USS Tench (SS-417)
 The Tench after their GUPPY modernization |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Diesel-electric submarine |
| period of service |
1944 to 1969 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
2415 ts submerged |
| length |
94.9 meters |
| width |
8.3 meters |
| Draft |
4.7 meters |
| crew |
10 officers, 71 sailors |
| drive |
4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛, 5,400 SHP |
| speed |
20 knots |
| Armament |
10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes |
The submarine USS Tench was the lead ship of the Tench class . Tench means tench , a fish.
history
The Tench was laid down on April 1, 1944, on 7 July 1944 was followed by the launching and 6 October 1944, it was put into service. She made three trips during World War II . Her first took her off the Japanese coast in February 1945 , where she was part of a weather patrol that also served as a rescue station. After the sinking of a Japanese ship was not confirmed, she was sent back to the Okinawa approach as part of a patrol in April . She achieved her first confirmed success in sinking in May when she sank two merchant ships, a tanker and a motor tug. A destroyer could also be damaged. On her third mission, the Tench was attacked by two Japanese bombers, but managed to escape.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Tench , together with her sister ships and the Balao and Gato classes , formed the backbone of the American submarine fleet. She was upgraded as part of the guppy program . In 1969 the Tench was decommissioned, in 1976 it was sold to Peru and served there as a spare parts store.
technology
The technology of the boats had already proven itself in the Balao-class and Gato-class submarines . The drive consisted of diesel motors and two electric motors that worked on two gear shafts, which resulted in a total of 5400 HP (motors see table). This made it possible to reach 20.3 knots above water and 8.8 knots under water. The displacement was 1570 t above water and 2415 t under water. The armament consisted of ten 533 mm torpedo tubes , six of which were installed in the bow and the remaining four in the stern. During the war, more and more machine guns of various calibers were retrofitted to the boat for air defense, mostly of the Browning M2 type . There was no armor.
swell
- Robert Hewson: Kriegsschiffe 1939-1945 , Gondrom-Verlag, pp. 98-99