| USS Marlin (SS-205) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career |  |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1] |
| Laid down: | 23 May 1940[1] |
| Launched: | 29 January 1941[1] |
| Commissioned: | 1 August 1941[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 9 November 1945[1] |
| Struck: | 28 November 1945[1] |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 29 March 1946[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Mackerel-class submarine[2] |
| Displacement: |
800 long tons (810 t) standard, surfaced[3] 1,165 long tons (1,184 t) submerged[3] |
| Length: | 238 ft 11 in (72.82 m)[3] |
| Beam: | 21 ft 7 1⁄4 in (6.585 m)[3] |
| Draft: | 13 ft ¼ in (4.0 m)[3] |
| Propulsion: |
2 × ALCO diesel engines driving electrical generators[2] 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[3] 2 × General Electric electric motors[2] 2 screws[2] 1,700 bhp (1,300 kW) surfaced[2] 1,500 bhp (1,100 kW) submerged[2] |
| Speed: |
14.5 kn (27 km/h) surfaced[3] 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged[3] |
| Range: |
7,400 nmi (13,700 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)[3] |
| Test depth: | 250 ft (76 m)[3] |
| Complement: | 4 officers, 34 enlisted[3] |
| Armament: |
6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, two aft) 12 torpedoes[3] 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber gun[3] |
USS Marlin (SS-205), a Mackerel-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the marlin, a large game fish.
Her keel was laid down by Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, on 23 May 1940. She was launched on 29 January 1941 sponsored by Mrs. John D. Wainwright, and commissioned on 1 August 1941 with Lieutenant George A. Sharp in command.
After service in the Atlantic Fleet off New London, Connecticut, for half a year, Marlin departed New London 21 March for Casco Bay, Maine. She arrived the next day for duty with TG 27.1, training new escort vessels in antisubmarine warfare. She returned to New London 18 April, and operated in Long Island Sound through 1942. Unsubstantiated reports claim that in February of that year, Marlin and her sister ship, USS Mackerel, engaged and sank the giant Free French Navy submarine, Surcouf, after discovering her in the Sound refueling a German U-boat, which was also sunk.[4]
On 7 January 1943 the submarine arrived in Casco Bay for further duty with TG 27.1 until 16 January. She then spent the next 2½ years patrolling and training ships off New London and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On 26 July 1944, while making a submerged practice approach on Chaffee (DE-230), she collided with SC-642 with slight damage to both ships. In September Marlin kept company with Chetco (AT-99) on one of her trips from Portsmouth, reaching New London 10 September.
On 20 October Marlin departed New London with Skipjack (SS-184) for Bridgeport, Connecticut, arriving that day. Five days later she continued on to Boston, Mass, arriving 31 October. She decommissioned at the Boston Navy Yard 9 November. Marlin was sold 29 March 1946 to the Boston Metal Company of Baltimore, Maryland, for scrapping.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311
- ↑ Knoblock, Glenn A.; Jacques Mordal (2005). Black Submariners in the United States Navy, 1940-1975. McFarland. pp. 78. ISBN 0-7864-1993-8.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links[]
- Photo gallery at navsource.org
| ||||||||
The original article can be found at USS Marlin (SS-205) and the edit history here.