneered by Portsmouth, with most of Cuttlefish's outer hull and fuel tanks welded, but with the internal pressure hull still riveted. This was entirely successful as it virtually eliminated the problem of fuel leakage caused by the riveted fuel tanks on earlier boats.[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, Cuttlefish 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.[15]
Service history
Inter-War Period
Departing
New London, Connecticut
.
Arriving at New London on 28 July, she conducted experimental torpedo firing,
Mare Island Navy Yard, California
.
Cuttlefish arrived at
Mare Island Navy Yard
.
World War II
After returning to Pearl Harbor, Cuttlefish put to sea on her first war patrol on 29 January 1942. On 13 February, she performed a reconnaissance of
Midway Island on 24 March. She refitted there and at Pearl Harbor, and on 2 May cleared Midway for her second war patrol. From 18 to 24 May, she reconnoitered Saipan and the northern part of the Mariana Islands. On 19 May, she attacked a patrol ship, and while maneuvering for a second attack, was detected. She was forced deep to endure four hours of severe depth charging, more of which came her way on 24 May when she challenged three enemy destroyers. The next day an alert enemy plane caught her on the surface and dropped two bombs
as she went under, both of them misses.
As it became obvious the Japanese Fleet was out in strength, Cuttlefish was ordered to patrol about 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) west of Midway, remaining on station during the Battle of Midway from 4–6 June 1942. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 June, and there and at Midway prepared for her third war patrol, for which she sailed on 29 July under the command of Lieutenant Commander Elliot E. Marshall. Patrolling off the Japanese homeland, she attacked a destroyer on 18 August, and received a punishing depth charge attack. Three days later, she launched a spread of torpedoes, three of which hit a freighter and one of which hit an escort. Explosions were seen, but the sinking could not be confirmed. On 5 September, she attacked a tanker which, it is believed, she sank.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 20 September 1942, Cuttlefish was ordered to
Philadelphia
on 24 October 1945, and sold for scrap on 12 February 1947.
Awards
- American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
American Campaign Medal- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two battle stars for World War IIservice
World War II Victory MedalReferences
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ a b c d Alden, p.38.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ 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 Alden, p.210"
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 310
- ^ a b c Alden, p.211.
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 193
- ^ Johnston, pp. 57
- ^ Johnston, pp. 56 & 61
- ^ Friedman, pp. 189-193
- ^ Alden, p.39.
- ^ a b c Alden, p.210.
- 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
- Johnston, David, "No More Heads or Tails: The Adoption of Welding in U.S. Navy Submarines", The Submarine Review, June 2020, pp. 46–64
- 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.
- Navsource.org USS Cuttlefish photo 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.
