USS Tench
Service
- as Tench6 October 1944 — 8 May 1970331 days of the war
- Name
- USS Tench
- Namesake
- Tench
- Builder
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
- Laid down
- 1 April 1944
- Launched
- 7 July 1944
- Commissioned
- 6 October 1944
- Decommissioned
- January 1947
- Recommissioned
- October 1950
- Struck
- 15 August 1973
- Fate
- Sold to Peru for spare parts, 16 September 1976 (1976)
- Status
- Unknown
Specifications — As completed
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,416 long tons (2,455 t)
- Length
- 94.79 m (311 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 20.3 knots (37.5 km/h, 23.3 mph)
- Range
- 11,000 nmi (20,372 km)
- Complement
- 81
- Main gun
- 127 mm (5 in)
USS Tench was a Tench-class diesel-electric submarine built for the United States Navy. The ship was named after Tench. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine laid her keel on 1 April 1944. She entered service on 6 October 1944, having been launched on 7 July 1944.
Her class ran to 24 ships. The class followed the Balao-class submarine and was succeeded by the Barracuda class.
The boat displaced 1,830 long tons surfaced and 2,416 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 81. Her main battery was of 127 mm (5 in) calibre.
She was in commission for 331 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in January 1947. She recommissioned in October 1950. She was struck from the register on 15 August 1973.
She was transferred on 16 September 1976.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
This vessel is recorded in 2 configurations. Wartime refits changed armament and complement substantially, so each is kept separately rather than averaged into one set of figures. The figures above are as built.
As completed
- Propulsion
- 4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators
- 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries
- 2 × low-speed direct-drive General Electric electric motors
- two propellers
- 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced
- 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged
- Armament
- 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft; 24 torpedoes)
- one 5 in/25 caliber deck gun
- one 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft cannon
- two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machineguns
Guppy IA
- Displacement, surfaced
- 1,830 long tons (1,859 t)
- Displacement, submerged
- 2,440 long tons (2,479 t)
- Length
- 93.57 m (307 ft)
- Beam
- 8.23 m (27 ft)
- Draught
- 5.18 m (17 ft)
- Speed
- 17.3 knots (32 km/h, 19.9 mph)
- Range
- 17,000 nmi (31,484 km)
- Complement
- 10
- Propulsion
- Snorkel added
- Batteries upgraded to Sargo II
- Armament
- 10 × 21 in torpedo tubes
- (six forward, four aft)
- all guns removed
Sister ships
- PNS Ghazi
- USS Amberjack (SS-522)
- USS Argonaut (SS-475)
- USS Conger
- USS Cutlass
- USS Diablo
- USS Grampus (SS-523)
- USS Irex
- USS Medregal
- USS Odax
- USS Pickerel (SS-524)
- USS Quillback
- USS Remora
- USS Requin
- USS Runner (SS-476)
- USS Sea Leopard
- USS Thornback
- USS Tigrone
- USS Tirante
- USS Toro
- USS Torsk
- USS Trutta
- USS Volador (SS-490)
Sources
- Facts harvested from USS Tench on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 70164 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons