USS Atule (SS-403)
Atule in the Kane Basin as part of Operation Nanook, an arctic-studies expedition |
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| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Atule (SS-403) |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine |
| Laid down: | 2 December 1943 |
| Launched: | 6 March 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 21 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 September 1947 |
| Recommissioned: | 8 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 April 1970 |
| Struck: | 15 August 1973 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Peru on 31 July 1974 |
| Career (Peru) | |
| Name: | BAP Pacocha (SS-48) |
| Acquired: | 31 July 1974 |
| Fate: | Rammed and sunk by a fishing trawler on 26 August 1988 |
| General characteristics (World War II) | |
| Class & type: | Balao-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced, 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged |
| Length: | 311 ft (3,700 in) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft: | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum |
| Propulsion: |
4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators |
| Speed: | 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced, 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced |
| Endurance: | 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged, 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 400 ft (120 m) |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
| General characteristics (Guppy IA) | |
| Displacement: | 1,830 tons (1,859 t) surfaced, 2,440 tons (2,479 t) submerged |
| Length: | 307 ft 7 in (93.75 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Submarine snorkel added, Batteries upgraded to Sargo standard II |
| Speed: |
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| Range: | 17,000 nmi (31,000 km) @ 11 kn (20 km/h) surfaced |
| Endurance: | 36 hours @ 3 kn (5.6 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 10 officers, 5 petty officers, 64–69 enlisted men |
| Armament: | 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft), all guns removed |
USS Atule (SS/AGSS-403), a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the atule.
Her keel was laid down on 25 November 1943 by the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Atule was launched on 6 March 1944 sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Louise Kauffman, the daughter of Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman, and commissioned on 21 June 1944, Commander John H. Maurer in command.
Read more about USS Atule (SS-403): Awards