Gato/Balao/Tench class submarines

[emperor_andreas]

Nice!

[eswube]

Great additions.

[Charybdis]

Excellent work and nice info.

[reytuerto]

Excellent drawings, well done dossiers! Once again, thanks!

[Colosseum]

Thanks guys.



This is DACE (SS-247) in May of 1945, at the start of the boat's seventh war patrol. She is camouflaged in Measure 32/3SS-B - the standard grey scheme with black pressure hull found to be very effective at defeating surface observation.

DACE shows a very typical late-war GATO class configuration, with SD and SJ-1 search radars on masts aft of the periscope shears. The two 40mm Bofors Mark 3 single mounts fitted to the fairwater proved their worth during the waning months of the war, as most of the enemy ships engaged by the submarines were mainly junks and sampans (too small to be hit with torpedoes). A 5"/25 deck gun is fitted aft. The most interesting feature of DACE during this period is the DBU radar countermeasures system fitted on either side of the fairwater (just visible as a series of receiver antennas immediately forward of the side lights). This was a slight improvement over the APR-1 system usually installed, and saw service on several boats.

DACE survived the war to serve in the postwar US Navy, before being transferred to Italy. Renamed LEONARDO DA VINCI (S-510), ex-DACE served in the Marina Militare Italiana until 1972, when the boat was returned to the US. It was sold for scrap in 1975.

[emperor_andreas]

Very nice work!

[reytuerto]

Oh! the Bofors were used for surface work! Learning something new each day! Cheers.

[emperor_andreas]

Oh! the Bofors were used for surface work! Learning something new each day! Cheers.

Yes, they're quite handy at dispatching sampans and fishing boats.

[eswube]

Cool.

[Colosseum]

This is BARB (SS-220) after the boat's eleventh war patrol, off the coast of China. During this patrol, BARB penetrated Namkwan Harbor on the eastern China coast, firing torpedoes on a convoy of nearly 30 Japanese ships at anchor. The boat's daring escape through uncharted and heavily mined waters while being pursued by Japanese subchasers earned Commanding Officer Eugene Fluckey the Medal of Honor, and the boat the Presidential Unit Citation.

BARB is camouflaged in Measure 32/3SS-B, the submarine light grey system that reduced visibility during surfaced operations. The boat mounts the usual late-war electronics fit of SJ-1 surface search radar and SD air search on a telescoping antenna mast aft of the shears. The ST range-only radar has been fitted to the no.1 periscope. A 40mm Bofors single mount sits ahead of the fairwater, with a 20mm Oerlikon on the cigarette deck. The highly successful 5"/25 Mark 40 open mount sits aft of the fairwater. Built by Electric Boat at Groton, CT, BARB shows the characteristic pattern of half-moon shaped limber holes in the deck casing forward. Her bow planes have been rigged at a down angle to increase diving speed (a common modification late in the war), and the T-shaped head of the JP sonar is visible ahead of the fairwater along the main deck.

BARB would complete one more patrol in this configuration, famously attacking Japanese factories with 5" rockets and landing a shore party to set demolition charges on a railroad track, which later destroyed a Japanese train. BARB would survive the war to be sold to the Italian Navy, where it was recommissioned as ENRICO TAZZOLI (S 511). The boat was sold for scrap in 1972.

BARB is noted as the "submarine which sank the most tonnage by Japanese records" in most literature.