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In the photo above: The Growler submarine collided with Japanese transport in February 1943. In the photo 05/05/1943, the boat is going for testing after restoration repairs.

Three of the 22 Marine pilots rescued by the Tang on their second patrol. Rescue operation in the area of ​​Truk Island, April 1944.

Of the 132 ordered boats "Balao" for the last 10 units, the order was canceled due to the end of the war, 21 boats were in the stage of combat training and did not take part in the hostilities. All the remaining 101 submarines took part in the battles with Japan. Most of them entered service too late to have time to make many military campaigns and achieve significant results. In this regard, the SS-304 "Seahorse" and SS-306 "Tang" became an exception. 10 Balao-class boats were lost.

At the end of the war, 134 Tench-class boats were ordered. But before the end of hostilities, only 30 were launched, of which 11 managed to complete combat training and go on military campaigns. Not a single Tench-class boat was lost.

Characteristics of American submarines of World War II

Cabin of the boat "Dolphin" (type N). This cabin is a light grey-blue color typical of the pre-war coloring of American submarines. Two radio antennas are clearly visible on the sides of the cabin.

Three photographs (1 above and 2 below) show from different sides the cabin of the submarine "Bashaw", moored to her mother ship, Brisbane, on August 9, 1944. Pay attention to the hatch for servicing the deck gun in the forward part of the wheelhouse and TVT, mounted in a box-shaped sponson on the side of the wheelhouse (instead of the bow or stern ends, as was usually practiced). Bashaw is painted according to one of two grey-black camouflage schemes adopted in June 1944. This is probably the Measure 32/3SS-B light scheme.

Submarine.
Device and armament

The internal structure of American boats differed little from similar ships in other countries. Although the post-war comparison with captured Japanese, German and Italian boats indicates better living conditions, habitability of American submarines (we are not talking here, of course, about German boats of the latest series).

Submarine SS-213 "Greenling", 1943

In the photo above: The commander of the boat is watching the target through the artillery periscope. In the foreground - according to his reports, the navigator makes calculations on a circular slide rule, in the background - the operator enters data into the torpedo firing machine.

In the photo above: Aft two-tier racks of spare torpedoes.

BUT TVT device (Target Bearing Transmitter).

In the photo below: The living space for the crew was located on the boats in the bow between the torpedo room and the battery compartment. The situation was very Spartan, but even such compartments aroused the envy of submariners from other countries.

In the photo on the right below: The central post of the submarine. Most of it is occupied by the navigation table with maps. There are instruments for laying the course around.

Pictured above: Two mechanics in the diesel bay at the prop/charge switches.

In the photo on the left: Photo of the bridge of the Tinosa submarine. In the frame: TVT (Target Bearing Transmitter - "a device for determining the angle of the target"), a compass repeater and an intercom ("squawk box").

An American submariner controls the "Christmas tree" (panel for indicating the status of outboard openings). Green lights indicated that the valve was closed, and red lights indicated that it was open.

Central post. Operators of control of depth rudders and filling of ballast tanks.

On the bridge of the Spadefish submarine. The commander examines the horizon through binoculars, next to the TVT device and the dog "Shakey" - the mascot of the submarine.

Before each combat campaign, the noise of submarines was checked (if it exceeded the norms, its causes were eliminated, although the Japanese noise direction finders were ineffective), and the hulls were demagnetized (after the war it turned out that the Japanese did not set magnetic mines).

The two photos above show a General Motors Model 16-278A diesel.

Power plant

The boats "Gato" and "Balao" were distinguished by their power plant. First of all, for the first time since the First World War, American submarines had the rating power of four 8-cylinder diesel engines (each 1535hp) of General Motors or Fairbanks-Morse corresponded to their real impact. Diesels could drive 1100kW generators. The watch of the central post regulated the power of the generators and could use it to set in motion either of the two propeller shafts. If necessary, the power of the generators could be used to charge 252 elements of the bow and stern battery groups.

Appearance and device of the Mk-14 torpedo.

Torpedo machine

A significant novelty capable of increasing the efficiency of using submarines was the torpedo firing machine (TDC) on American boats, which appeared on submarines starting from the C series.

The data from the chart room was received by the lieutenant at TDC. The indicators were compared and averaged data was obtained, necessary for controlling torpedo fire. The torpedo firing machine, using an arrow on the screen showing the lead angle during a torpedo attack, provided a schematic diagram of the relative position of the “pursuer” and “target”.

The readiness light signal warned when the optimal moment for launching torpedoes was reached. In the ideal case, torpedoes should have been fired at the side of the target from a distance of 920 to 1850 meters. Here, on a torpedo firing machine, the installation angle of the gyroscope was calculated to control the torpedo. These data were transmitted to the torpedo compartments, where they were marked on the card with the movement of the arrow. And the second moving arrow on the other card indicated the gyroscopic angle, which was automatically set on the torpedo's gyroscope. This was achieved by using a steel rod, which somewhat resembled a wrench, passing through the torpedo tube to a female threaded socket in the torpedo. The rod was automatically retracted when fired.

In the bow and stern torpedo compartments near the vehicles at combat posts were foremen-torpedoists of the 2nd class. Each of them controlled both arrows of the pointer. If they did not match, the foreman manually set the torpedo gyroscopes in the torpedo tubes according to one of the indicators.

Failed torpedoes

The TDC torpedo machine was good, but the American Mk-14 torpedo with a proximity fuse quite often failed. There is nothing incredible in identifying defects in American torpedoes, especially given the complexity of the technology and its high cost. The Mk-14 torpedo cost over 10,000 rubles. dollars, and even an organization as wealthy as the US Naval Ordnance Command could not afford a large number tests in conditions close to combat.

