USS Cisco (SS-290)

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USS Cisco (SS-289) during a training voyage off New England on June 19, 1943.
USS Cisco (SS-289) during a training voyage off New England on June 19, 1943.
Overview
Keel laying October 29, 1942
Launch December 24, 1942
1. Period of service flag
period of service

May 10, 1943-28. September 1943

Whereabouts Sunk by Japanese air and surface forces on September 28, 1943
Technical specifications
displacement

1526  ts surfaced
2424 ts surfaced
length

95.0 meters

width

8.3 meters

Draft

5.1 meters (maximum)

Diving depth 120 meters
crew

10 officers ,
70 NCOs and
men
(on September 28, 1943, 76 men were on board.)

drive

4 × 1350 PS diesel engines
(total 5400 PS)
4 × electric motors
(total 2740 PS)

speed

Surfaced 20.25 knots surfaced
8.75 knots

Range

11,000  nautical miles at 10 knots

Armament

10 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes
(6 in the bow; 4 in the stern)
1 × 10.2 cm (4 inch) gun
1 × 4.0 cm Bofors FlaK
1 × 20 mm  Oerlikon MK

The USS Cisco (SS-290) was a US Navy submarine . It belonged to the Balao class and, like all other boats in the class, was named after a fish. The name Cisco is the English-language name for different fish species of the genus Coregonus .

Technology and armament

The Cisco was a Balao-class diesel-electric patrol submarine. The Balao class was only slightly improved compared to the Gato class and, like those, was designed for long offensive patrols in the Pacific . In particular, the diving depth has been increased and the interior has been improved based on experiences during the war against Japan . Outwardly and in their dimensions, the boats of both classes were largely the same.

technology

The Cisco was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide, the maximum draft was 5.1 meters. When surfaced it displaced 1526 ts , and when submerged it displaced  2424 ts. It was propelled by four 16-cylinder diesel engines from General Motors , model 16-278A, each with an output of 1000 kW. Under water, the submarine was powered by four electric motors with a total of 2740 hp, which obtained their energy from two 126-cell accumulators . The motors gave their power via a gearbox on two shafts with one screw each. The surfaced speed was a maximum of 20.25 knots , submerged the Cisco still managed 8.75 knots. The possible diving time was 48 hours, the maximum construction diving depth was 120 meters. 440 cubic meters of diesel fuel could be stored in the fuel tanks , giving the boat a range of 11,000 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Armament

The main armament consisted of ten 533 mm torpedo tubes , six in the bow, four aft, for which 24 torpedoes were on board. Behind the tower (English: conning tower ) a 4-inch deck gun with a length of 50 calibers was mounted on an open carriage . Two 12.7 mm machine guns and one 40 mm anti - aircraft gun were housed in the winter garden . For locating enemy ships, the USS possessed Cisco a JK / QC - and a QB - sonar under the bow, on deck were JP - hydrophones installed. On extendable electronics mast was a SD - radar with 20 mile range reconnaissance to locate enemy aircraft attached, in addition, the submarine had a SJ -Oberflächensuchradar with about twelve nautical miles range. When submerged, enemy ships could also be located using the ST radar attached to the periscope with a range of eight nautical miles.

history

The submarine was laid down at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine on October 29, 1942 . The launch took place on December 24, 1942. The christening of the SS-290 under the name USS Cisco was carried out by Mrs. N. Robertson. On May 10, 1943, the US Navy put the Cisco into service. The commanding officer was Commander James W. Coe.

After training trips in the North Atlantic off the coast of New England , the Cisco passed the Panama Canal towards the Pacific in the summer of 1943 and crossed the South Pacific to reach the port of Brisbane , Australia on September 1st . Until September 18, the boat performed watch duties in coastal waters off Australia.

On September 20, 1943, the USS Cisco left the port of Darwin . She never returned from her mission. It is likely that the Cisco was sunk on September 28, 1943 west of the Philippine island of Mindanao by the attack of Japanese aircraft of the type Nakajima B5N Kate and the Karatsu , a former American gunboat captured by the Japanese during the conquest of the Philippines. Corresponding references from Japanese sources confirm this attack. There is talk of an attack on a submarine, which already pulled an oil trail behind it. A previous damage to the Cisco is therefore also likely. Of the 77-strong crew, only one survived because he fell ill before the start of the voyage and therefore did not set sail for the last voyage with the Cisco. 76 sailors went down with the boat.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ On Eternal Patrol: USS Cisco
  2. ^ Friedman, Norman (1995). US Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. Pp. 285-304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3 .
    Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the US Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Pp. 275-280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0
  3. ↑ The Balao Class on fleetsubmarine.com
  4. ^ SS-290, USS Cisco
  5. ↑ List of losses by the US Navy submarine forces.
  6. ^ List of soldiers who went down with the Cisco .