USS Albacore (SS-218)

USS Albacore in Measure 9 camouflage (dull black) off Groton, Connecticut, on 9 May 1942.
History
United States
NameUSS Albacore
NamesakeAlbacore
BuilderGeneral Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut[1]
Laid down21 April 1941[1]
Launched17 February 1942[1]
Sponsored byMrs. Elwin F. Cutts
Commissioned1 June 1942[1]
FatePresumably mined off of northern Hokkaidō, 7 November 1944[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeGato-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced,[2] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion
Speed21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced;[3] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[3]
Range11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced @ 10 kn (19 km/h)[3]
Endurance48 hours at 2 kn (4 km/h) submerged,[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth300 ft (90 m)[3]
Complement6 officers, 54 enlisted[3]
Armament

USS Albacore (SS-218) was a Gato-class submarine which served in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, winning the Presidential Unit Citation and nine battle stars for her service. During the war, she was credited with sinking 13 Japanese ships (including two destroyers, the light cruiser Tenryū and the aircraft carrier Taihō) and damaging another five; not all of these credits were confirmed by postwar Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee (JANAC) accounting. She also holds the distinction of sinking the highest warship tonnage of any U.S. submarine. She was lost in 1944, probably sunk by a mine off northern Hokkaidō on 7 November.[2]

Albacore was the second vessel of the United States Navy to be named for the albacore.

  1. ^ a b c d 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–273. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
  4. ^ a b c d e Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 270–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9. OCLC 24010356.
  5. ^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 p. 261
  6. ^ a b c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311