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.[7] Joseph W. Paige[1] 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.[1][8]
Although externally much like the later "fleet submarines," internally the Cachalots were quite different. Due to pressure from the Submarine Officers Conference,[1] they featured full double hulls adapted from the Kaiserliche Marine's U-135,[1]direct-drivediesel-electric propulsion systems, a separate crew's mess (reinstated thanks to EB's rearrangement of the internal layout; Portsmouth would follow soon after),[1] and considerable space around the conning tower within the large bridge fairwater (which was drastically cut down in World War II when the 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun was relocated forward of the bridge). The 3-inch gun was selected because it was felt at the time that a larger gun would encourage submarine captains to fight on the surface against superior anti-submarine ships; this remained the standard submarine deck gun until early in World War II, when war experience showed that a larger gun was needed.
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.[9] During the war, the riveted boats would leak fuel oil.[10][8]
Due to the full double hull design, the external tanks proved too narrow for easy maintenance,[11] and the MAN diesels were a constant headache, demanding re-engining[11] with General Motors-Winton four-cycle 16-258 engines in 1936-38.[12][8] On the other hand, the class made a major contribution to habitability, when Cuttlefish was the first sub fitted with air conditioning,[11] and to effectiveness, being first fitted with the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer (TDC).[13]
Serviceedit
Despite the calculation process, size reduction had gone too far with the Cachalots, limiting their patrol endurance.[1] The subsequent Porpoise class were about 300 tons larger, and each succeeding class was incrementally larger than its predecessors through the Gato-class submarines of 1941 (with exception of the two experimental Mackerel-class 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.[11]
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January 01, 1970
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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 7 Joseph W Paige 1 of the Navy s Bureau of Construction and Repair BuC amp 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 1 8 USS Cachalot SS 170 the lead boat of the classClass overview NameCachalot class BuildersPortsmouth Naval Shipyard Electric Boat Company Operators United States Navy Preceded byUSS Dolphin SS 169 Succeeded byPorpoise class Built1931 1934 In commission1933 1945 Completed2 Retired2 General characteristics TypeSubmarine Displacement1 100 long tons 1 100 t surfaced 1 650 long tons 1 680 t submerged Length260 ft 79 m waterline 274 ft 84 m overall Beam24 ft 1 in 7 34 m Draft13 ft 10 in 4 22 m PropulsionAs Built 2 BuEng built MAN designed direct drive main diesel engines 2 1 535 hp 1 145 kW each 1 BuEng MAN auxiliary diesel 2 driving a 330 kW 440 hp electrical generator 3 2 electric motors 800 hp 600 kW each 4 2 120 cell Exide batteries 5 2 shafts Speed17 knots 31 km h 20 mph surfaced 7 knots 13 km h 8 1 mph submerged Range11 000 nautical miles 20 000 km 13 000 mi at 10 knots 19 km h 12 mph 1 20 000 km at 19 km h surfaced 83 290 US gallons 315 300 L oil fuel 1 Endurance10 hours at 5 knots 9 3 km h submerged Test depth250 ft 76 m Complement6 officers 39 men peacetime 7 officers 48 men war 1 Armament6 21 inch 533 mm torpedo tubes 4 forward 2 aft 16 torpedoes 6 1 3 inch 76 mm 50 caliber deck gun 2 30 caliber 7 62mm machine guns Contents 1 Design 2 Service 3 Ships in class 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksDesign editAlthough externally much like the later fleet submarines internally the Cachalots were quite different Due to pressure from the Submarine Officers Conference 1 they featured full double hulls adapted from the Kaiserliche Marine s U 135 1 direct drive diesel electric propulsion systems a separate crew s mess reinstated thanks to EB s rearrangement of the internal layout Portsmouth would follow soon after 1 and considerable space around the conning tower within the large bridge fairwater which was drastically cut down in World War II when the 3 inch 76 mm deck gun was relocated forward of the bridge The 3 inch gun was selected because it was felt at the time that a larger gun would encourage submarine captains to fight on the surface against superior anti submarine ships this remained the standard submarine deck gun until early in World War II when war experience showed that a larger gun was needed 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 9 During the war the riveted boats would leak fuel oil 10 8 The as built engine specifications were two BuEng built MAN designed M9Vu 40 46 nine cylinder 2 two cycle direct drive main diesel engines 1 535 hp 1 145 kW each with one BuEng MAN 2 two cycle auxiliary diesel engine 2 driving a 330 kW 440 hp electrical generator 3 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 11 and the MAN diesels were a constant headache demanding re engining 11 with General Motors Winton four cycle 16 258 engines in 1936 38 12 8 On the other hand the class made a major contribution to habitability when Cuttlefish was the first sub fitted with air conditioning 11 and to effectiveness being first fitted with the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer TDC 13 Service editDespite the calculation process size reduction had gone too far with the Cachalots limiting their patrol endurance 1 The subsequent Porpoise class were about 300 tons larger and each succeeding class was incrementally larger than its predecessors through the Gato class submarines of 1941 with exception of the two experimental Mackerel class 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 11 Ships in class editConstruction data Name Hull no Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate Cachalot SS 170 Portsmouth Navy Yard 21 October 1931 19 October 1933 1 December 1933 17 October 1945 Scrapped 1947 Cuttlefish SS 171 Electric Boat Company 7 October 1931 21 November 1933 8 June 1934 24 October 1945 Scrapped 1947See also editList of submarine classes of the United States Navy List of ship classes of the Second World WarNotes edit a b c d e f g h i Alden p 38 a b c d e Alden p 210 a b Friedman p 310 Alden p 211 Alden John D Commander USN retired The Fleet Submarine in the U S Navy Annapolis MD Naval Institute Press 1979 p 211 Leton H T American Submarines Doubleday 1973 p 37 Friedman pp 189 193 a b c Friedman p 193 Johnston pp 49 57 60 Blair Clay Jr Silent Victory Lippincott 1975 a b c d Alden p 39 Fitzsimons Bernard ed The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare London Phoebus 1978 Volume 5 p 509 Cachalot 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 References editSchlesman 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 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 Navsource org fleet submarines page Pigboats com V boats page DiGiulian Tony Navweaps com later 3 50 caliber gun nbsp This article incorporates text from the public domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cachalot class submarines Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cachalot class submarine amp oldid 1192311689, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
