USS Dorado (SS-248)
fitting out , the final stage of construction, in August 1943.
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History | |
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United States | |
Builder | Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut[1] |
Laid down | 27 August 1942[1] |
Launched | 23 May 1943[1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Ezra G. Allen |
Commissioned | 28 August 1943[1] |
Fate | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | 1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced,[2] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[2] |
Length | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2] |
Beam | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2] |
Draft | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced,[3] 9 kn (17 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 | 300 ft (91 m)[3] |
Complement | 6 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
Armament |
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USS Dorado (SS-248), a
.Construction and commissioning
Dorado′s
Service history
Dorado's
The standard practice of imposing bombing restrictions within an area 50
At 2049 local time, under a moonlit but stormy sky, that plane attacked an unidentified submarine that it believed was outside the restriction area with three Mark-47 depth charges and a 100 lb (45 kg) Mark-4 Mod-4 demolition bomb. About two hours later, the plane sighted a second submarine with which it attempted to exchange recognition signals. This second submarine fired upon the plane.
A convoy scheduled to pass through the restricted area surrounding Dorado on the evening of 12 October 1943 reported no contact.
Air searches were begun immediately after 14 October 1943, Dorado′s scheduled date of arrival in the Panama Canal Zone. Widely scattered
At both the Board of Investigation and the Court of Inquiry, the aircrew testified that they were certain that both submarines they had attacked were U-boats. Despite the circumstantial evidence, there are reasons to doubt that Dorado was sunk by the Mariner.[7] Because the crew knew that Dorado was operating in the area, they carefully observed their two targets before attacking. Prior to the first attack, the four crewmen of the aircraft observed the surfaced submarine for 12 minutes, noting:
- it was 48 nmi (89 km; 55 mi) from where they had been told to expect Dorado to be and 34 nmi (63 km; 39 mi) from where Dorado really was supposed to be
- it was heading almost 90 degrees off from Dorado’s base course
- it had no guns on the fore deck, where Dorado carried a five-inch (127 mm) gun
- it had an entirely grooved deck, where Dorado's deck was grooved only near the conning tower
- it had a "knob-like" object on the front of the Type IX U-boats
Post-war examination of Kriegsmarine records indicate that the submarine first attacked by the Mariner may have been U-518, though that boat's logs do not record the attack. It is possible that the attack went unnoticed by the boat; of the three depth charges and one 100 pounds (45 kg) bomb that were dropped, one depth charge was a confirmed dud, one was dropped too low to arm, and neither the third depth charge nor the bomb were seen to explode. After the attack, the Mariner searched the area for 20 minutes, but saw no explosions, bubbles, or debris.
The second submarine, attacked by the Mariner two hours later, was certainly
On 8 October, 5 nmi (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) off Colón, U-214 laid a minefield of 15 mines. One of these may have sunk Dorado on or about 14 October 1943.[8][9]
Dorado was one of only two U.S. Navy submarines lost in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II. The other was
Legacy
A memorial to Dorado stands on the Arkansas River in Veterans Memorial Park in Wichita, Kansas.
A 614-page book entitled USS Dorado (SS-248): On Eternal Patrol was published by Douglas E. Campbell in November 2011.
Before she was lost, the American painter Thomas Hart Benton sailed aboard Dorado on her shakedown cruise, using that experience as the basis for his paintings Score Another for the Subs, In Slumber Deep, and The Claustrophobic Confines.[10]
References
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ^ OCLC 24010356.
- ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
- ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ^ www.lostsubs.com - USS Dorado (SS-248)
- ^ "Patrol of U-boat U-214 from 22 Aug 1943 to 30 Nov 1943 - U-boat patrols - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
- ^ "USS Dorado (SS-248) - American Vessels lost to U-boats - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
- ^ "An American Artist Declares War". World War II (January/February 2014): 52–57. Jan–Feb 2014.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- The Syneca Research Group's discussion of Dorado is published at http://www.ussdorado.com
- On Eternal Patrol: USS Dorado
- NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive
- DETAILS PLAIN LANGUAGE: The Mystery and Loss of Submarine USS Dorado