170

Cachalot under construction at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME., October 10, 1932. The view is from the bow looking aft. The portion of the hull that will hold the four torpedo tubes has just started to be built. On the left side of the hull near the camera is a ballast tank hull form template used to ensure the pressure hull is holding the shape it should have, and the part to be made from this form had the correct shape. Note the large cross bracing in the end of the hull holding the shape of the hull. This was temporary and would later be removed. On top of the hull are two workmen seen as blurry shapes since this was a time lapse photo. Note the mostly riveted construction, although there appear to be welding gas cylinders sitting in wooden brackets on top of the hull. Welding was used on some of the internal joinery.

Photo from the Rick Larson Collection

Just over one year later, on October 18, 1933, the progress in building Cachalot has been tremendous. She is nearly ready for launching. Her two stern torpedo tube outer doors can be seen in this photo. Unlike the later fleet boats, these earlier boats didn't have shutter doors to fair into the hull and reduce drag. The size of Cachalot can seen by the two men standing on the photograph's right edge.

Some crew are standing on deck perhaps in making preparation for launching the next day. Just on the forward edge of the rudder two plates can be seen bolted to the rudder itself. These are made of Zinc and are sacrificial in nature being the least 'noble' of the metals and will corrode away before the harder and more important metals of the hull. There is also one near where the propeller shaft exits the shaft tube.

Photo from the Rick Larson Collection

October 19, 1933, the Cachalot slides down the ways at Portsmouth Navy Yard, having been christened by Miss Catharine Duar Kempff, daughter of the late Rear Admiral Louis Kempff. Real champagne was used for the launching, the newspapers touted proudly, as America was about to repeal the 18th Amendment ending Prohibition. The repeal was enacted on December 5, 1933.

The chains draped on the side of the hull were used to slow the boat as it slid down the ways on the launch cradle. They prevented the boat from sliding too far out into the Piscataqua River. The Portsmouth Navy Yard pennant is flying from the jackstaff.

Photo courtesy of Senior Chief Don

The Cachalot is seen here on sea trials off the Isle Of Shoals, New Hampshire, circa 1933/34. A breaking wave is just about covering her name. She looks to be making a turn to port, as the sea on the port side is in a lee, and the sea on the starboard side is piling up. The break in the deck superstructure is where the fold down boarding ladder is to be placed.

In the background, to the left of the conning tower, Star Island can be seen with the Oceanic Hotel. At the far left at the top edge of the photo Lunging Island can just be made out. This places the Cachalot on an easterly heading just off the north shore of White Island. To the right the horizon has been painted out by the newspaper artists. There a number of small "tweaks" made by the newspaper artists to enable the photo to print with better definition.

News photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

A fine port bow shot of Cachalot, probably in a Caribbean port, approximately 1934, not long after her commissioning.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

Cachalot alongside in a Caribbean port, approximately 1934. Although this boat was eventually refitted with one of the earliest air-conditioning plants, the harsh Caribbean sun could greatly warm the interior so a temporary awning has been erected amidships.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

A view of Cachalot from the port quarter in a Caribbean port, approximately 1934. The raised covers on the deck aft of amidships cover the main engine mufflers.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

A close up of the conning tower fairwater from aft, taken at the same time as the photos above. Bedding is being aired. The topside watch is looking around the back of the conning tower fairwater.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

C1 Cachalot (SS-170), C2 Cuttlefish (SS-171), and P3 Shark (SS-174) moored in a nest in San Diego, 1937. This is a screenshot from the Warner Bros. film Submarine D-1. This scene had the Pacific Fleet submarine force gathering in San Diego for a major exercise. Prominent on the front of the conning tower fairwaters are the boat's bell and horns for the air whistle.

Photo courtesy of Cosmopolitan Productions and Warner Bros.

Cachalot shown underway in the Thames River, CT., summer of 1937. She is headed up river to Submarine Base New London after having completed a three year deployment to the west coast operating out of San Diego. She still has her class identifier, C1, on her bow, indicating this is in the period after submarines were painted black (starting in 1935) and before they had the class identifiers removed in favor of their hull numbers in 1939.

The tripod masts on the forward and aft decks supported the long-range radio aerial antenna wires and the mine clearance wires.

Her 3"/50 caliber Mk 11 gun is mounted on the after deck. This mount was the high pedestal type that allowed the gun to elevate up to 88°, giving it a theoretical anti-aircraft capability. However, in actual use this capability was rarely exercised for several reasons. First, operational doctrine argued against it, second the gun was slow to train and elevate being completely man powered, and third rarely if ever was the properly fused ammunition issued to the boats.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

The Cachalot (SS-170) in 1939, location possibly Pearl Harbor. If this is Pearl then she might be tied up to mooring dolphins in West Loch, near the ammunition facility. The submarine base in Magazine Loch had established piers so mooring in this fashion would have been unnecessary. This photo shows an interesting modification made to the boat. If you look at early photos, you will see that the bulwark around the cigarette deck aft of the bridge had a long sloping curve to it, making the height of the bulwark relatively low. At some point in the 1935-38 range, the height of the bulwark was raised to the level that you see here, and outward bulges along the upper edge were formed in order to give the .50 caliber M2 machine gun mounted there an adequate arc of fire. This raising of the bulwark was done most likely to keep the cigarette deck a little drier in a heavy sea.

The 3"/50 cal Mk 17 deck gun is very prominent in this photo. The mount that the gun is on allowed it to be elevated to as high as 85 degrees to give it a nominal anti-aircraft capability. However, in practice it made a poor anti-aircraft gun. Not only did the doctrine of the day not support it, but this manually trained and sighted gun was difficult to move and point quickly enough for anti-aircraft use. Also, the boats were rarely supplied with the proper ammo so training really lacked. The ammo they did get lacked the necessary punch to finish off surface targets quickly enough. In short, the gun looked impressive but was essentially useless.

The mod to the cigarette deck was probably done in 1937 during her extensive overhaul at the New York Navy Yard. She returned to the Pacific in June 1939 the same year this photo was developed at The Owl Drug Company, probably at their San Diego or San Francisco store, on November 2, 1939. Other than three early war patrols Cachalot spent the majority of the war as a training submarine at the New London Submarine Base. Her deck gun, though moved from aft of the con to the forward position, was never replaced with a heavier gun.

Original photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

Return to Cachalot and Cuttlefish page | Return to the V-class page

Page created by:
Ric Hedman & David Johnston
1999 - 2023 - PigBoats.COM^©
Mountlake Terrace, WA, Norfolk, VA
webmaster at pigboats dot com