Balao class submarine

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United States

Operators:	United States Navy
Preceding class:	Gato class
Following class:	Tench class
Ships in Class
General Characteristics
Class type:	diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,526 tons (1550t) surfaced 2424 tons (2460t) (except SS.285-291 2414 and SS.3308-312 & SS.381-404 2391 and SS.405-410 2401 tons) submerged
Length:	307 ft (93.6m) waterline, 311ft 9 in (95m) overall
Beam:	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft:	15 ft 3 in (4.65 m)
Propulsion and power:	•four 1350-hp (1010kW) 16-cylinder General Motors 278A (except diesel engines (except SS.292-312 and SS.381-416 10cyl Fairbanks-Morse 38D-1/8) •two 1370hp (1020 kW) General Electric electric motors (except SS292-312 and SS381-416 Elliot Motor) (two 126-cell Exide main storage batteries) (except SS.292-298, 300-303, 312, 361-364, 367-369, 377-380, & 410 Gould) • two shafts
Speed:	20.25 knots (37.5 km/h) surfaced 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged
Range:	11,800 [[nautical miles}nm]] at 10 knots (21,900 km at 19 km/h) surfaced 100nm at 3 knots (185km at 5.6km/h) (maximum) submerged
Endurance:	48 hours submerged
Test depth:	400 ft (122 m) (except SS361-364, 300 ft {91m})
Complement:	80 – 85 officers and men
Armament:	• 10 × 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft, 24 torpedoes) •1 × 4 in (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun (in SS.285-291) = 1×5 in (12.7 cm) / 25 cal (in rest) •1×40 mm AA cannon (except in SS.361-364) 1 × 3 in (76 mm) / 50 cal AA gun (in SS.361-364) • 1×20 mm AA cannon (SS.313-360 & SS.365-416 only) • 2×0.5" (12.7 mm) machine guns (except SS.361-364) • 2×0.3" (7.62 mm) machine guns (in SS.361-364)

The Balao class was a successful design of United States Navy submarine used during World War II. An evolutionary improvement over the earlier Gato class, the boats had slight internal differences. The most significant improvement was the use of higher strength steel in the pressure hull, which increased their test depth to 400 feet. There were 132 submarines in this class.