For a long time, the Main Artillery Directorate left numerous complaints of submariners unanswered. The scandal was ripe after in 1943. the submarine SS-283 "Tinosa" fired 10 torpedoes at the damaged Japanese tanker "Topap Magi III" that was idle, American acoustics detected 8 hits on the side of the target, but not a single explosion followed. Began epic dodelok and improvements. They changed parts, tested the technology - everything is useless.

On June 24, 1943, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz, lost patience. He ordered the proximity fuses to be removed from the torpedoes and replaced with improved contact fuses. The Main Artillery Directorate expressed bewilderment about this, but Nimitz remained adamant. However, the proximity fuse was removed from the armament of all American submarines only in March 1944, when attempts to bring it failed.

At the end of 1944 in Pearl Harbor, a new American acoustic torpedo based on the German T4 Zaunkonig was accepted for testing. During testing, it turned out that the torpedo, named Cutie, contains a lot of birth defects. And most importantly, she is not able to hit targets moving faster than 8.5 knots. A series of experiments convinced the military that using the Cutie from submarines was not practical. More successfully, it was used as an aviation anti-submarine torpedo in the Atlantic.

Another important drawback of the main American torpedoes Mk-14 (MkXIV) and Mk-18 (MkXVIII) was the low weight of the warhead. The 500 pounds (226.8 kg) of explosives placed in US torpedoes were smaller than the warheads of other warring countries. Such an amount of explosives was not enough both from the point of view of causing serious damage to enemy warships, and from the point of view of destroying tankers, which have become the main target of American submarines since 1943.

On two photos (top and bottom): the process of loading torpedoes into a submarine.

In the photo below: Sailors on the Spadefish boat (in the foreground) meet the Tinosa submarine returning to Pearl Harbor from another trip.

Artillery

The artillery armament of American submarines underwent significant changes during the Second World War. At the same time, two main goals are traced - the protection of a boat forced to be on the surface from enemy aircraft and artillery weapons for attacks on unprotected transports.

The first task at the beginning of the war was to be solved using a 0.5-inch (12.7-mm) water-cooled machine gun mounted on the cutting site. Doubting the effectiveness of such systems, submarines began to equip 20-mm Oerlikon and 40-mm Bofors machine guns. Firepower certainly increased, but the hopes of fighting off several aircraft from such an anti-aircraft gun looked too optimistic, although the aircraft at the end of the war, the Japanese were no longer the same as at the beginning. By 1945, 12.7-mm machine guns again came into fashion, however, now they are “land” - air-cooled, retractable inside the hull when immersed.

Training firing from 3 "guns (in a combat situation, the entire crew of the gun wore helmets).

5"/25ca1 gun.

20mm Oerlikon.

4"/50cal gun.

40mm Bofors.

12.7mm water-cooled machine gun on the Silverside submarine. Photo taken in 1942.

12.7mm air-cooled machine gun. When diving, the machine guns were removed and retracted inside the boat.

Artillery weapons have proven themselves well on German submarines in the First World War. The guns of American submarines at the beginning of World War II had a clearly insufficient caliber - 3 inches. When shooting transports, the boat had to stay on the surface for a long time and spend a lot of shells. Gradually, 3 inches changed to 4, then to 5.

The boats "Gato" and "Balao" ended the war armed with a 5 "gun in the bow of the deck, a 20 mm Oerlikon on the balcony, a 40 mm Bofors in the stern and a pair of portable 12.7 mm machine guns. Although there were several options for placing weapons …

Mines

Mines that could be placed from torpedo tubes appeared in Germany in 1916. Assessing the significance of such an idea as early as 1921, the US Navy began developing a 21-inch torpedo-caliber anchor contact mine. The created sample was named Mk-10. The fuse is galvanic shock. The mine was in service until the mid-1950s. They produced models for setting from the air, from torpedo boats, model 3 had a magnetic fuse, etc. The main advantage of mines is a very long service life, but the depth of setting was limited by the length of the minrep.

Somewhat later, the development of a bottom non-contact mine (magnetic) based on the German type S mine with a charge of 1000 pounds of trinitrotoluene began. The mine was carried out in a cylindrical aluminum case and was simply fired from a torpedo tube. The weapon was named Mk-12. Successfully designed sample only in 1957 was declared obsolete and withdrawn from service. This model has the most weak point The warranty period for the battery was 90 days. True, this period strongly depended on local conditions and could change upwards. There is a known case of a possible explosion on a Mk-12 mine 23 months after setting. Although, of course, a relatively short period of operation of electrical equipment reduced the combat value. To finish about boat mines, it should be noted that in 1945 they adopted new sample with urgency and multiplicity devices, a proximity fuse, etc. The weight of explosives in the Mk-17 mine increased to 1375 pounds (623.7 kg), but they did not have time to use it in combat conditions.

Radars

While other navies experimented with aircraft to increase limited visibility from submarines, US NAVY set the developers the opposite task. In the early 1930s, the design institute NRL (Naval Research Laboratory), collaborating with other design and production departments of the Navy, developed a technical device for directed emission of radio waves and reception of signals reflected from the target. This device was called "Radio Detecting and Ranging", soon shortened to Radar. At the end of 1938, the first prototype was mounted on battleship New York. The radar turned out to be bulky and very unreliable, but efficient. The process of phased improvement of the design began. From May 1940 new, more compact and reliable models began to be installed on ships of the main classes.

Submarines in this list were far from being in the forefront. However, at the end of 1941. search anti-aircraft locators have decreased to such a size that their placement has become possible on submarines. The first type of "boat" radar was the SD, a non-directional radiation locator with a 6-10 mile radius. Its sufficiently powerful radiation could be received by enemy radio direction finders. Nevertheless, it was a huge help in detecting aircraft - the main opponents of submarines. Submarine SS-179 "Plunger", which left Pearl Harbor on 12/13/1941, having one of the first radar installations on board, became the first American submarine to test its radar in a combat campaign. Soon, as far as possible, other submarines began to be equipped with SD locators.

Only a very small number of submarines received a complete set of radar antennas, as shown in the photo "Mingo", 06/17/1945. The SS anti-aircraft radar of the last years of production replaced the SD rectangular antenna with the large oval one shown in the picture. The lifting antenna was now used for long distance communications and replaced the whip antenna previously used for SD duplication.

Early SD variant

Late SD variant

Early S.J.

Late S.J.

The submarine "Searaven" is equipped with an antenna system typical of the middle of the war. The boat has a late oval SJ radar antenna, with thin SD antennas visible in the background. Also visible are the 3 permanently raised whip antennas. The one in front is for SPR-1, the middle one is for VHF and the stern one is for IFF. Photo taken February 6, 1945.

Radio antenna

Hydrophone JP

In July 1942, the SS-231 "Haddock" received the next generation of radar - SJ, a surface detection installation. This made it possible to simultaneously determine the azimuth (direction) and distance to the target on the surface of the water with an accuracy that allows firing torpedoes according to SJ data with a good chance of success. As the first samples were tested and calibrated, and radar operators trained accordingly, submarine commanders really believed that with the help of radar they could navigate in environments beyond human vision.

In September 1943, the SS-279 "Snook" was the first to be equipped with a new type of radar with a circular indicator with a radial sweep. It displayed the situation with azimuths and distances in an easily accessible form. This new screen, called the PPI (Plan Position Indicator), replaced the previous indicators that displayed target information as a pulse mark on a horizontal scale. PPI screens made radar results available to everyone.

During the war, radars were constantly improved. The SD model introduced at the beginning was gradually replaced by the SS type. The radar turned American boats into a formidable weapon capable of seeing in the dark and in bad weather, saving many lives of American submariners.

sonar

Against the backdrop of the success of radar, the achievements of sonar were somehow "lost". But sonar also improved, and the FM model of the end of the war could almost safely guide American boats through minefields.

Sonars could detect anchor mines at distances up to 3.5 cab. According to American experts, their sonar worked more covertly than the English Asdic, and made it possible to accurately distinguish anchor mines from other underwater objects.

There was a case of the use by the Americans of submarines for reconnaissance of minefields on the approaches to the coast of Japan in order to ensure the safe maneuvering of their surface ships in this area. With its help, on March 13-14, 1945, SS-282 "Tunny" discovered 222 Japanese anchor mines in the East China Sea. Despite this, several U.S. submarines were killed by Japanese mines.

08/13/1944 the American boat SS-250 "Flier", following on the surface, hit a mine and sank in the Balabak Strait. 13 officers and sailors managed to escape. This example of detonation has little to do with sonar, but the next one is directly on the topic of this chapter. On 11/7/1944, a Japanese patrol ship noted an underwater explosion within a minefield near Hokkaido in the patrol area of ​​the SS-218 Albacore submarine. This boat is missing. She probably hit a mine and sank.

American submarines that achieved the greatest success during the Second World War

Submarine sunk. ships tonnage

SS-222 Bluefisli 12 50.839

SS-291 Crevalle 9 51.814

SS-260 Lapon 1 1 53.443

SS-257 Harder 16 54.002

SS-239 Whale 9 57.716

SS-254 Gurnard 10 57.866

SS-229 Flying Fish 15 58.306

SS-213 Greenling 15 59.234

SS-230 Finback 13 59.383

SS-281 Sunfish 16 59.815

SS-311 Archerfish 2 59.800

SS-238 Wahoo 20 60.038

SS-223 Bonefish 12 61.345

SS-208 Gray back 13 61.655

SS-266 Pogy 16 62.633

SS-283 Tinosa 16 64.655

SS-200 Tresher 17 66.172

SS-287 Bowfin 16 67.882

SS-19S Sealion 1 1 68.297

SS-211 Gudgeon 12 71.047

SS-304 Seahorse 19 71.564

SS-197 Seawolf 18 71.609

SS-199 Tautog 25 71.641

SS-217 Gardfish 19 72.424

SS-279 Snook 17 75.473

SS-259 Jack 15 76.687

SS-228 Drum 15 80.580

SS-237 Trigger 18 86.552

SS-411 Spadefish 21 88.091 + 17.05.45 "Transbalt"

SS-236 Silversides 23 90.080

SS-306 Tang 24 93.824

SS-220 Barb 17 96.628

SS-269 Rasher 18 99.901

SS-249 Flasher 21 100.231

American submarines during World War II
Management organization

The US submarines in the Pacific were brought together in two formations: the submarine forces of the Pacific Fleet and the submarine forces of the Asian Fleet - with the corresponding commanders and headquarters. At the beginning of 1942 the submarine forces of the Asiatic Fleet were subordinated to the commander of the submarine forces of the Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic theater of operations, US submarines were consolidated into the submarine forces of the Atlantic Fleet.

The headquarters of the submarine forces included departments of operational planning, intelligence, combat training and personnel. The headquarters included research groups that developed recommendations on choosing the most advantageous salvo distances, the angles of dissolution of torpedoes in a salvo, and submarine tactics that lead to the greatest losses of the enemy. These recommendations were published at least once a month in the Submariner's Bulletin.

Submarines "Grouper" and "Sego" represent 2 variants of typical boats of the "Gato" class of 1945.

Pictured above: Veteran boat "Grouper" (11 patrols) has a 5-inch gun in front of the cabin, 40-mm Bofors machine guns on the "balcony" and on the bridge.

In the photo below: The Sego boat in 1945. 5" gun behind the wheelhouse, 40mm machine gun on the "balcony". SS and SJ radar antennas are visible.

Three American boats in Oakland harbor in 1945. From left to right: "Cabrilla", "Bluefish" and "Cod".

