USS Trigger, Mare island Navy Yard, April 6 1942Ĥ electric motors driven by 4 diesel engines powering 2 propellers gave the Gato Class a top speed of 21 knots while surfaced and 9 knots while submerged.Īs opposed to German submarines at the time which used diesel transmission on the surface and electric transmission subsurface, American diesel-electric engines used on the Gato and Balao Class submarines used diesel engines to charge electric batteries and power an electric motor. These fired the Mark 10 and often problematic Mark 14 torpedoes, which were later supplemented by the Mark 18 electric torpedo. Additionally, small arms such as the M3 Grease Gun or M1 Thompson were carried for boarding and security, and M2 Browning machine guns were also carried.Īs for underwater armament, the Gato had 10x 433mm torpedo tubes, 6 fore and 4 aft. On some Gato Class subs, the 3 inch gun was replaced with a larger 4 inch one. Standard armament of a Gato Class boat was 1x 40mm Bofors Anti-aircraft cannon, 1x 20mm Oerlikon Anti-aircraft cannon, and 1x 3 inch (76mm) or 5 inch (127mm) deck cannon. The smells were often horrible, crew could only shower a couple of times a week, and casualties were high.Īmerican submarines and the Gato Class in particular were some of the most heavily armed of the war, with armament comparable to some surface ships. The boat was relatively cramped, as 60 crew members had to stay in a space only slightly longer than an American football field for up to months at a time. A deck gun was mounted either on the bow or stern of the deck. The Gato Class of diesel-electric submarines had a length of 311 feet (95 meters), a draft of 16-17 feet (4.8-5.1 meters), and a beam of 27 feet (8.3 meters), with a displacement of 1,525 tons while surfaced and 2,424 tons while submerged.Ī conning tower was placed near the front-middle part of the deck where the periscopes and anti-aircraft guns were located. Launching of USS Robalo at Maniwotoc Shipbuilding Co.
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