Submarine Specifications

Submarine Specifications

The table below lists the major specifications of all of the submarine classes of the pigboats era. This data was taken from Norman Friedman's U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History, Appendix D, pages 306-311, and John D. Alden's The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History. The data represents the configuration of the boat when it was first commissioned into the USN. Subsequent modifications and updates can alter the specifications greatly. Some notes concerning the table are below:

•Displ. - Displacement, the amount of water a submarine displaces, analogous to weight.
•Surf. Prop. - The number and type of surface propulsion internal combustion engines.
•Subm. Prop. - The number and manufacturer of submerged propulsion electrical motors.
•Battery Cells - The number represents the number of batteries and the number of cells in each battery.
•Kts - Knots, or one nautical mile per hour.
•Test Depth - The maximum depth at which the submarine can routinely operate without damage. Most USN submarines have a safety factor of 1.5 built into its design, meaning that the collapse depth of the hull (implosion depth) is 1.5 times test depth.
•Tubes (B/S) - The number of torpedo tubes in the bow (B) or stern (S).
•Torp Load - The total number of torpedoes carried.
•Gun - If present, listed numbers represent bore diameter in inches and the barrel length in calibers.
•Crew (O/E) - The crew size, with the numbers representing officers and enlisted.

For the Surfaced Propulsion column, the number of engines, the manufacturer, and the type of engine are listed. If the exact engine model number is known, it is listed as well. Some engines (Gen) drove only electrical generators. Please note that all submarines after the G-class were equipped with diesel engines. Therefore, the type of engine (i.e. gasoline or diesel) is not listed.

