USS Nautilus (SS-168)

History

United States
Name:	USS Nautilus
Builder:	Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Laid down:	2 August 1927
Launched:	15 March 1930
Commissioned:	1 July 1930
Decommissioned:	30 June 1945
Struck:	25 July 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 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 tons (4,000 t) submerged
Length:	349 ft (106 m) (waterline), 371 ft (113 m) (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 1941-42: 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 knots (32.2 km/h) surfaced, trial 14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced, service 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h) submerged, service, 1939
Range:	9,380 nautical miles (17,370 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) at 5.7 knots (10.6 km/h) with fuel in main ballast tanks
Endurance:	10 hours at 5 knots (9 km/h) (bunkerage 178,460–182,778 US gallons (675,540–691,890 L) (as transport) 147,344 US gallons (557,758 l) diesel and 18,360 US gallons (69,500 l) gasoline
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; 24-26 internal torpedoes) (four external tubes {two each bow and stern, four torpedoes} added 1941-42; provision for 8-12 additional torpedoes externally) 2 × 6-inch (152 mm)/53 caliber Mark XII Mod. 2 wet type deck guns

USS Nautilus (SF-9/SS-168), a Narwhal-class submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name. She was originally named and designated V-6 (SF-9), but was redesignated and given hull classification symbol SC-2 on 11 February 1925. Her keel was laid on 10 May 1927 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard of Vallejo, California. She was launched on 15 March 1930 sponsored by Miss Joan Keesling, and commissioned on 1 July 1930 with Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Doyle Jr. in command.

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-6 and her near-sisters V-4 (Argonaut) and V-5 (Narwhal) 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 1941-42.

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