Tench-class submarine
 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Electric Boat Company, Boston Navy Yard[1] |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy Pakistan Navy Republic of China Navy |
| Preceded by: | Balao class |
| Succeeded by: | Barracuda class |
| Subclasses: | Corsair class |
| Built: | 1944–1951[2] |
| In commission: | 1944–1975[2] |
| Completed: | 29[1] |
| Cancelled: | 51[1] |
| Active: | 1[1] |
| Lost: | 0[1] |
| Retired: | 28[1] |
| Preserved: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: |
1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced[1] 2,416–2,429 tons (2,455–2468 t) submerged[1] |
| Length: | 311 ft 8 in – 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m)[1] |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in – 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)[1] |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[1] |
| Propulsion: |
4 × diesel engines driving electrical generators (Fairbanks-Morse or General Motors)[1] |
| Speed: |
20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Range: | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3] |
| Endurance: |
48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m)[3] |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 71 enlisted[3] |
| Armament: |
10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 28 torpedoes[3] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[3] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon two .3 or .5 in (7.62 or 12.70 mm) machineguns[4] |
Tench-class submarines were a type of submarine built for the United States Navy (USN) between 1944 and 1951. They were an evolutionary improvement over the Gato and Balao classes, only about 35 to 40 tons larger, but more strongly built and with a slightly improved internal layout. Further improvements were made beginning with SS-435, which are sometimes referred to as Corsair class.
Initial plans called for 146 to be built, but 115 were cancelled in 1944 and 1945 when it became apparent that they would not be needed to defeat Japan. The remaining 31 were commissioned between October 1944 (Tench) and February 1951 (Grenadier).
The Tench class submarine ex-Cutlass was transferred along with the Balao-class ex-Tusk to the Republic of China Navy as Hai Shih and "Hai Pao" in 1973. Two Tench-class boats went to Italy as the Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia class. USS Argonaut (SS-475) was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1968, renamed HMCS Rainbow, and decommissioned in 1974.
Some of the class were updated through the GUPPY (The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program). The difference is noticeable by the level foredeck and the rounded bow.[5]
Museums
Three Tench Class submarines are on display for the general public.
- USS Requin (SS-481) at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
- USS Torsk (SS-423), moored at Pier Three, Baltimore's Inner Harbor, (alongside the National Aquarium in Baltimore) in Maryland.
- USS Thornback (SS-418), on display at Rahmi M. Koç Museum, Golden Horn in Istanbul.
See also
Media related to Tench class submarines at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ↑ Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (Doubleday, 1973), p.101.
- ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/guppy.htm
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