Dorado Photographs

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Due to her very short life there are few good photos of Dorado. There is a possibility that there are some still stored away in the National Archives, but they have yet to be discovered. We will post all known photos of the boat, and some of her sister boats so that the reader can get some idea of what she would have looked like during her commissioned life. If anyone has a confirmed photo of Dorado, we would appreciate the opportunity to post it here. Contact us at the email at the bottom of this page. Thank you.

The first page of the Booklet of General Plans for Dorado. This will give a excellent overview of how the boat was configured when she left New London on October 6, 1943. Note that in the upper right hand corner the final approval of these plans by the Navy was not made until October 23, 1943, eleven days after she was likely lost at sea. These plans show her in a EB design, Gato-class Mod 3 configuration.

Drawing via the National Archives (NARA).

Dorado sliding down the ways into the Thames River, CT. at the Electric Boat Company's Victory Yard, May 23, 1943. She was only about 50-60% complete at this point, and much work remained before her acceptance by the Navy. Launch days were always festive affairs, with tickets hard to come by. The boats would be decked out in signal flags and the bow adorned with patriotic bunting. Chains would arrest the boat's slid about mid river, and she would then be maneuvered by tugs alongside the fitting out pier at the Victory Yard for the final phase of construction.

U.S. Navy photo NH 79755 via NHHC.

One of the other very rare confirmed photos of Dorado. She is shown here alongside the fitting out pier at the Victory Yard, Groton, CT., summer of 1943. On the far left the ship's bell is mounted, and if you zoom in on the bell you can see that it says "U.S.S. Dorado". This shows a great view of her conning tower fairwater from aft and from starboard. Two female EB workers are walking the deck near the hatch leading down to the after battery/crew's mess compartment. Behind them it can be seen that despite being of "all-welded" construction, EB was still riveting portions of the fairwater. This is thinner steel and the areas behind this plating are free flooding and non-pressure resisting so welding was not needed in this area. Inside this plating was the man-sized, mushroom-shaped main air induction valve, which routed air to both engine rooms for use by the diesel engines. Also in this area was a smaller ventilation valve, used to route air to the compartments while surfaced and to ventilate the batteries while charging.

Behind the women and above is the bridge fairwater section. This provided an enclosed bridge area and included three upside down U-shaped I-beams used to support the masts and periscope shears.

Enclosed in the middle of this large structure was the conning tower itself, a separate, horizontal pressure hull that housed the periscope viewing stations, the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC), the radar stations, and the primary helm. It was located directly above the control room and a hatch connected them. Access to the bridge above was through another hatch.

Notice the wooden teak deck boards that make up the main deck around the conning tower fairwater.

It is interesting to note the two men working on a gun mount directly above the two women's heads. This is a gun mount for a 20 mm rapid fire cannon. The gun is not installed, but the mount is and although mostly obscured it appears to be an open, triangular shaped Mk 10 mount. This contradicts the plan drawing above, which shows the Dorado outfitted with the earlier enclosed base Mk 5 mount on the fore and aft fairwater gun decks. At this time the authors can not account for this discrepancy. Further research is necessary.

U.S. Navy photo 80-G-468485 via NHHC.

This photo is a great overhead shot taken during the fitting out phase in the summer of 1943 at the Victory Yard fitting out pier. EB workers are swarming the boat, getting her ready for sea trials to begin in August. The main EB yard and its building ways can be seen in the top center of the picture, upriver from this location.

Special note: The authors can not absolutely verify that this photo is actually of Dorado. There is nothing that can be seen that confirms this boat's identity. It may be one of Dorado's sister boats. We have included it here as a means of giving the reader an overview of the construction process.

Photo from the Life Magazine Bernard Hoffman Collection at Life.com.

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