Tench class submarine

Class overview
Builders:	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Electric Boat Company, Boston Navy Yard[1]
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Balao class
Succeeded by:	Barracuda class
Subclasses:	Corsair class
Built:	1944–1951[2]
In commission:	1944–1975[2]
Completed:	29[1]
Cancelled:	51[1]
Active:	1[1]
Lost:	0[1]
Retired:	28[1]
Preserved:	2[1]
General characteristics
Type:	Diesel-electric submarine
Displacement:	1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced[1] 2,416–2,429 tons (2,455–2468 t) submerged[1]
Length:	311 ft 8 in – 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m)[1]
Beam:	27 ft 3 in – 27 ft 4 in (8.3 m)[1]
Draft:	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[1]
Propulsion:	4 × diesel engines driving electrical generators (Fairbanks-Morse or General Motors)[1] 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[3] 2 × low-speed electric motors (Elliott Company, General Electric, or Westinghouse)[1] two propellers[1] 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[1] 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[1]
Speed:	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced[3] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m)[3]
Complement:	10 officers, 71 enlisted[3]
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes  (six forward, four aft)  28 torpedoes [3] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun [3] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Tench-class submarines were a type of submarine built for the United States Navy (USN) between 1944 and 1951. They were an evolutionary improvement over the Gato and Balao classes, only about 35 to 40 tons larger, but more strongly built and with a slightly improved internal layout. Further improvements were made beginning with SS-435, which are sometimes referred to as Corsair class.

Initial plans called for 146 to be built, but 115 were cancelled in 1944 and 1945 when it became apparent that they would not be needed to defeat Japan. The remaining 31 were commissioned between October 1944 (Tench) and February 1951 (Grenadier).

One Tench (ex-Cutlass was transferred from the USN to the Republic of China Navy as Hai Shih. Two went to Italy as the Gianfranco Gazzana-Priaroggia class. USS Argonaut (SS-475) was sold to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1968, renamed Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program). The difference is noticeable by the level foredeck and the rounded bow.^[4]

Museums

Three Tench Class submarines are on display for the general public.

• USS Requin (SS-481) at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
• USS Torsk (SS-423), moored at Pier Three, Baltimore's Inner Harbor, (alongside the National Aquarium in Baltimore) in Maryland.
• USS Thornback (SS-418), on display at Rahmi M. Koç Museum, Golden Horn in Istanbul.

See also

Media related to Tench class submarines at Wikimedia Commons

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q} Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0-313-26202-0. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
4. ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/guppy.htm