USS Dolphin (SS-169)

USS Dolphin underway on the surface.
History
United States
Name:	USS Dolphin
Namesake:	Dolphin
Builder:	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down:	14 June 1930
Launched:	6 March 1932
Commissioned:	1 June 1932
Decommissioned:	2 October 1945
Struck:	24 October 1945
Fate:	Sold for breaking up, 26 August 1946
General characteristics
Class and type:	V-7 (Dolphin)-class composite direct-drive diesel and diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	Surfaced: 1,718 long tons (1,746 t) Submerged: 2,240 long tons (2,280 t)
Length:	319 ft 3 in (97.31 m)
Beam:	27 ft 11 in (8.51 m)
Propulsion:	2 × BuEng-built, MAN-designed direct-drive main diesel engines, 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) each, 2 BuEng MAN auxiliary diesel engines, 450 hp (340 kW) each, driving 300 kW (400 hp) electrical generators 2 × 120-cell batteries 2 × Electro-Dynamic electric motors 2 shafts
Speed:	17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) surfaced, 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) submerged; 8.7 kn (10.0 mph; 16.1 km/h) submerged, service, 1939
Range:	4,900 nmi (5,600 mi; 9,100 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h), 18,780 nmi (21,610 mi; 34,780 km) at 10 kn with fuel in main ballast tanks
Endurance:	10 hours at 5 kn (5.8 mph; 9.3 km/h)
Test depth:	250 ft (76 m)
Complement:	7 officers, 56 enlisted
Armament:	6 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, two aft), 18 torpedoes, 1 × 4 inch (102 mm)/50 caliber deck gun

USS Dolphin (SF-10/SC-3/SS-169), a submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for that aquatic mammal. She also bore the name V-7 and the classifications SF-10 and SC-3 prior to her commissioning. She was launched on 6 March 1932 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. E.D. Toland, and commissioned on 1 June 1932 with Lieutenant John B. Griggs, Jr. in command.

Dolphin was the penultimate design in the V-boat series. With a length of 319 ft (97 m) and a displacement only a little more than half that of the previous three large cruiser submarines (1,718 long tons (1,746 t) surfaced, 2,240 long tons (2,280 t) submerged), Dolphin was clearly an attempt to strike a happy medium between those latter submarines and earlier S-class submarines, which were little more than large coastal boats. The general arrangement of propulsion machinery was identical to that of V-5 and V-6, but even with a surface displacement of only 1,718 tons, Dolphin′s scaled-down main engines—rated at 1,750 hp (1,300 kW) each—could only just deliver the surface speed of the larger ships, and her endurance and torpedo load-out were much reduced. The torpedo armament was six 21 inch (533 mm) tubes (4 bow, 2 stern), with 18 torpedoes. A 4 inch (102 mm)/50 caliber deck gun was equipped. Interestingly, Dolphin's size and weight were nearly ideal for the range and duration of the war patrols that became customary in the Pacific during World War II, and the war-time Gato, Balao, and Tench classes had similar dimensions.