Submarine Specifications: Difference between revisions

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•'''Crew (O/E)''' - The crew size, with the numbers representing officers and enlisted.<br>
•'''Crew (O/E)''' - The crew size, with the numbers representing officers and enlisted.<br>


[[File:Alden Propulsion Machinery Arrangements table v2.jpg|right|400px|Table adapted from Appendix 1, page 214 of ''The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy'' by John D. Alden, 1979]]
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.
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.


The early boats had gasoline or diesel direct drive (GD or DD) engines, i.e. the engine was connected to the propeller shaft and directly turned the propeller. Motors and generators were connected to the same shaft via clutches. Boats with more than one engine on a shaft had those engines arranged in tandem (GDT or DDT).
The illustration at right was adapted from ''The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy'' by John D. Alden. It shows how the propulsion train was arranged in the engine room(s). For boats with two shafts, only the port side is shown. The starboard shaft was usually a mirror of the port side arrangement. All of the submarines of the pigboat era had one of these propulsion arrangements at some point in their careers, although some arrangements were not installed until later wartime overhauls. For instance, V-5/Narwhal was commissioned with a DD and DE plant (arrangement C), but during wartime overhauls she was re-engined to arrangement D-2. V-1/Barracuda also started life with a DD and DE plant (arrangement C), but finished life with arrangement G when her two main DD engines were removed without replacement.


Later boats used diesel electric (DE) engines that drove only generators. Motors attached to the shaft turned the propellers. Some boats had DD main propulsion diesels and one or more DE engines that were used to charge batteries.
The majority of the pigboat era submarines had gasoline or diesel direct drive (GD or DD, arrangement A) engines, i.e. the engine was connected to the propeller shaft and directly turned the propeller. Motors and generators were connected to the same shaft via clutches. Boats with more than one engine on a shaft had those engines arranged in tandem (GDT or DDT, arrangement B).


Salmon and Sargo-class fleet boats used diesel electric direct composite plants (DEDC) with both DD engines and DE engines in one engine room.
Starting with the V-class, later boats used diesel electric (DE, arrangements E-1 thru E-5) engines that drove only generators. Motors attached to the shaft turned the propellers through reduction gear. Some boats had DD main propulsion diesels and one or more DE engines that were used to charge batteries.
 
Salmon and Sargo-class fleet boats used diesel electric direct composite plants (DEDC, arrangements F-1 and F-2) with both DD engines and DE engines in one engine room.
 
The two patrol submarines of the Mackerel-class of 1941 had their DD engines in arrangement D-1.


Other abbreviations used in this table:
Other abbreviations used in this table:

Revision as of 22:59, 20 December 2024

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, John D. Alden's The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy: A Design and Construction History, and Lyle Cummins' Diesels for the First Stealth Weapon: Submarine Power 1902-1945, Carnot Press, 2007. 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 electric 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.

Table adapted from Appendix 1, page 214 of The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy by John D. Alden, 1979
Table adapted from Appendix 1, page 214 of The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy by John D. Alden, 1979

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.

The illustration at right was adapted from The Fleet Submarine in the U.S. Navy by John D. Alden. It shows how the propulsion train was arranged in the engine room(s). For boats with two shafts, only the port side is shown. The starboard shaft was usually a mirror of the port side arrangement. All of the submarines of the pigboat era had one of these propulsion arrangements at some point in their careers, although some arrangements were not installed until later wartime overhauls. For instance, V-5/Narwhal was commissioned with a DD and DE plant (arrangement C), but during wartime overhauls she was re-engined to arrangement D-2. V-1/Barracuda also started life with a DD and DE plant (arrangement C), but finished life with arrangement G when her two main DD engines were removed without replacement.

The majority of the pigboat era submarines had gasoline or diesel direct drive (GD or DD, arrangement A) engines, i.e. the engine was connected to the propeller shaft and directly turned the propeller. Motors and generators were connected to the same shaft via clutches. Boats with more than one engine on a shaft had those engines arranged in tandem (GDT or DDT, arrangement B).

Starting with the V-class, later boats used diesel electric (DE, arrangements E-1 thru E-5) engines that drove only generators. Motors attached to the shaft turned the propellers through reduction gear. Some boats had DD main propulsion diesels and one or more DE engines that were used to charge batteries.

Salmon and Sargo-class fleet boats used diesel electric direct composite plants (DEDC, arrangements F-1 and F-2) with both DD engines and DE engines in one engine room.

The two patrol submarines of the Mackerel-class of 1941 had their DD engines in arrangement D-1.