Submarine Specifications 1900-1941

Class	Length (Ft-In)	Beam (Ft-In)	Surf. Displ. (Tons)	Subm. Displ. (Tons)	Surf. Prop.	Subm. Prop.	Battery Cells	Surf. Speed (Kts)	Subm. Speed (Kts)	Test Depth (Ft)	Tubes (B/S)	Tube Size (In)	Torp Load	Deck Gun	Crew (O/E)
Holland	53-10	10-3	64	74	1xOtto Gasoline	1xElectro Dynamic	1x60	6	5.5	75	1/0	18	3	No	1/6
A-class	63-10	11-10	105.5	122.5	1xOtto Gasoline	1xElectro Dynamic	1x60	8.5	7.2	150	1/0	18	3	No	1/6
B-class	82-5	12-5	145	170	1xEB/Craig Gasoline	1xElectro Dynamic	1x60	9.2	8.2	150	2/0	18	4	No	1/9
C-class	105-3	13-10	240	273	2xEB/Craig Gasoline	2xElectro Dynamic	1x120	11	9	200	2/0	18	4	No	1/14
D-class	134-10	13-10	288	337	2xEB/Craig Gasoline	2xElectro Dynamic	1x120	13	9.5	200	4/0	18	4	No	1/14
E-class	135-2	14-7	287	342	2xNELSECO 50/6 Diesel	2xElectro Dynamic	1x120	13	11	200	4/0	18	8	No	1/19
F-class	142-7	15-5	330	400	2xNELSECO Diesel	2xElectro Dynamic	1x120	13	11.5	200	4/0	18	8	No	1/21
G-1	161-0	13-1	400	516	4xWhite-Middleton Gasoline	2xDiehl	1x120	14.7	10.6	200	2/0	18	6	No	1/23
G-2	161-0	14-4	375	481	4xWhite-Middleton Gasoline	2xDiehl	1x120	14	10.5	200	3/1	18	8	No	1/23
G-3	161-0	14-4	393	468	2xSulzer 6U32 Diesel	2xElectro Dynamic	1x120	14	9.5	200	4/2	18	10	No	2/23
G-4	157-5	17-4	370	352	4x Fiat Gasoline	2xDiehl	1x124	14.4	9.5	200	2/2	18	8	No	2/18
Class	Length (Ft-In)	Beam (Ft-In)	Surf. Displ. (Tons)	Subm. Displ. (Tons)	Surf. Prop.	Subm. Prop.	Battery Cells	Surf. Speed (Kts)	Subm. Speed (Kts)	Test Depth (Ft)	Tubes (B/S)	Tube Size (In)	Torp Load	Deck Gun	Crew (O/E)
H-class	150-3	15-9	358	434	2xNELSECO 240V8FS	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	14	10.5	200	4/0	18	8	No	2/23
K-class	153-6	16-8	392	520	2xNELSECO 240V8FS	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	14	10.5	200	4/0	18	8	No	2/26
L-class EB	168-5	17-4	450	548	2xNELSECO	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	14	10.5	200	4/0	18	8	3"/23	2/26
L-class Lake	165-0	14-9	451	527	2xBusch-Sulzer 6M100	2xDiehl	1x120	14	10.5	200	4/0	18	8	No	2/26
M-1	197-0	19-0	488	676	2xNELSECO 70/6MS	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	14	10.5	150	4/0	18	8	3"/23	2/26
N-class EB	147-3	15-9	347	414	2xNELSECO 240V8FS	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	13	11	200	4/0	18	8	No	2/23
N-class Lake	155-0	14-6	331	385	2xBusch-Sulzer	2xDiehl	1x120	13	11	200	4/0	18	8	No	3/26
O-class EB	172-4	18-0	520	629	2xNELSECO 6-EB-14	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	14	10.5	200	4/0	18	8	3"/23	2/27
O-class Lake	175-0	16-7	485	566	2xBusch-Sulzer	2xDiehl	1x120	14	11	200	4/0	18	8	3"/23	2/27
R-class EB	186-3	18-0	574	685	2xNELSECO 6-EB-14	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	12.5	9.3	200	4/0	21	8	3"/50	3/26
R-class Lake	175-0	16-7	497	652	2xBusch-Sulzer	2xDiehl	1x120	14	11.4	200	4/0	18?	8	3"/50	3/23
Class	Length (Ft-In)	Beam (Ft-In)	Surf. Displ. (Tons)	Subm. Displ. (Tons)	Surf. Prop.	Subm. Prop.	Battery Cells	Surf. Speed (Kts)	Subm. Speed (Kts)	Test Depth (Ft)	Tubes (B/S)	Tube Size (In)	Torp Load	Deck Gun	Crew (O/E)
S-1 & S-18 to S-41	219-3	20-8	930	1094	2xNELSECO 8-EB-15	2xRidgeway	2x60	13	9	200	4/0	21	12	4"/50	4/39
S-2	207-0	19-7	800	977	2xBusch-Sulzer 6M150	2xDiehl	1x120	15	11	200	4/0	21	12	4"/50	4/34
S-3 & S-14 groups	231-0	21-10	876	1088	2xNELSECO 8-EB-16 or 2xBusch-Sulzer	2xWestinghouse	1x120	15	11	200	4/0	21	12	4"/50	4/34
S-10 group	231-0	21-10	930	1138	2xBuENG M.A.N.	2xWestinghouse	1x120	14	11	200	4/1	21	14	4"/50	4/34
S-42 group	225-4	20-11	963	1135	2xNELSECO 8-EB-15	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	12.5	9.5	200	4/0	21	12	4"/50	4/39
S-48 group	240-0	21-11	903	1230	2xBusch-Sulzer 6M150	2xRidgeway	1x120	14.8	11	200	4/1	21	16	4"/50	4/34
T-class	268-9	22-7	1106	1487	4xNELSECO 6-EB-19	2xElectro Dynamic	2x60	20	10.5	150	4/0	18	12	4"/50	4/50
Barracuda class	341-6	27-6	2119	2506	2xBusch-Sulzer 6M375 + 2xBusch-Sulzer Gen.	2xElliot	2x60	21	9	200	4/2	21	18	5"/51	7/80
Argonaut	381-0	33-9	3046	4164	2xBuENG M.A.N. + 1xBuENG M.A.N. Gen.	2xRidgeway	2x120	15	8	300	4/2 stern mine	21	14+60 mines	2x6"/53	7/80
Narwhal class	371-0	33-3	2730	3900	2xBuENG M.A.N. + 2xBuENG M.A.N. Gen.	2xWestinghouse	2x120	17	8	300	4/2	21	18	2x6"/53	9/80
Class	Length (Ft-In)	Beam (Ft-In)	Surf. Displ. (Tons)	Subm. Displ. (Tons)	Surf. Prop.	Subm. Prop.	Battery Cells	Surf. Speed (Kts)	Subm. Speed (Kts)	Test Depth (Ft)	Tubes (B/S)	Tube Size (In)	Torp Load	Deck Gun	Crew (O/E)
Dolphin	319-3	27-11	1718	2240	2xBuENG M.A.N. + 2xBuENG M.A.N. Gen.	2xElectro Dynamic	2x120	17	8	300	4/2	21	18	4"/50	7/56
Cachalot class	274-0	24-1	1110	1650	2xBuENG M.A.N. + 1xBuENG M.A.N. Gen.	2xWestinghouse	2x120	17	8	250	4/2	21	16	3"/50	6/39
Porpoise group	301-0	24-11	1310	1934	4xGM 16-201A	4xElliot	2x120	19	8	250	4/2	21	16	3"/50	5/49
Shark group	298-0	25-0	1316	1968	4xGM 16-201A	4xElliot	2x120	19.5	8.25	250	4/2	21	16	3"/50	5/49
Perch Group	300-6	25-0	1350	1997	4xGM 16-201A, FM 38A8, or HOR 89DA	4xGeneral Electric	2x120	19.25	8.75	250	4/2	21	16	3"/50	5/49
Salmon group	308-0	26-1	1435	2198	4x HOR 99DA or GM 16-248	4xElliot	2x120	21	9	250	4/4	21	24	3"/50	5/54
Sargo/Seadragon group	310-6	26-10	1450	2350	4x HOR 99DA or GM 16-248	4xGeneral Electric	2x126	21	8.75	250	4/4	21	24	3"/50	5/54
Tambor/Gar class	307-2	27-3	1475	2370	4xFM 38D8⅛ or GM 16-248	4xGeneral Electric	2x126	20.4	8.75	250	6/4	21	24	3"/50	6/54
Mackerel	243-1	22-1	825	1190	2xEB 65MIR145	4xGeneral Electric	2x60	14.5	9	250	4/2	21	12	3"/50	4/33
Marlin	238-11	21-7	800	1165	2xAlco	4xGeneral Electric	2x60	14.5	9	250	4/2	21	12	3"/50	4/34

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