USS Flounder (SS-251)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut |
| Laid down: | 5 December 1942 |
| Launched: | 22 August 1943 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Astrid H. McClellan |
| Commissioned: | 29 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 February 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 June 1959 |
| Fate: | 2 February 1960 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Gato-class diesel-electric submarine |
| Displacement: | 1,525 long tons (1,549 t) 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged |
| Length: | 311 ft 9 in (95.02 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 3 in (8.31 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum |
| Propulsion: |
4 × General Motors Model 16-248 V16 diesel engines driving electrical generators |
| Speed: | 21 kn (39 km/h) surfaced 9 kn (17 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (19 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 48 hours at 2 kn (4 km/h) submerged 75 days on patrol |
| Test depth: | 300 ft (90 m) |
| Complement: | 6 officers, 54 enlisted |
| Armament: | 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (six forward, four aft) 24 torpedoes 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
USS Flounder (SS-251), a Gato class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flounder, a valuable food fish, many varieties of which are found in great schools along the Atlantic coast north of Cape Cod.
Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut on 5 December 1942. She was launched on 22 August 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. Astrid H. McClellan), and commissioned on 29 November 1943 with Commander C. A. Johnson in command.
Read more about USS Flounder (SS-251): First and Second War Patrols, Third, Fourth and Fifth War Patrols, Sixth War Patrol, End of War and Fate