Tench class submarine
USS Toro shown post-war, after removal of her deck guns, c. 1947.
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Electric Boat Company, Boston Navy Yard |
| Operators: | |
| Preceded by: | Balao class |
| Succeeded by: | Barracuda class |
| Subclasses: | Corsair class |
| Built: | 1944–1951 |
| In commission: | 1944–1975 |
| Completed: | 29 |
| Cancelled: | 55 |
| Active: | 1 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 27 |
| Preserved: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 311 ft 8 in – 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in – 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) maximum |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: | 16,000 nautical miles (30,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Endurance: |
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| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 71 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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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. One of the ballast tanks was converted to carry fuel, increasing range from 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) to 16,000 nautical miles (30,000 km; 18,000 mi). This improvement was also made on some boats of the previous two classes. Further improvements were made beginning with SS-435, which are sometimes referred to as the Corsair class. Initial plans called for 84 to be built, but 55 were cancelled in 1944 and 1945 when it became apparent that they would not be needed to defeat Japan. The remaining 29 were commissioned between October 1944 (Tench) and February 1951 (Grenadier).
The as-built diesel-electric propulsion layout was the same as the last few Balao class, with four Fairbanks-Morse or General Motors Cleveland Division two-stroke diesel engines supplying two low-speed double-armature direct-drive electric motors to drive two shafts. All except Corsair received the Fairbanks-Morse 38D 8-1/8 engine with 10 cylinders; Corsair had GM 16-278A engines. The direct-drive electric motors were much quieter than the reduction gear arrangement of previous classes, and they made the drive train much more reliable due to the fact that the gearing was an element prone to shock damage from depth charges. Two 126-cell Sargo-type lead-acid batteries provided submerged power to the electric motors.
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Wikipedia