SS-285 Balao
The Balao (SS-285) class was conceived as an improved Gato (SS-212) class submarine. The United States Navy built hundreds of "fleet boat" submarines during the Second World War. One hundred thirty-two of the Balao class, the most common U.S. submarine of the war, were constructed at shipyards throughout the country. As part of this effort, beginning in 1940, an order was placed for 73 Gato-class vessels, "in response to the realization that the U.S. would probably become involved in the current war." Longer, tougher, and with more endurance, the Gatos were supplemented after Pearl Harbor by an order for 132 near-identical Balao-class submarines. The Balaos were slightly reconfigured for prefabrication and were built with a higher tensile steel that extended their diving depth 100 feet beyond the Gato boats' 300-foot operating limit.
The Balao (SS-285) class was a welded, riveted, and high-tensile steel submarine -- 311.8 feet long overall, with a 27.3-foot extreme beam, a height of 47.2 feet, and a 15.3-foot draft at surface trim. They displaced 1,525 tons standard surfaced and 2,424 tons submerged. The boat's two shafts were driven by twin Elliot electric motors, each rated at 2,740 shaft horsepower for a total of 5,480 SHP. While surfaced, electricity was provided by four Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, each rated at 5,400 brake horsepower. While submerged, the motors were powered by 252 Exide battery cells. They were capable of 20.25 knots surfaced and 8.75 knots submerged. The boat's primary armament consisted of ten 21-inch torpedo tubes--six located forward and four aft. They carried 24 torpedoes. The boat also mounted a single 5-inch/25 caliber gun on deck; lighter AA guns were also fitted.
Improvements in hull construction increased the test depth of this class to 400-feet as opposed to 350-feet in the Gato class and fuel capacity was significantly increased which improved patrol radius. It would be impossible to characterize BALAO as just another fleet submarine - no such creature exists. Every submarine is unique, special, and remembered. As the lead boat in very large class of 1500-ton submarines, BALAO was bigger than life in many respects.
BALAO introduced several new concepts to the submarine force when she was commissioned in 1943. The most important of these being the thicker pressure hull, using 7/8" high tensile steel plates rather than the 5/8" plate used in the earlier Gato class. During their lifetime the Balao class introduced new sophisticated electronic gear for detecting targets, a Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) for working out and setting torpedo firing angles, new Mark 18 electric torpedoes, and a Bathythermograph for detecting cold water layers, or thermoclines, under which she could slip to deflect enemy sonar pings and make the boat hard to detect. These technological advances gave the BALAO class a level of reliability and battle survivability that had never been experienced by submarines of any nation to that time.
The pressure hull consisted of 7/8-in high tensile steel. There were eight waterproof compartments in addition to the conning tower. They were equipped with four engine rooms, diesel-electric reduction gear, one auxiliary generator, four electric motors generating 2,740 hp when submerged driven by two 126-cell batteries. Submerged endurance was 48 hours at 2 knots. Cruising range was 11,000 miles on the surface at 10 knots with 116,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Patrol duration was 75 days.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the mission of the submarine was one of strike, intelligence, reconnaissance, and covert operations. During World War II the BALAO and her sister ships waged war against the Axis powers, amassing a record of devastation and sheer killing power that was unmatched by any other land or sea assault platform. American submarines like BALAO supported deployment and recovery of raiding parties and the insertion and removal of intelligence assets as a matter of course - the submarine was the perfect platform for this mission.
These new fleet submarines were purpose built for taking the fight to the enemy - designed with food, fuel, and weapons sufficient for long-range independent patrols. BALAO and her sisters enabled the Navy to shift its submarine doctrine from coastal defense to open ocean attacks on enemy warships and convoys critical to enemy logistical support. This doctrine of forward presence and strike warfare by the submarine remains today.
A total of 256 boats of this class were ordered between 1942 and 1945; many of which were re-ordered to the Tench (SS-417) class specification. A total of 122 [119 ?] boats were actually completed to this specification by five shipyards, making the Balao Class is the largest class of submarines ever built. They were built at Portsmouth, Manitowoc, Electric Boat, Mare Island, and Cramp Shipbuilding. The first boat, Devilfish (SS-292) was laid down in March 1942; the last, Mero (SS-378) in July 1944. SS-353 to 360, 379, and 380 (10 boats) of this class were cancelled in October 1944. Balao (SS-285) was the first to commission in February 1943. 111 boats were commissioned before the end of World War II. The last to commission was Tiru (SS-416) whose construction was suspended. She was completed to the GUPPY specification and commissioned in September 1948.
Of these submarines, all 73 Gato and 101 of the Balao boats saw combat, all of it in the Pacific. These boats waged a terrible war of attrition against Japan's navy and merchant marine, particularly the latter. U.S. submarines sank most of Japan's merchant fleet, crippling the industrial capabilities of the empire and forcing the abandonment of far-flung outposts.
The last of the GUPPY modernized boats in service were decommissioned 1968-75. Tiru (SS-416) was the last to decommission in July 1975. Eight Balao class submarines became museums.
Consigned to the Operation Crossroads tests, Apogon arrived at San Diego on September 11, 1945. There the boat was readied for the tests. One of eight submarines selected for Crossroads, Apogon was modified to submerge and surface without a crew on board. According to Bombs at Bikini, "never before had there been occasion to submerge a submarine without crew aboard. The method used was to fill part of the ballast tanks with water, then suspend heavy weights from the bow and stern by cables of carefully chosen length. These weights overcame the submarine's residual buoyancy and drew her down to the desired depth. She could be surfaced again by pumping air back into her ballast tanks." Lightly damaged during Able, Apogon sank during Baker. Shortly after sinking, Navy divers located the submarine in 180 feet of water, entered the boat, and began salvage operations, which included blowing air into the flooded hulk. The salvage efforts were abandoned, however, before the boat was brought to the surface. Apogon was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy Register on February 25, 1947.
Pilotfish was one of eight submarines originally slated for scrapping or reserve fleet lay-up, that were instead modified for use in the atomic bomb tests. Lightly scorched while moored on the surface for Able, Pilotfish was submerged for Baker. Closest of the submarines to the zeropoint, Pilotfish was sunk by the Baker blast. According to some accounts, Pilotfish, although decommissioned August 29, 1946, little more than a month after sinking, was in fact raised, towed away, and "resunk" on October 16, 1948, as a target off Eniwetok. This report is in error; Navy records indicate the ship was "expended" at Bikini on July 25, 1946, decommissioned on August 29, 1946, and stricken from the Navy list on February 28, 1947. Pilotfish lies on the bottom of the lagoon at its mooring for the Baker test.