Communication with boats at sea was carried out by command posts. They had maps with plotted places and routes of submarines, as well as situational data received by radio from submarines and other forces. From the command posts, by radio, data on the situation, orders from the commander, and information about rewards for those who distinguished themselves were transmitted to the boats. But for reports from submarines, command posts often failed to give receipts for receiving their radiograms in a timely manner (delays reached 1 hour or more), which forced the boats to stay above the water for a long time. The Americans did not have effective aerial reconnaissance.

To ensure interaction between submarines, surface ships and aircraft, the Americans created a zonal system. Zones have been defined:

1st - for non-combat activities of submarines and 2nd - submarine security corridors (it was forbidden to attack submarines in these zones, except in cases of unequivocal identification of the enemy);

3rd - for the combat activities of submarines (entry into the zone was prohibited for surface ships);

4th - air-surface - for the actions of surface ships and aircraft (submarines did not have the right to enter it without permission);

5th - combined - for the simultaneous actions of submarines, surface ships and aircraft, which, while in it, were guided by the rules of mutual security;

6th - unlimited bombing - for the operation of aircraft (boats were forbidden to enter the zone).

However, despite the presence of this system, there were cases of combat contacts and collisions of American submarines with each other and their ships. On January 24, 1945, SS-217 "Guardfish" sank the rescue vessel (tug) "Extractor", which accidentally ended up in the 3rd zone, mistaking it for an enemy submarine.

The identification of the Americans was worked out poorly. The supply of identification signals from submarines was often regarded on surface ships and aircraft as a trick of the enemy. Until the end of the war, the American command was not able to organize notification of the location of its submarines when aircraft or surface ships approached them, as a result of which their own aircraft and surface ships posed a very great danger to submariners. Let's take a concrete example.

On October 3, 1944, the Japanese submarine Ro-41 attacked an American formation of escort aircraft carriers CVE-63 “St. Lo" (until 15.9.1944 - "Midway"), CVE-70 "Fanshaw Bay" and four escort destroyers ("Shelton", "Richard M. Rowell", "Eversole", "Edmonds") to the northeast from the island of Morotai. The torpedoes hit the escort destroyer Shelton, which sank fourteen hours later while being towed (02°33"N, 129°18"E). Escort destroyer "Richard M. Rowell" attacked the submarine with depth charges, but Ro-41 got away from him and soon returned to Kure.

But the search for the Japanese submarine continued. Approximately 3 hours after the Shelton was attacked, the aircraft carrier St. Lo" discovered the submarine. After some time, she was attacked and sunk by the destroyer Richard M. Rowell. As a result, the United States Navy lost the SS-197 Seawolf submarine. All this happened in the "security corridor" (2nd zone) ...

Submarine "Trout" in December 1943. The boat will be sunk by a Japanese destroyer on 02/25/1944. when attacking a convoy.

Submarine S-20 during acceptance tests in New London in 1920.

Submarine "Pike" leaves the base Mare Island. On the boat, weapons and cabins from the period of the beginning of the war. With the installation of radars, the silhouette of the submarines has changed a lot.

During the war, 28 submarines were attacked by their aircraft, 5 by surface ships; two were sunk, nine damaged returned to bases for repairs.

No one has ever claimed that life aboard a Navy ship is luxurious. Even on the planet's most advanced warships, it can still get cramped. And although the service has improved a lot today, the sailors who patrolled the oceans during World War II lived a very different life than their modern counterparts.

On the one hand, World War II submarines were much smaller. Only about 18 meters shorter than a modern submarine, the US Navy's Gato and Balao-class submarines displaced only about one-third of today's Virginia-class submarines.

In this small space, the crew of submariners - from 60 to 80 people - had to accommodate themselves, place their belongings, and also stay for 75 days.

Each crew member had on board the submarine only about 0.03 cubic meters. meters of personal space. The submariners' berths were scattered over many compartments of the boat, including the torpedo rooms. As many as 14 people huddled in the forward torpedo room along with 16 torpedoes.

Image: USS Cod Submarine Memorial via We Are The Mighty

A submarine of this size simply could not accommodate everything needed for long military patrols in the appropriate spaces. Therefore, the crew had to hide boxes of food and other things in any suitable place - in the showers, the engine compartment, and even on the deck, until there was free space inside.

Although there was one advantage. Due to the dangerous and exhausting nature of submarine service, the command did everything possible to ensure that submariners received the best food that the Navy had to offer. There was also room for an ice cream freezer as a small luxury for the crew.

Unfortunately, the navies did not have enough time or space to enjoy this food. Basically, people were given about 10 minutes to eat, so that all three "shifts" of the boat could pass through the tiny galley in a short period of time.

Meals were often dictated by restrictions on submarine traffic. Submarines were strictly ordered not to surface during the day if they were within 500 miles of a Japanese airfield to avoid aerial surveillance and attack. In the early days of the war, such a rule was in effect in almost the entire space of the Pacific Ocean, since the Japanese controlled vast areas of the territory.

This meant that the submarines remained submerged during the day and only surfaced at night. Therefore, many crews postponed their usual daily routine schedules to the night. Crews called it "going reverse".

This was important because when the diesel engines were running for several hours, the boat would quickly heat up. In the engine room, temperatures could soar to over 38 degrees, spreading throughout the sub. Add to that 80 working and breathing men and the air inside can quickly become critically hot.

People knew that the air got bad when they had trouble glowing cigarettes due to lack of oxygen.

What else was bad was swimming. On long hikes, most men showered about once every ten days to conserve water. Laundry was out of the question. Therefore, inside the submarines there was a unique aroma - a combination of smells of diesel fuel, sweat, cigarettes, hydraulic fluid, food and sewage.

On the old World War I S-boats, often referred to as pigboats, conditions were even worse. Due to the lack of proper ventilation, the smells were even stronger. This also led to mold and mildew all over the boat, as well as a preponderance of fairly large cockroaches that the crews could never completely eradicate.

Even if the conditions themselves were not very bad, the crews still had to sail into hostile waters, often alone, to attack the enemy.

