Shipbucket

Excellent work, the Gato class has long needed an updated drawing.
I guess the related Balao's will follow?

An excellent work of art to be sure, and as expected.
Will love to see other Gato's as well as Balao, Tench and maybe pre war submarines as well.

Thanks all.



This is HARDER (SS-257) in April of 1944, during the boat's daring rescue of Ensign John Gavlin off Woleai in the Caroline Islands. HARDER was the lifeguard submarine for the area during this period.

HARDER shows the classic mid-war appearance of the GATO class, having traded her overall black Measure 9 camouflage for the "light gray job" of Measure 32/3SS-B. This pattern blended Light Grey (5-L) on the conning tower and forward hull into Ocean Gray (5-O) and then finally Dull Black (BK) on the rest of the boat. Decks were Gloss Black, and the tops of the deck guns were painted with a mottled pattern of Dull Black above and Light Grey below.

HARDER's SJ radar and its mast have been moved to an offset position between the SD mast and the number 2 periscope, which cleared the open conn forward. This is just another of the bewildering number of modifications made to these boats during the war. The JP line array hydrophone is visible on the main deck just ahead of the 4"/50-caliber Mark 12 deck gun.

HARDER was lost on her sixth war patrol, with 60 officers and men killed in action.

Here's a great high res photo of the rescue: https://imgur.com/a/0p1M1

Awesome!

Excellent addition!

This is TRIGGER (SS-237) in August of 1944, after completion of a lengthy refit period at the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California. She is camouflaged in Measure 9, with Dull Black (BK) on all surfaces.

TRIGGER shows very typical mid-war features for a GATO class boat. The SJa surface search antenna with its mesh grid paraboloid reflector sits atop the small mast ahead of the periscope shears, with the usual SD dipoles on the antenna mast aft. The early TBT (target bearing transmitter) sits just forward of the new 40mm Bofors on the fairwater, and the small stub antennas of the APR-1 radar countermeasures system have appeared on the periscope shears. The radio direction finding loop sits between the SJa mast and the forward periscope.

TRIGGER's armament configuration reflects war experience; a 40mm Bofors single mount (similar to that used by the Army) has been fitted on the fairwater's aft position, with a 20mm Oerlikon forward and a second 20mm gun on the forward gun foundation on the main deck. A 4"/50-caliber Mark 12 wet mount aft of the fairwater completes the armament. The 40mm guns were especially prized for shooting up the small sampans and fishing boats normally used by the Japanese for picket duty.

TRIGGER would be sunk by combined air and surface ship depth charging on 28 March 1945, during her twelfth war patrol.

Awesome work!

Excellent!

Great work. Great to see these quality USN drawings being produced.

Thanks guys.



This is GROUPER (SS-214) in July of 1945, at the conclusion of a major refit period at Mare Island Navy Yard. The boat is camouflaged in the standard Measure 32/3SS-B of the time, with Haze Grey (5-H) and Ocean Grey (5-O) blending into Dull Black (BK) towards the stern.

GROUPER shows the late-war alterations made to most of the GATO class, with the SD air search set replaced by the new SV set, and SJ-1 for surface search. A new mast has been added aft of the periscope shears to support the new SV radar antenna, which freed up space inside the cramped conning tower. Two single 40mm Bofors guns sit on the fairwater positions. The main gun forward is the advanced 5"/25-caliber Mark 40 wet mount developed in 1944. A single 20mm Oerlikon has been fitted aft.

GROUPER would survive the war to become the US Navy's first "hunter-killer submarine" (SSK) in 1951. After serving in this capacity until 1958, GROUPER was converted to a floating underwater sound laboratory (AGSS) - before finally being sold for scrap in 1970.