USS Plunger (SS-179)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Plunger.

Plunger (SS-179) is waterborne at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine. 8 July 1936.
History
United States
NameUSS Plunger
NamesakePlunger, a diver or daring gambler
BuilderPortsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1]
Laid down17 July 1935[1]
Launched8 July 1936[1]
Sponsored byMiss Edith E. Greenlee
Commissioned19 November 1936[1]
Decommissioned15 November 1945[1]
Stricken6 July 1956[1]
FateSold for breaking up, 22 April 1957[1]
General characteristics
Class and typePorpoise-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement
  • 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) standard, surfaced[3]
  • 1,997 long tons (2,029 t) submerged[3]
Length
  • 298 ft (91 m) (waterline),
  • 300 ft 6 in (91.59 m) (overall)[4]
Beam25 ft 0.875 in (7.64223 m) [3]
Draft13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)[5]
Propulsion
  • (as built) 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38A8 8-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines, 1,300 hp (970 kW) each, driving electrical generators[2][6]
  • 3 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 6-38A5 opposed piston auxiliary diesels[7]
  • (re-engined) 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8+1⁄8 opposed piston diesels, 1,365 hp (1,018 kW) each; one Fairbanks-Morse Model 7-38A5¼ opposed piston auxiliary diesel[7]
  • 2 × 120-cell Gould AMTX33HB batteries[8]
  • 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with 4.84:1[8] reduction gears,[2] 1,090 hp (810 kW) each
  • two shafts [2]
Speed
  • 19.25 knots (36 km/h) surfaced[3]
  • 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged[3]
Range
  • 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)[3]
  • (bunkerage 92,801 US gallons (351,290 L)[9]
Endurance10 hours at 5 knots (9.3 km/h), 36 hours at minimum speed submerged[3]
Test depth250 ft (76 m)[3]
Complement
  • (as built) 5 officers, 45 enlisted[3]
  • (1945) 8 officers, 65 enlisted[9]
Armament

USS Plunger (SS-179), a Porpoise-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named plunger after a diver or a daring gambler. Unlike most American submarines of the day, she was not named for a fish or other sea-dwelling creature.

The second Plunger was laid down 17 July 1935 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine; launched 8 July 1936 and sponsored by Miss Edith E. Greenlee, eldest daughter of Captain Halford R. Greenlee, Acting Commandant of the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was commissioned 19 November 1936, Lt. George L. Russell (later commander of Submarine Squadron 10) in command.

Plunger departed Gravesend Bay, N.Y. 15 April 1937 for a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, the Canal Zone, and Guayaquil, Ecuador. In November, following post-shakedown alterations at Portsmouth, she steamed to San Diego to join SubDiv 14, SubRon 6 (Submarine Division 14, Submarine Squadron 6). Continuing operations in the San Diego area for the next several years, Plunger joined Holland (AS–3) and five Porpoise-class boats 15 March 1938 for a cruise to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Training cruises to waters off Panama and Hawaii occupied the next several years. On 30 November 1941, she reported to Pearl Harbor and was off Diamond Head when Japanese planes attacked 7 December. Stricken from the Navy Register 6 July 1956, she was sold to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, Pa. on 22 April 1957, and scrapped. Plunger received 14 battle stars for World War II service.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Friedman, U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
  4. ^ Lenton, H. T. American Submarines (New York: Doubleday, 1973), p.39.
  5. ^ Lenton, American Submarines, p.39.
  6. ^ Friedman, U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
  7. ^ a b Alden 1979, p. 210
  8. ^ a b Alden 1979, p. 211
  9. ^ a b Alden 1979, p. 62
  10. ^ a b Lenton, American Submarines, p.45.