Submarines often acted against cargo ships, but sometimes ran into enemy warships. Having found submarines, enemy ships began to throw depth charges.

Of the 263 U.S. submarines that were on combat duty during World War II, 41 were lost due to enemy action and another 11 due to accidents or other causes. It was almost every fifth submarine, which made the service of a submariner one of the most dangerous.

Another danger that lay in wait for American submarines was the attacks of their own torpedoes. Due to problems with the early Mk. 14 she often made a circle and returned to hit the submarine that released her. At least one submarine, USS Tang, was sunk in this manner.

Despite all these dangers, the American submarines performed admirably. In the Pacific Ocean, they managed to sink almost 1,400 Japanese ships of various types with a total displacement of more than 5.5 million tons. They also rescued 504 downed airmen who fell into the sea.

In addition to this, the submarines evacuated VIPs from dangerous areas, landed reconnaissance teams on enemy shores, and in some cases even used their 5-inch deck guns to bombard enemy positions.

Rating of nuclear submarines of Russia and the USA. Who is stronger?
The Americans say that in the event of even a non-nuclear war, Russian submarines will be destroyed in 12-15 days. Like, they are all noisy, they are easy to detect and sink even with ordinary torpedoes or bombs. Is it a bluff?

We invited readers to dive into the depths of the oceans. And see who is stronger under water - American submarines or Russian submarines. And who has more powerful weapons. Today, military expert Colonel Mikhail POLEZHAEV and KP columnist Colonel Viktor BARANETS continue to compare the submarine forces of the two superpowers.

Who makes the loudest noise?

Mikhail Alexandrovich, how many nuclear submarines do Russia and the USA have now?

We only count ballistic missile submarines, right? Russia has only 12 of these in service, and the average "age" is 26 years. There are no boats carrying more than 16 missiles. The basis of the Russian fleet is only 6 submarine missile carriers of the Delfin project (according to the NATO classification Delta-IV). The United States has 18 Ohio-class submarines, 4 of which are undergoing medium repairs and modernization. Each boat carries 24 missiles.

The Americans say that in the event of even a non-nuclear war, Russian submarines will be destroyed in 12-15 days. Like, they are all noisy, they are easy to detect and sink even with ordinary torpedoes or bombs. Is it a bluff?

The most vulnerable submarine is its noise. Everything is noisy: mechanisms, devices, propellers and water flowing around the boat. Noise is different for every type of boat. Who first heard, discovered, he won. And the first one to find out who has a lower noise level and more sensitive acoustics. Therefore, one of the main tasks in submarine shipbuilding is to reduce noise. The development programs of US nuclear submarines are subordinated precisely to achieving superiority in detection range and less noise. And in this the Americans have succeeded.

But the debate about "who is stronger, who is weaker" is theoretical. The correctness of one side or the other can be proved only by practice, that is, war (pah-pah!). Now, in peaceful conditions, submarines are closely watching each other and determine the characteristics of "opponents". For example, the American Los Angeles-class submarine and the Russian Pike (according to the American Victor-III classification) are approximately equivalent ships. The Americans believe that "Pike" detects "Los Angeles" in deep water at a distance of 125 miles, and "Los Angeles" - "Pike" at a distance of almost 500 miles.

When you talk with Russian submariners, they often tell stories about how their periscopes almost scratch the sides of American ships, and they do not suspect anything ...

Do you want a true story? In the winter of 1996, the Russian embassy in London turned to the command of the British Navy with a request to provide assistance to a sailor who had undergone an operation on board the Pike. He developed peritonitis, the treatment of which is possible only in a hospital. The Pike surfaced, the destroyer Glasgow approached, his helicopter took the patient and brought him ashore. The British media unanimously expressed bewilderment: at the time when negotiations were underway in London to evacuate the patient, in the North Atlantic, just in the area where the Pike was located, NATO anti-submarine maneuvers were taking place. However, the submarine was detected only when it itself surfaced to the surface in order to transfer the unfortunate sailor to the helicopter ...

And how do you assess the technical capabilities of those US and Russian nuclear submarines that are now in service?

The same "Pike" has a completely modern "cub" - "Pike-B". The level of its noise is 4 - 4.5 times lower than the noise of the "mother". Here Russia even overtook the Americans. The detection range of the Skat-3 sonar complex has tripled and is practically equal to the American AN / BQQ-5.

In addition, the new "Pikes" have a unique system for detecting submarines and enemy ships in the wake many hours after they have passed, which has no analogues in the world.

The Pike has a unique tracking system that allows you to read the tracks of enemy boats. On the water!

Boat for a billion

What's ahead?

The basis of the Russian submarine fleet at least until 2015 will be Kalmars (which will be replaced by cruisers of the Yuri Dolgoruky type) and Dolphins.

What does the nuclear fleet cost? Can you name the numbers?

The treasury has already spent about a billion dollars on the construction of Dolgoruky. With completion, this figure will grow by several tens of millions. Each "Mace" is also several tens of millions. That is, up to 1.5 billion dollars, the cost of the finished Dolgoruky will certainly increase.

We count further. At the end of last year, 12 nuclear submarine missile cruisers remained in service in the Northern and Pacific Fleets. There is also "Dmitry Donskoy" project 941 ("Shark"). The price of each such ship is about a billion dollars.

What does the US nuclear fleet teach Russia?

The United States, as the main superpower in military construction, gave preference to the naval forces and, above all, their nuclear missile component, concentrating up to 65-70% of the nuclear potential on nuclear missile submarines. It's not just like that, is it? This is another challenge. And it will have to be answered. Wouldn't be late...

"Mace" flew successfully

On September 18, the strategic missile submarine Dmitry Donskoy conducted another test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile. According to official sources, the flight was successful. According to Igor Dygalo, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, the launch was made from a submerged position in the White Sea.

The trajectory parameters have been worked out in the normal mode, - said Dygalo. - The training units reached the Kura test site, located on the Kamchatka Peninsula, 380 km north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

However, the successful launch of Bulava does not open the long-awaited road to new submarines in the near future. At the Main Headquarters of the Navy, the KP correspondent was told that the missile would be put into service only in 2009.

The submarine "Flasher" did not sink enemy aircraft carriers or transports with tanks, but actively released the "blood of war" - oil - from the Japanese economy. This submarine sent seven tankers to the bottom with a total tonnage of 50,581 gross tons, which is about the capacity of a thousand standard railroad tanks. During his career, Flasher received no combat damage, andit may not have been attacked at all by enemy anti-submarine ships, becoming a rare example of a combination of luck and high efficiency in naval warfare.

Gato-class submarines (translated from English as “cat shark”) are the most numerous submarines of the US Navy during World War II: all 73 boats built took part in the war. The most successful American submarine "Flasher" (SS-249) belongs to this type, having a tonnage of sunk ships of 100,231 GRT (according to the calculations of the Army and Navy Assessment Committee, JANAC).

Specifications

Submarines of the Gato type had a two-hull design. The inner hull had high strength, and the lightweight outer hull was complemented by a superstructure and a deck, which had a reinforced structure behind and in front of the bridge with the expectation of installing guns.

The inner hull of the boat with a diameter of 4.9 m and a wall thickness of 14.3 mm in the horizontal plane was divided by watertight bulkheads into eight compartments, each of which was divided into upper and lower sections. The ninth compartment was considered the conning tower, fixed on top of the hull and communicating with it through the entrance hatch.

Ballast tanks were located between the hulls, designed to ensure the immersion and ascent of the submarine and combined into four groups that had different purposes.

The tanks ensured the submersion of the boat to a depth of up to 90 m. An interesting feature of the main ballast tanks was the possibility of purging them from an external source - a rescue vessel.

"Flasher" on the surface off the Atlantic coast of the United States, November 4, 1943.
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Crew and accommodation

The regular crew of the submarine included 6 officers (captain, senior assistant, lieutenant and 3 junior officers), 5 senior non-commissioned officers and 49 sailors. The maximum possible number of crew reached 85 people. The officers lived in four cabins located in the upper section of the bow battery compartment(captain, senior assistant and lieutenant - in single cabins, junior officers in a triple cabin), senior non-commissioned officers - in the same place in a five-person cabin. Sleeping places for sailors were located in three compartments: 10 (according to other sources 14) places - in the forward torpedo compartment, 36 - in the aft battery compartment, 15 - in the aft torpedo compartment. Under normal conditions, there was an excess of berths on the boat (an unrealizable dream for submariners of other fleets!), And only at the maximum number of crew the berths were occupied in two shifts. Such living conditions were due to the long period of patrolling, which the submarines were supposed to conduct (according to the project - up to 75 days).

Air conditioning and regeneration in compartments

One of the main problems of ensuring the life of the submarine is to maintain on board the composition of the air suitable for breathing. For this you need:

• maintaining the level of oxygen (when its level falls below the minimum allowable, suffocation occurs);
• maintaining the level of carbon dioxide (if the permissible level is exceeded, the air becomes unsuitable for breathing);
• control of humidity and air temperature to reduce oxygen consumption and slow down the release of carbon dioxide.

* - used for calculations for a long stay of boats under water

Submarines of the Second World War used a separate regeneration system, consisting of cylinders with oxygen and means of cleaning the air from carbon dioxide, the latter included regeneration cartridges that used electric machines to suck air. In addition, a system was used, the principle of which was based on the ability of regeneration plants to absorb carbon dioxide and vapors from the air, while releasing oxygen. Unlike a separate system, which ensured that small submarines were under water for up to 48 hours, and large ones for up to 72 hours, the regeneration units did not consume energy, worked silently and could keep the ship under water for up to 15 days.

On Gato-class submarines, 37 containers of carbon dioxide absorbent were used to clean the air from carbon dioxide, which were evenly distributed throughout the living quarters. Upon reaching a four percent level of CO2 concentration, the container was instructed to open and scatter the absorbent in an even layer over four beds, which should have accelerated the absorption of harmful gas.

To maintain the oxygen concentration at 17% in the compartments, there were 11 oxygen cylinders: two in the torpedo compartments and one in all the others, including the conning tower.

Flasher at Pearl Harbor, April 1945. The emblem of the boat and the twin 20-mm anti-aircraft gun are clearly visible.
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Power plant

The diesel-electric installation of the Flasher submarine consisted of four General Motors diesel engines with an HP 5400 power. and General Electric electric motors with a power of 2740 hp. Max Speed the boat in the surface position was 20.25 knots, in the submerged position - 8.75 knots. The maximum cruising range on the surface was 11,800 miles at a speed of 10 knots, in a submerged position - 100 miles at a speed of 3 knots.

Armament

The main armament of the submarine was ten torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber: six bow and four stern. Ammunition consisted of 24 torpedoes: 10 in vehicles, 10 spare torpedoes in the bow torpedo room, 4 torpedoes in the aft torpedo room. During the war, the Americans used two types of torpedoes: the steam-gas Mk14 and the electric Mk18, created on the basis of the captured German G7 torpedo.

Formally, the Mk14 had better technical characteristics compared to the Mk18, but left a mark on the water and, despite numerous alterations, had low reliability. So, during the tests of 1943, out of ten torpedoes dropped from a height of 27 m onto a steel plate, fuses did not work on seven. The operation revealed a number of shortcomings in the Mk18:

• ignition of hydrogen released by batteries;
• deceleration of torpedoes with a decrease in the temperature of batteries in cold outboard water;
• weak tail.

After refinement, the Mk18 torpedoes became the most successful in the American Navy: during the years of World War II, they sank 65% of the total number of destroyed enemy ships.

To control torpedo fire, the Torpedo Data Computer Mk.III course calculator was used, which made it possible to calculate the lead angle for any of the ten torpedo tubes individually or for all at once.

127-mm gun from the submarine "Flasher" in the exposition of the Nautilus Park (Groton, Connecticut).
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According to the project, the artillery armament of the boat consisted of one 76-mm gun located on the deck in front of the wheelhouse, as well as two 12.7-mm and two 7.62-mm machine guns, which were retracted inside during the dive. During the war, the 76 mm gun was replaced by a 127 mm gun, and the machine guns were replaced by a 40 mm Bofors gun and a twin 20 mm Oerlikon mount.

Means of visual and electronic detection

Submarines of the Gato type were equipped with two periscopes (inconspicuous combat Type 2 and universal Type 3), as well as SD air monitoring radar stations (replaced by SV by the end of the war) and water space - SJ (since 1944 were replaced by ST). Interestingly, all American radars except SD could be used by a boat that plunged to periscope depth. The presence of a radar significantly improved the ability of submarines to search for enemy convoys, and also increased their safety on the surface, which was important during long passages.

Submarines of the Gato type did not have outstanding technical characteristics, but they caused significant damage to the Japanese military and civilian fleet: there are eight submarines of this class in the top ten among American submarines in terms of sunk tonnage.

Service History

The Flasher (SS-249) was laid down on September 30, 1942 at the Electric Boat Co. shipyard. at Groton, Connecticut, launched on 20 June 1943 and commissioned on 25 September 1943. Its first commander was Lieutenant Commander Reuben Thornton Whitaker.

Postcard in honor of the launch of the Flasher submarine.
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During the Second World War, the boat made six full-fledged combat campaigns, spending 326 days at sea, including about 210–240 days directly in the active hostilities zone.

* - including 34 days in the zone of active hostilities

In wartime conditions, the terms of combat training of the submarine were very short. Already in the twentieth of November 1943, the boat began to move from New London to the combat zone. On December 15, she arrived at Pearl Harbor, and on January 6, 1944, she went on her first combat campaign.

The battle flag of the submarine "Flasher".
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First campaign (January 6 - February 29, 1944)

The purpose of the first combat campaign of the boat was to patrol the water area in the area of ​​the islands of Mindoro and Luzon, which are part of the Philippine archipelago. Flasher opened its combat account already on January 18, having torpedoed the Yoshida Maru vessel with a tonnage of 2921 gross tons, used by the Japanese as a gunboat, 140 miles west-southwest of Minamitori Island.

On February 5, arriving in a combat patrol area, a submarine 60 miles west of Mindoro sank a Japanese army transport Taishin Maru with a tonnage of 1723 brt.

On February 14, the submarine won a double victory by torpedoing the Minryo Maru army transport and the Hokuan Maru tanker off the island of Luzon (tonnage - 2193 and 3712 brt, respectively). After the end of the patrol, the Flasher arrived for repairs at the Australian port of Fremantle, which became its base in all the following campaigns.

The second campaign (April 4 - May 28, 1944)

The purpose of the second campaign was patrolling in the South China Sea along the coast of French Indochina. Interestingly, the victims of the submarine in its second campaign were ships flying the flag of a formally neutral French state, better known as Vichy France. The first victim of the submarine was the French cargo ship Song Giang Go with a tonnage of 1065 brt, which the Flasher torpedoed on April 29 five miles from Cape Varella (the ship sank the next day).

Having destroyed the cargo ship, the submarine continued to move along the coast and on April 30 near Hainan Island sank the French gunboat Tahure, after which it headed for the Philippines. On May 3, 300 miles east of Cape Varella, she sank the Japanese transport "Teisen Maru" with a tonnage of 5050 gross tons, and four days later near the island of Mindanao damaged the transport "Aobasan Maru" with a tonnage of 8811 gross tons. It is difficult to say why the Americans did not finish off the torpedoed ships twice during the second campaign. Perhaps this happened due to a lack of combat experience or as a result of the actions of enemy anti-submarine defense.

Submarine "Flasher". The photo was taken during World War II.
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Third campaign (June 19 - August 7, 1944)

During the third combat campaign, Flasher patrolled the South China Sea as part of the Wolf Pack, together with the Angler (SS-240) and Crevalle (SS-291) boats. At the first stage, Flasher acted alone: ​​on June 28, he discovered a convoy of thirteen ships southeast of Singapore, and on June 29 attacked it on the surface. The Americans managed to sink the transport "Niho Maru" with a tonnage of 6079 brt and damage the tanker "Notoro". The next victim of the submarine was the transport "Koto Maru" with a tonnage of 9557 gross tons, sunk twelve miles north of Cape Varella.

Flasher carried out one of his two most famous attacks on July 19, 1944, by torpedoing the Japanese cruiser Oi with a displacement of more than 5000 tons. Despite the fame of this battle, historians do not have a consensus on the location of it. According to some sources, this happened 280 miles from Cape Varella, according to others - 570 miles from Hong Kong on the way to Manila. Attacks on the cruiser were carried out in comfortable conditions, because due to problems with the machines, "Oi" moved at a speed of only 12 knots. During the first attack, Flasher fired four torpedoes, two of which hit the cruiser's port side. The explosions ignited the fuel and flooded the forward engine rooms with water, the ship rolled to the port side and lost speed.

The destroyer Shikinami accompanying the cruiser tried to attack the Flasher, but to no avail: the submarine not only received no damage, but for the first time in its history decided to attack again. Two hours after the first attack, the submarine fired four more torpedoes at the cruiser from a distance of 3 km. According to American data, one of them exploded in the area of ​​​​the forward engine room on the port side, according to Japanese data, all torpedoes passed by, and the explosion that tore off the cruiser's bow occurred inside it. Anyway, "Oi" sank two hours later, and the honor of its sinking, no doubt, belongs to the submarine "Flasher".

Japanese cruiser "Oi".
navsource.org

A joint attack by a wolf pack submarine was carried out on the night of July 25-26 against a Japanese convoy east of Luzon. The victims of the Flasher submarine were the tanker "Otorisan Maru" (according to other sources - "Otorijama Maru") with a tonnage of 5280 gross tons and the transport "Tosan Maru" (according to other sources - "Tozan Maru") with a tonnage of 8666 gross tons. In her third campaign, the boat acted so actively that already on August 7 she was forced to return ahead of schedule to Fremantle, having used up all the torpedoes.

Fourth campaign (August 30 - October 20, 1944)

At the first stage of the fourth combat campaign, Flasher, together with the Hawkbill (SS-366) and Becuna (SS / AGSS-319) submarines, rescued American pilots shot down during air raids on the Philippines. However, this did not prevent him from sinking the Japanese auxiliary cruiser Saigon Maru with a displacement of 5350 tons on September 18 in Manila Bay.

In late September - early October, the boat operated in the area of ​​the island of Luzon, where on September 27 it sank the Ural Maru transport (tonnage - 6374 GRT) and damaged the Tachibana Maru tanker, and on October 4 it sank the Taibin Maru transport (tonnage - 6886 GRT). ). After the boat's arrival at Fremantle, it underwent a change of command: on October 31, Lieutenant Commander George William Grider, who had previously served as chief officer on the Hawkbill submarine, became captain.

Fifth campaign (November 15, 1944 - January 2, 1945)

Under the command of Grider, Flasher, which, together with Hawkbill and Becuna, became part of the new wolf pack, made his most successful campaign. The purpose of the campaign was to patrol the South China Sea west of Luzon and off the coast of French Indochina.

The first victim of the “flock” was a convoy of several Japanese tankers and escort ships, discovered by the submarine "Hawkbill" and attacked by the submarine "Flasher" on December 4, 1944, about 275 miles southwest of Manila. During the first attack, Flasher fired four torpedoes at the destroyer Kishinami from a distance of 1650 yards. Judging by the report on the fifth combat campaign of the Flasher submarine dated January 3, 1945, two hits in the engine room area of ​​​​a Japanese ship were noted. According to Japanese data, its commander and 90 crew members died along with the destroyer. After hitting the destroyer, Flasher fired two torpedoes from the stern tubes at the Hakko Maru tanker (there was a severe fire on the Japanese ship in the report). Attempts by escort ships to locate and attack the American boat were unsuccessful. After waiting, "Flasher" surfaced in the evening of the same day and finished off the burning tanker with a torpedo.

Even more successful was the attack carried out on December 22, 250 miles from the coast of Vietnam. The day before, the submarine had spotted a convoy of five Japanese tankers escorted by a destroyer and three patrol ships and, after a long pursuit, attacked it from the surface 11 miles southwest of Ba Lang An. During the first attack, the Flasher fired three torpedoes from the bow tubes at the lead and second tankers, judging by the report, achieving two hits on each of them. During the second attack, the boat fired four torpedoes from the stern tubes at the third tanker, which exploded and sank. After carrying out the attack, Flasher successfully evaded a meeting with a Japanese destroyer: according to American data, the boat was not detected by the enemy. The victims of the attack were the tankers Omurosan Maru (9204 GRT), Otowasan Maru (9204 GRT) and Arita Maru (10238 GRT). On January 2, the boat returned to Fremantle. In a report dated January 3, 1945, the morale of her crew was estimated as "very tall", the cleanliness of the ship - like "exceptional", technical condition - as “very good, except for the main engine number 3”.

Tanker "Otowasan Maru".
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Sixth campaign (January 29 - April 3, 1945)

The least productive was the sixth and, as it turned out, the last combat campaign of the boat, which was largely facilitated by a decrease in the activity of Japanese merchant shipping, and hence a decrease in the number of potential targets. While patrolling the South China Sea, on February 21, Flasher shot a Japanese transport ship from deck artillery (the name, type and displacement is unknown), and on February 25, near Hainan Island, the Koho Maru transport was torpedoed (tonnage - 850 brt). At the end of the patrol, the boat did not go to Fremantle, but to Pearl Harbor, from where on April 7 it was sent to the US West Coast for overhaul.

The riddle of the seventhhike

According to some reports, the Flasher did not have time to return to service before the end of the war. According to others, on August 15, 1945, the boat went to sea, but, having reached the island of Guam, it received an order to stop its seventh campaign in connection with the end of the war.

"Flasher" is preparing for the seventh military campaign, July 24, 1945.
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According to the data set out in the official history of the boat, on March 16, 1946, she was decommissioned and included in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On June 1, 1959, she was expelled from the maritime register, and on May 31, 1963, she was sold for scrap.

Submarine "Flasher". The photo was taken after World War II.
navsource.org

The Americans found it impossible to simply cut into metal a well-deserved ship awarded three Presidential Commendations and six stars. The conning tower and deck gun mount were separated from the submarine and installed as a memorial in Nautilus Park (Groton, Connecticut).

The cabin of the submarine "Flasher". Photo taken in 1991.
navsource.org

Unlike sisterships, the Flasher submarine did not sink enemy aircraft carriers or transports with tanks, but actively released the "blood of war" - oil - from the Japanese economy. She sent seven tankers to the bottom with a total tonnage of 50,581 gross tons, which is about the capacity of a thousand standard railroad tanks. During its career, the Flasher has suffered no combat damage, and may not have been attacked at all by enemy anti-submarine ships, becoming a rare example of the combination of luck and high efficiency in naval warfare.

Sources and literature:

1. Marine Collection magazine, No. 6, 2009
2. U.S.S. FLASHER (SS249) – Report of Fifth War Patrol
3. navsource.org
4. pacific.valka.cz