Other abbreviations used in this table:

EB - Electric Boat
NELSECO - New London Ship and Engine Company (an EB subsidiary)
BuENG - The U.S. Navy's Bureau of Engineering
M.A.N. - Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Nurnberg, a German engine company that sold manufacturing leases to the USN & EB
GM - General Motors Winton Division
HOR - Hooven, Owens, Rentschler
FM - Fairbanks Morse Company
ALCO - American Locomotive Company

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 (GD) 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 (GD) 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 (GD) 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 (GD) 2xElectro Dynamic 1x120 11 9 200 2/0 18 4 No 1/14
D-class 134-10 13-10 288 337 2xEB/Craig (GD) 2xElectro Dynamic 1x120 13 9.5 200 4/0 18 4 No 1/14
E-class 135-2 14-7 287 342 2xEB/Vickers (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 1x120 13 11 200 4/0 18 8 No 1/19
F-class 142-7 15-5 330 400 2xEB/Vickers (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 1x120 13 11.5 200 4/0 18 8 No 1/21
G-1 161-0 13-1 400 516 2xWhite-Middleton (GD) 2xDiehl 1x120 14.7 10.6 200 2/0 18 6 No 1/23
G-2 161-0 14-4 375 481 4xWhite-Middleton (GDT) 2xDiehl 1x120 14 10.5 200 3/1 18 8 No 1/23
G-3 161-0 14-4 393 468 2xSulzer 6U32 (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 1x120 14 9.5 200 4/2 18 10 No 2/23
G-4 157-5 17-4 370 352 4x Fiat (GDT) 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 (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 2x60 14 10.5 200 4/0 18 8 No 2/23
K-class 153-6 16-8 392 520 2xNELSECO 240V8FS (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 2x60 14 10.5 200 4/0 18 8 No 2/26
L-class EB 168-5 17-4 450 548 2xNELSECO (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 2x60 14 10.5 200 4/0 18 8 3"/23 (1917) 2/26
L-class Lake 165-0 14-9 451 527 2xBusch-Sulzer 6M100 (DD) 2xDiehl 1x120 14 10.5 200 4/0 18 8 No 2/26
M-1 197-0 19-0 488 676 2xNELSECO 70/6MS (DD) 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 (DD) 2xElectro Dynamic 2x60 13 11 200 4/0 18 8 No 2/23
N-class Lake 155-0 14-6 331 385 2xBusch-Sulzer 6M50 (DD) 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 (DD) 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 6M85 (DD) 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 (DD) 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 6M85 (DD) 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 (DD) 2xRidgeway 2x60 13 9 200 4/0 21 12 4"/50 4/39
S-2 207-0 19-7 800 977 2xBusch-Sulzer 6M150 (DD) 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 (DD) or 2xBusch-Sulzer 6M150 (DD) 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. S6V45/42 (DD) 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 (DD) 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 (DD) 2xRidgeway 1x120 14.8 11 200 4/1 21 16 4"/50 4/34
T-class 268-9 22-4 1106 1487 4xNELSECO 6-EB-19 (DDT) 2xElectro Dynamic 2x60 20 10.5 150 4/0 (4 deck T-1 only, later removed) 18 12 (16 on T-1) No (later 4"/50 on T-1 only) 4/50
Barracuda class 341-6 27-6 2119 2506 2xBusch-Sulzer 6M375 (DD) & 2xBusch-Sulzer (DE) 2xElliot 2x60 21 9 200 4/2 21 18 5"/51 7/80
Argonaut 381-0 33-9 3046 4164 2xBuENG 6A20 ⅞-R (DD) & 1xBuENG 6A13 ¾-N (DE) 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 10A20 ⅞-R (DD) & 2xBuENG 6A13 ¾-N (DE) 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 6A20 ⅞-R (DD) & 2xBuENG 6A13 ¾-N (DE) 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. M9V (DD) & 1xBuENG M.A.N. (DE) 2xWestinghouse 2x120 17 8 250 4/2 21 16 3"/50 6/39
Porpoise group 301-0 24-11 1310 1934 4xGM 16-201A (DE) 4xElliot 2x120 19 8 250 4/2 21 16 3"/50 5/49
Shark group 298-0 25-0 1316 1968 4xGM 16-201A (DE) 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 (DE) 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 (DEDC) 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 (DEDC or DE) 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 (DE) 4xGeneral Electric 2x126 20.4 8.75 250 6/4 21 24 3"/50 6/54
Mackerel 243-1 22-1 825 1190 2xEB 16VM1 (DD) 4xGeneral Electric 2x60 14.5 9 250 4/2 21 12 3"/50 4/33
Marlin 238-11 21-7 800 1165 2xAlco Model 540 (DD) 4xGeneral Electric 2x60 14.5 9 250 4/2 21 12 3"/50 4/34

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