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

USS Pampanito

Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine

USS Pampanito
Sanfranman59 — Own work — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons Plate National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco, California. USS "Pampanito" , World War II "Balao" class submarine , Pier 45, San Francisco, California, USA. Photographed 2008-03-08 by Mike Hofmann from Pier 45 walkway. Camera location 37° 48′ 34.2″ N, 122° 24′ 57.24″ W View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap 37.809500; -122.415900

Service

  1. United States Navy as Pampanito6 November 1943 — 15 December 1945666 days of the war
Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine Particulars
Name
USS Pampanito
Namesake
Pompano
Builder
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down
15 March 1943
Launched
12 July 1943
Commissioned
6 November 1943
Decommissioned
15 December 1945
Struck
20 December 1971
Fate
Museum ship in San Francisco since 21 November 1975 (1975)
Status
Preserved

Specifications

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
102 mm (4 in)

USS Pampanito was a Balao-class submarine diesel-electric submarine built for the United States Navy. The ship was named after Pompano. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine laid her keel on 15 March 1943. Launched on 12 July 1943, she entered service on 6 November 1943.

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

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 102 mm (4.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 666 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 15 December 1945. She was struck from the register on 20 December 1971.

She has been preserved on 21 November 1975.

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 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators
  • 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
  • 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears
  • two propellers
  • 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced
  • 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
Armament
  • 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 6 forward, 4 aft
  • 24 torpedoes
  • 1 × 4-inch (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun
  • Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Sister ships

86 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Pampanito on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Sanfranman59 — Own work — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons