Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Submarine

USS Dragonet

Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine

USS Dragonet
Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate USS_Dragonet; https://www.navsource.net/archives/08/08293.htm Dragonet (SS-293), port view underway, date and location unknown. U.S. Navy photo, courtesy of ussubvetsofworldwarii.org web site.

Service

  1. United States Navy as Dragonet6 March 1944 — 16 April 1946545 days of the war
Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine Particulars
Name
USS Dragonet
Builder
Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia
Laid down
28 April 1942
Launched
18 April 1943
Commissioned
6 March 1944
Decommissioned
16 April 1946
Struck
1 June 1961
Fate
Scuttled in the Chesapeake Bay after tests, 17 September 1961 (1961)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,526 long tons (1,550 t)
Displacement, submerged
2,424 long tons (2,463 t)
Length
94.79 m (311 ft)
Beam
8.23 m (27 ft)
Draught
4.88 m (16 ft)
Speed
20.3 knots (37.5 km/h, 23.3 mph)
Range
11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
Complement
10
Main gun
127 mm (5 in)

USS Dragonet was a Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine in service with the United States Navy. Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia laid her keel on 28 April 1942. She entered service on 6 March 1944, having been launched on 18 April 1943.

Her class ran to 111 ships. The class followed the Gato-class submarine and was succeeded by the Tench-class submarine.

The boat displaced 1,526 long tons surfaced and 2,424 long tons submerged. She measured 94.8 m (311 ft) long with a beam of 8.2 m (27 ft). Her designed speed was 20.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 10. Her main battery was of 127 mm (5 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 545 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 16 April 1946. She was struck from the register on 1 June 1961.

She was scuttled on 17 September 1961, at 47°57′N 153°08′E. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-<templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄8 9-cylinder opposed-piston diesel engines driving electrical generators
  • 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
  • 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears
  • 2 × propellers
  • 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced
  • 2,740 shp (2.04 MW) submerged
Armament
  • 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 forward, 4 aft
  • 24 torpedoes
  • 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun
  • Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Sister ships

86 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Dragonet on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons