Dorado Loss Scenario

Main Page | Latest News & Updates | The Submarine | The Crew | Photographs | The Loss Scenario | The Aircraft | Case for the Purple Heart | The Myths | Research Documents |

The Departure

She passed under the U.S. Route 1 bridge, with the venerable structure lifted open to allow the boat to pass underneath. She passed the main Electric Boat facility on her port beam, and a little further downstream she passed the Victory Yard where she was built. Men and women toiling in the cool October air on Dorado's sister subs paused for a moment, proudly acknowledging their handiwork as the submarine passed. They wished her luck as she headed off to war.
Fishing vessels hailed her as she passed the mouth of the Thames and Schneider rang up an ahead standard bell with turns for 14 knots. The bridge watch team kept a wary eye on the Fisher's Island and Montauk ferries as they passed, with a little maneuvering left and right intended to keep the ferries at a safe distance. Clearing Fisher's Island she made a slight turn to the southeast, putting her on course to pass down the middle between Montauk Point on her starboard side and Block Island on her port. Down below in the control room the Quartermasters and the Navigator were busy piloting the submarine, shooting bearings with the periscope to land-based navigation aids, using those bearings to triangulate their position on the chart. With Montauk Point on their starboard quarter, they took their "point of departure", i.e. the last confirmed land-based navigational fix, and headed out into the blue Atlantic.

The Voyage


Page created by:
Thaddeus Weaver & David Johnston
©2025 - Thaddeus Weaver & PigBoats.COM
West Warwick, RI, Norfolk, VA
ussdoradoproject@gmail.com
