USS Dentuda (SS-335)

Overview
Keel laying	November 18, 1943
Launch	September 10, 1944
1. Period of service
period of service	December 30, 1944–11. December 1946
Whereabouts	in reserve December 11, 1946; deleted June 30, 1967. sold for scrapping February 12, 1969.
Technical specifications
displacement	1526  tons l. surfaced 2424 tn. l. submerged
length	95.0 meters
width	8.3 meters
Draft	5.1 meters (maximum)
Diving depth	120 meters
crew	10 officers , 70 NCOs and men ;
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 × 12.7 cm (5 inch) gun 1 × 40 mm Bofors gun 1 × 20 mm Oerlikon - MK 2 × Browning M2 - MGs

The USS Dentuda (SS / AGSS-335) was a submarine of the Balao-class submarine . It was used by the US Navy at the end of World War II by the Pacific Fleet in the Pacific against Japan . The boat was the only ship in the US Navy that was named Dentuda . The name is the Spanish term for the shortfin mako shark , a fish of the genus Makos .

Technology and armament

The Dentuda 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 was increased and the interior was modified based on experiences during the war against Japan . Outwardly and in their dimensions, the boats of both classes were largely the same.

technology

The Dentuda was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide, her draft was a maximum of 5.1 meters. When it emerged, it displaced 1526  tn. l. , submerged 2424 ts. The drive was provided by four 16-cylinder diesel engines from General Motors , model 16-278A, each with an output of 1000 kW (1350 hp). Under water, the submarine was powered by four electric motors with a total of 2740 hp, which obtained their energy from two 126-cell Sargo-type accumulators . The motors gave their power via a gearbox on two shafts with one screw each. The maximum surfaced speed was 20.25 knots , while the Dentuda reached 8.75 knots submerged . The maximum 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 of the Dentuda consisted of ten 533 mm underwater torpedo tubes , six in the bow, four aft, for which up to 24 torpedoes could be carried on board. A 5-inch deck gun with a 25-caliber barrel length was mounted behind the turret . A 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannon (rear) and a 40 mm anti - aircraft gun (front) were housed in the winter garden . In addition, two 12.7 mm machine guns could be mounted in various positions on the ship if necessary and stowed back in the boat after use. For locating enemy ships, the USS possessed Cabezon 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.

Mission history

The submarine with the number SS-335 was laid down on November 18, 1943 at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut . The name of the submarine was originally intended to be Capidoli . Even before the keel was laid, the name was changed to Dentuda . The launch and christening took place on September 10, 1944. The submarine was sponsored by Mrs. T. W. Hogan, wife of a commander in the US Navy. Commander John Sidney McCain, Jr., later known as Admiral, took over as the first in command . - Father of ex-US presidential candidate John McCain - the command of the boat, which entered service on December 30, 1944. First, the boat and crew completed test drives and practice drives off New England , then off the coast of Florida . For research purposes, the practice trips off Florida were extended by about two months, so that the boat did not start its voyage to the front until April 1945.

Second World War

After sea trials and training trips in the Atlantic, the submarine moved through the Panama Canal to the Pacific in mid-April 1945 . On May 10, 1945, the boat reached the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. Until the surrender of Japan , the Dentuda was in action in the Pacific theater of war . During this time, she completed only one patrol , mainly operating in the sea area between Taiwan , the Chinese east coast and the Ryūkyū Islands, mainly in the East China Sea . The only war patrol of Dentuda lasted 29 May to 29 July 1945 and was subsequently assessed as successful.

After the Dentuda previously only carried out an attack against a Japanese freighter, in which the target was damaged by torpedo hits, but not sunk, it came on June 18, 1945 to a battle with light Japanese naval forces in the East China Sea. Here dueled Dentuda in the above-water combat with the two small Japanese patrol boats Reiko Maru (88 ts) and Heiwa Maru (88 ts). Due to its heavier gun with greater range, Dentuda sank both enemies during the battle without taking any damage.

End of the war and Operation Crossroads

At the time of the announcement of the armistice, the Dentuda was in Pearl Harbor, where it remained stationed until Anang January 1946. In early 1946, the boat briefly moved to San Francisco in preparation for its use as one of the target ships in Operation Crossroads , the United States' first series of nuclear weapons tests on Bikini Atoll after the war . This mission lasted from May 22 to September 5, 1946. In contrast to her sister ship USS Apogon (SS-308) , the Dentuda survived the two tests largely unscathed and was released from active service at the end of 1946 after a thorough investigation and a shipyard overhaul incorporated the reserve fleet.

Training submarine

After the Dentuda was decommissioned on September 11, 1946, she then served for twenty years as a training submarine for reservists of the 12th Naval District of the US Navy. Finally, the submarine, meanwhile managed as the auxiliary submarine AGSS-335, was finally deleted from the fleet list and offered for sale.

Whereabouts

The Dentuda was sold to a demolition company on February 12, 1969 and then scrapped.

Awards

The USS Dentuda was awarded a Battle Star for its service in World War II . Your only mission was rated as "successful".

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Norman Friedman: US Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History . United States Naval Institute , Annapolis, Maryland 1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3 , pp. 285-304.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} USS Dentuda on uboat.net.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} K. Jack Bauer, Roberts, Stephen S .: Register of Ships of the US Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants . Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 1991, ISBN 0-313-26202-0 , pp. 275-280.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} USS Dentuda in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
6. ^ ^{A b} Norman Friedman: US Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History . United States Naval Institute , Annapolis, Maryland 1995, ISBN 1-55750-263-3 , p. 261.
7. ↑ ^{a b} USS Dentuda at navsource.org (annotated photo gallery).
8. ↑ The Balao class at FleetSubmarine.com
9. ↑ Seekriegschronik  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the US Navy (1945).  
10. ↑ More about Operation Croosroads  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Nuclearweaponsarchive.com.  
11. ^ USS Dentuda in DANFS.

Web links

• USS Dentuda in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS )
• USS Dentuda in DANFS
• USS Dentuda at navsource.org (annotated photo gallery )
• USS Dentuda at Hyperwar. (engl.)
• USS Dentuda on uboat.net (Engl.)
• USS Dentuda at fleetsubmarine.com (Engl.)
• Sinking of all US Navy submarines 1941–1945 (JANAC )
• Operation Croosroads on Nuclearweaponsarchive.com (Engl.)