Sargo-class submarine
 USS Sargo | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Electric Boat Company, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1] |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Salmon class[2] |
| Succeeded by: | Tambor class[2] |
| Built: | 1937–1939[1] |
| In commission: | 1939–1946[1] |
| Completed: | 10[2] |
| Active: | 0[2] |
| Lost: | 4[2] |
| Retired: | 6[2] |
| Preserved: | 0[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Composite diesel-hydraulic and diesel-electric (early) or full diesel-electric (late) submarine[2] |
| Displacement: |
1,450 tons (1473 t) standard, surfaced[3] 2,350 tons (2,388 t) submerged[3] |
| Length: | 310 ft 6 in (94.64 m)[3] |
| Beam: | 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m)[3] |
| Draft: | 16 ft 7½ in – 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)[3] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler (H.O.R.) or General Motors diesel engines (two hydraulic-drive, two driving electrical generators in early boats, all driving electrical generators in late boats)[2][4] |
| Speed: |
20.8–21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3] |
| 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 ft (76 m)[3] |
| Complement: | 5 officers, 54 enlisted[3] |
| Armament: |
8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes [3] 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun [3] four machine guns |
The Sargo-class submarines were the first US submarines to be sent into action after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, starting war patrols the day after the attack. They were built between 1937 and 1939.
The Sargo-class submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193) had the distinction of being the first US Navy vessel to sink a Japanese ship in World War II.
The Sargo class was very active during the war, sinking 73 ships, including a Japanese submarine.
USS Sailfish (SS-192) of this class sank the aircraft carrier Chuyo, which was carrying 21 survivors from the submarine USS Sculpin (SS-191); only one of these prisoners survived the sinking. Sculpin had been one of the ships assisting in the rescue of 33 men when USS Squalus (SS-192) sank during a test dive in 1939; Squalus was refloated and recommissioned as USS Sailfish.
After the Second World War, boats of this class were moved into a training role before being scrapped. USS Searaven (SS-196) was used in the Bikini Atoll atomic weapon tests in 1946. There was negligible damage so she was later expended as a target. USS Sailfish was also due to become a target in the same atomic weapon tests but she was scrapped instead in 1948.
Ships in class
| Name | Hull number | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sargo | SS-188 | Electric Boat, Groton, CT | 6 June 1938 | Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland, CA | ||
| Saury | SS-189 | Electric Boat, Groton, CT | 20 August 1938 | Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland, CA | ||
| Spearfish | SS-190 | Electric Boat, Groton, CT | 29 October 1938 | Sold for scrap 19 May 1947 to Learner Company of Oakland, CA | ||
| Sculpin | SS-191 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine | 27 July 1938 | Damaged by depth charges and gunfire from the IJNS Yamagumo 19 November 1943; scuttled | ||
| Squalus | SS-192 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine | 19 September 1938 | Sank on trials 23 May 1939. Raised and recommissioned as USS Sailfish 9 February 1940 Sold for scrap 18 June 1948 to Luria Brothers and Company of Philadelphia, PA | ||
| Swordfish | SS-193 | Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA | 4 January 1939 | Depth charged by Japanese anti-submarine vessels 12 January 1945 | ||
| Seadragon | SS-194 | Electric Boat, Groton, CT | 21 April 1939 | Sold for scrap 2 July 1948 to Luria Brothers and Company of Philadelphia, PA | ||
| Sealion | SS-195 | Electric Boat, Groton, CT | 25 May 1939 | Bombed by Japanese aircraft at Cavite Navy Yard 10 December 1941; scuttled 25 December 1941 | ||
| Searaven | SS-196 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine | 21 June 1939 | Expended as target in Operation Crossroads atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll 11 September 1948 | ||
| Seawolf | SS-197 | Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine | 15 August 1939 | Sunk by "friendly fire" from USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) 3 October 1944 | ||
See also
- Unrestricted submarine warfare
- Intensified submarine warfare
- U-boat
- Torpedo
- Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)
Media related to Sargo class submarines at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 269–270. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
- ↑ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 202–204
- Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, Robert Hutchinson.
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