USS Narwhal (SS-167)

USS Narwhal (SS-167) at sea, 1931
History
United States
Name:	USS Narwhal
Builder:	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down:	10 May 1927
Launched:	17 December 1928
Commissioned:	15 May 1930
Decommissioned:	23 April 1945
Struck:	19 May 1945
Fate:	Sold for breaking up, 16 November 1945
General characteristics
Class and type:	V-5 (Narwhal)-class composite direct-drive diesel and diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	2,730 long tons (2,770 t) surfaced, standard, 3,900 long tons (4,000 t) (submerged)
Length:	349 ft (106 m) (waterline), 371 ft (4,450 in) (overall)
Beam:	33 ft 3 1⁄4 in (10.141 m)
Draft:	16 ft 11 1⁄4 in (5.163 m)
Propulsion:	As Built: 2 × BuEng-built, MAN-designeddirect-drive main diesel engines, 2,350 hp (1,750 kW) each, 2 × BuEng MAN 300 kW (400 hp) auxiliary diesel generators, 2 × 120-cell Exide ULS37 batteries, 2 × Westinghouse electric motors, 800 hp (600 kW) each Re-engined 1942: 4 × General Motors Winton Model 16-278A 16-cylinder two-cycle diesel-electric diesel engines, 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) each, 2 × GM Winton 8-268A 2-cycle auxiliary diesel generators, 300 kW (400 hp) each, 2 × 120-cell Exide UHS39B batteries, 2 × Westinghouse electric motors, 1,270 hp (950 kW) each, Fairbanks-Morse reduction gears, 2 × shafts
Speed:	17.4 kn (20.0 mph; 32.2 km/h) surfaced, trial, 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) surfaced, service; 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) submerged, 6.5 kn (7.5 mph; 12.0 km/h) submerged, service, 1939
Range:	9,380 nmi (10,790 mi; 17,370 km) @ 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h), 25,000 nmi (29,000 mi; 46,000 km) @ 5.7 kn (6.6 mph; 10.6 km/h) with fuel in main ballast tanks
Endurance:	10 hours at 5 kn (5.8 mph; 9.3 km/h) (bunkerage) 178,460–182,778 US gallons (675,540–691,890 L)
Test depth:	300 ft (90 m)
Complement:	As Built: 9 officers, 10 petty officers, 70 enlisted 1942: 9 officers, 88 enlisted 1943: 8 officers, 80 enlisted
Armament:	6 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, two aft; 24 torpedoes including 6 in deck stowage) (four external tubes {two each bow and stern, four torpedoes} were added 1942-3; provision for 8–12 additional torpedoes externally) 2 × 6 inch (152 mm)/53 caliber guns Mark XII Mod. 2 wet typedeck guns

USS Narwhal (SS-167), the lead ship of her class of submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the narwhal. She was named V-5 (SC-1) when her keel was laid down on 10 May 1927 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine.

V-5 was launched on 17 December 1929 sponsored by Mrs. Charles F. Adams, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on 15 May 1930, Lieutenant Commander John H. Brown, Jr. in command.

V-5 was generally similar to the preceding submarine minelayer V-4, although slightly smaller and lacking a minelaying system. The configuration of V-4, V-5, and V-6 resulted from an evolving strategic concept that increasingly emphasized the possibility of a naval war with Japan in the far western Pacific. This factor, and the implications of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, suggested the need for long-range submarine "cruisers", or "strategic scouts", as well as long-range minelayers, for which long endurance, not high speed, was most important. The design was possibly influenced by the German "U-cruisers" of the Type U-139 and Type U-151 U-boat classes, although V-4, V-5, and V-6 were all larger than these. A raised gun platform was provided around the conning tower, and deck stowage for spare torpedoes was included under the platform and in the superstructure. V-5 and her near-sisters V-4 (Argonaut) and V-6 (Nautilus) were initially designed with larger and more powerful MAN-designed diesel engines than the Busch-Sulzer engines that propelled earlier V-boats, which were failures. Unfortunately, the specially built engines failed to produce their design power, and some developed dangerous crankcase explosions. The engineering plant was replaced in 1942.