Cachalot-class submarine
{{Short description|Pair of US Navy submarines, 1933 to 1945}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Cachalot - 19-N-14689.jpg |Ship caption=USS Cachalot (SS-170) the lead boat of the class }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Cachalot class |Builders=*Portsmouth Naval Shipyard |Operators={{navy|United States|1912}} |Class before={{USS|Dolphin|SS-169}} |Class after=Porpoise class |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range=1931-1934 |In service range= |In commission range=1933-1945 |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=2 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired=2 |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Submarine |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1100|LT|t|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship length= {{convert|260|ft|m|abbr=on}} waterline, {{convert|274|ft|m|abbr=on}} overall |Ship beam={{convert|24|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draft={{convert|13|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=*As Built:
|Ship speed=*{{convert|17|kn}} surfaced
|Ship range=*{{convert|11,000|nmi}} at {{convert|10|kn}}Alden, p.38. (20,000 km at 19 km/h) surfaced |Ship endurance=10 hours at {{convert|5|kn|km/h}} submerged |Ship test depth= {{convert|250|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=6 officers, 39 men (peacetime); 7 officers, 48 men (war) |Ship armament=*6 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (4 forward, 2 aft, 16 torpedoes)Leton, H.T. American Submarines (Doubleday, 1973), p.37. |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |
The Cachalot-class submarines were a pair of medium-sized submarines of the United States Navy built under the tonnage limits of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. They were originally named V-8 and V-9, and so were known as "V-boats" even though they were unrelated to the other seven submarines (V-1 through V-7) constructed between World War I and World War II. 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.Friedman, pp. 189-193 Joseph W. Paige of the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) developed the basic design, but the builder, Electric Boat, was responsible for detailed arrangement; this was fairly bold, since Electric Boat had not built any new submarines since finishing four obsolescent boats for Peru. The previous V-boats were all built in naval shipyards. Cuttlefish was the first submarine built at EB's facility in Groton, Connecticut; construction of previous Electric Boat designs had been subcontracted to other shipyards, notably Fore River Shipbuilding of Quincy, Massachusetts.Friedman, p. 193
Design
Although externally much like the later "fleet submarines," internally the Cachalots were quite different. Due to pressure from the Submarine Officers Conference, they featured full double hulls derived from the concept of the Kaiserliche Marine
EB greatly expanded on the use of electric welding that had been pioneered by Portsmouth on the earlier V-boats. On Cuttlefish, most of the outer hull and the fuel tanks were welded, while the inner pressure hull remained riveted. Portsmouth, while welding non-critical areas on Cachalot like the superstructure, piping brackets, support framing and interior tanks, continued to use riveting for both the inner and outer hulls.Johnston, pp. 49, 57-60 During the war, the riveted boats would leak fuel oil.Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory (Lippincott, 1975).
The as-built engine specifications were two BuEng-built, MAN-designed M9Vu 40/46 nine-cylinderAlden, p.210. two-cycle direct drive main diesel engines, {{convert|1535|hp|abbr=on}} each, with one BuEng MANAlden, p.210. two-cycle auxiliary diesel engine, driving a {{convert|330|kW|abbr=on}} electrical generator.Friedman, p. 310 The auxiliary engine was for charging batteries or for increased surface speed via a diesel-electric system providing power to the main electric motors.
Due to the full double hull design, the external tanks proved too narrow for easy maintenance,Alden, p.39. and the MAN diesels were a constant headache, demanding re-engining with General Motors-Winton four-cycle 16-258 engines in 1936-38.Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 5, p.509, "Cachalot". On the other hand, the class made a major contribution to habitability, when Cuttlefish was the first sub fitted with air conditioning, and to effectiveness, being first fitted with the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer (TDC).Alden, p.39. This replaced the older "banjo" and "Is/Was" used in S-boats, as described in Ned Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep.
Service
Despite the calculation process, size reduction had gone too far with the Cachalots, limiting their patrol endurance. The subsequent Porpoise class were about 300 tons larger, and each succeeding class was incrementally larger than its predecessors through the {{sclass|Gato|submarine|0}} submarines of 1941 (with exception of the two experimental {{sclass|Mackerel|submarine|0}} submarines of 1939). After three Pacific war patrols each, the Cachalots were relegated to training duties in September 1942, as numerous Gato-class boats became available.
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Boats in class
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Construction data |
| scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" | Hull no. ! scope="col" | Builder ! scope="col" | Laid down ! scope="col" | Launched ! scope="col" | Commissioned ! scope="col" | Decommissioned ! scope="col" | Fate |
|---|
| scope="row" | {{USS|Cachalot|SS-170|2}}
| SS-170 | 21 October 1931 | 19 October 1933 | 1 December 1933 | 17 October 1945 | Scrapped 1947 |
| scope="row" | {{USS|Cuttlefish|SS-171|2}}
| SS-171 | 7 October 1931 | 21 November 1933 | 8 June 1934 | 24 October 1945 | Scrapped 1947 |
See also
Notes
{{reflist|2}}
References
- 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}}
- 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}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150304052224/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_20/vclass.htm 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}}.
- Johnston, David "No More Heads or Tails: The Adoption of Welding in U.S. Navy Submarines", The Submarine Review, June 2020, pp.46-64.
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/04idx.htm Navsource.org fleet submarines page]
- [https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=Cachalot_and_Cuttlefish PigBoats.COM Cachalot and Cuttlefish page]
- [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_3-50_mk10-22.htm DiGiulian, Tony Navweaps.com later 3"/50 caliber gun]
{{DANFS}}
External links
[https://pigboats.com/index.php?title=V-class PigBoats.COM V-class page]
{{Commons category|Cachalot class submarines}}
{{Cachalot class submarine}}
{{V-boats}}
{{WWII US ships}}