USS Manta (SS-299)

USS Manta (SS-299)
Overview
Keel laying	January 15, 1943
Launch	November 7, 1943
1. Period of service
period of service	December 18, 1944 - June 10, 1946; January 31, 1951-15. December 1953; 1960-20. December 1971
Whereabouts	Museum ship since August 30, 1972
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 engine (total 5400 PS) 4 × electric motor (total 2740 PS)
speed	Surfaced 20.25  knots surfaced 8.75 knots
Range	11,000  nautical miles at 10 knots
Armament	10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (6 in the bow; 4 in the stern) 1 × 127 mm (5 inch) gun (1 × 127 mm from April 1945) 2 × 40 mm Bofors gun 2 × Browning -M2 - MG

The USS Manta (SS / AGSS-299) was a submarine of the Balao-class submarine . The boat was from the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy during World War II in the Pacific against Japan used. During the Cold War it was mainly used in the Atlantic fleet or was assigned to the reserve fleet.

The submarine was the second ship in the US Navy to be named Manta . The name is the English name for the genus of manta rays ( Manta ), which belong to the family of eagle rays (Myliobatidae) and therein to the subfamily of devil rays (Mobulinae).

Technology and armament

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

technology

The USS Manta was 95 meters long and 8.3 meters wide. Her maximum draft was 5.1 meters. When it emerged, it displaced 1526  tn. l. , submerged 2424 tn. l. The drive was carried out by four nine-cylinder diesel - opposed piston engines of Fairbanks-Morse , Model 38D8-1 / 8, which generated 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 Manta still managed 8.75 knots. The maximum possible diving time was 48 hours, the construction diving depth was around 120 meters. 440 cubic meters of diesel fuel could be stored in the fuel tanks ; this gave the boat a range of 11,000 nautical miles at 10 knots.

Armament

The main armament of the USS Manta consisted of ten 533 mm torpedo tubes , six in the bow and four aft, for which 24 torpedoes were on board. A 5-inch deck gun was mounted behind the turret . Two 40 mm FlaK were housed in the winter garden , one each in front of and one behind the tower. In addition, two 12.7 mm machine guns could be mounted in various positions on the boat if necessary and stowed back in the submarine after use. Whether these were actually carried on the Manta is not conclusively proven. For locating enemy ships ordered the Manta 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 for locating sea targets. 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 with the number SS-299 was laid on January 15, 1943 at the William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company . On November 7, 1943, the ship was launched and named USS Manta . Godmother was the wife of Congressman Michael J. Bradley. After more than a year of equipment and sea trials, the USS Manta was put into service by the US Navy on December 18, 1944. First in command was Lieutenant Commander Edward P. Madley.

Second World War

The Manta led after its entry into first by the usual training rides off the west coast of the United States. On March 27, 1945, she left her previous base in New London , Connecticut and headed for Pearl Harbor via Panama . The Manta operated from there until the end of the war. The Manta set out on two patrols against Japan, but was only able to finish the first patrol before Japan surrendered . This first war patrol from May 28, 1945 to July 16, 1945 led the Manta off the Kuril Islands, northeast of the main Japanese islands . The operation proceeded without any special events. For the second patrol voyage, the Manta ran out of Pearl Harbor a week before the Japanese surrender on August 8, 1945. The boat was approaching the designated target area when she received the news of the armistice over the radio. The patrol continued despite the armistice, but no more attacks were launched. The second and last war mission of the Manta did not end until September 10, when it entered the Pearl Harbor naval base. After some training missions off Hawaii , the USS Manta sailed to San Francisco on January 2, 1946 . Once there, the preparations for the decommissioning of the submarine began. Finally, the inactivation and integration into the reserve fleet took place on June 10, 1946.

Post-war period and whereabouts

On August 2, 1949, the US Navy put the submarine back into service as the target display ship ESS-299. Already on September 1, 1949, the name was changed to Auxiliary Submarine AGSS-299. She was placed under the Atlantic Fleet . For the new task as target display ship for submarine hunting training, the boat was largely disarmed and reinforced at the bow and stern in the area of ​​the torpedo rooms. This served to provide better protection against hits with exercise torpedoes. Until the summer of 1955, the Manta remained stationed in Key West in her new role as target display ship , before she left port on July 5, 1955 and set course for Portsmouth. There the Manta was again decommissioned and the armament was partially restored. After five years of inactivity, the Manta began to be used as a training submarine for the 3rd Naval District in April 1960 . She remained in this position until 1967, although she was still assigned to the reserve. As a surplus boat, she was finally removed from the fleet list on June 30, 1967 and finally sunk on July 16, 1969 as a target ship during an exercise off Norfolk (Virginia) .

Web links

• USS Manta in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
• USS Manta in the World War II Data Base.
• The Balao class at fleetsubmarine.com
• USS Manta at fleetsubmarine.com
• USS Manta at navsource.org (annotated photo gallery)

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 h i} K. Jack Bauer, Stephen S. Roberts: Register of Ships of the US Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants . Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut 1991, ISBN 0-313-26202-0 , pp. 275-280.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} USS Lionfish in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS).
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
5. ↑ ^{a b c} USS Manta ( Memento from December 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) in 1945.
6. ↑ USS Manta in the World War II Data Base.
7. ↑ The Balao class at fleetsubmarine.com