ORIGINAL: Mike Dubost
I have drafted one US sub description. I would especially like to have any comments on the initial "boilerplate". Please see below. In order to make it clear what is the "boilerplate", I have placed it above the unit statistics. I have actually found that Wikipedia is a good source for the unit statistics for subs, and it tracks well with other information I have found, so I will use it for the stats when I don't have other resources available.
These World In Flames counters represent a number of submarines rather than any specific individual submarine. The dates printed on the back of the counters do not relate in any meaningful way with build dates for the various classes of United States Navy (USN) submarine class and therefore the counter date in most cases should be ignored. These US submarine write-ups contain the usual technical data, followed by a brief history of one or more submarines from each of the main classes that saw action during the Second World War.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the USN had a total of 111 large and medium submarines, of which 55 large and 18 medium were assigned to the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets, with a further 77 under construction. The average large fleet sub had a displacement of around 1500 tons. The smaller S-boats had displacements of approximately 1000 tons, while the largest fleet sub displaced around 2700 tons.
At the time of the outbreak of war in Europe, the US was a signatory to the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which prohibited unrestricted submarine warfare (Article 22 required attackers to first place passengers, crew, and ship’s papers in “a place of safety”). USN sub doctrine therefore emphasized attacks on capital ships, especially battle cruiser and above. On the first day of war, the USN concluded that the survival of the US was at risk in the war, and consequently ordered the use of unrestricted air and submarine warfare. According to Samuel Eliot Morison, combat vessels were still considered prime targets, but attacks on merchant ships were of major importance.
Unlike the German U-boats, the US subs typically operated alone, due in part to the large distances which had to be covered from a few bases. The US subs would usually attack while submerged, using periscope observations to gather the data to input into the mechanical targeting computer. At the start of the war, US torpedoes were defective. However, once the torpedo faults were corrected, US subs became very effective attackers. Nearly one third of Japanese combat vessels lost were due to subs, as well as nearly 2 thirds of the Japanese merchant losses.
Length approximately 350 feet
Displacement 2770 tons (surfaced)
Test depth 300 feet
Draft 17 feet
Maximum speed surface 14 knots
Maximum speed submerged 6.5 knots.
Armament: 6*21 inch torpedo tubes, two 6-inch guns
The statistics above are for the USS Nautilus, launched in March 1930 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in San Francisco Bay.
The Nautilus completed a total of 14 war patrols, stretching from Midway to the Solomon Islands to the Kurile Islands.
On her first war patrol, Nautilus participated in the battle of Midway. After sighting and unsuccessfully attacking a large force of warships, Nautilus was attacked by a destroyer. As the destroyer was returning to the main force of IJN vessels, she was spotted and tracked back to the carriers by one of the groups of dive-bombers from the USS Enterprise. The successful sinking of the IJN carriers by the dive-bombers was thus due in part to the Nautilus.
Her second war patrol was the raid on Makin. Refer to the description of USS Argonaut for details.
Her sixth war patrol was a photo reconnaissance mission to the Gilbert Islands prior to the invasion of Tarawa. For her seventh war patrol, she was sent back to gather last-minute surf and weather readings. During this mission, she was struck by friendly fire from a US destroyer (USS Ringgold). Despite significant damage to the conning tower, she was repaired and successfully completed the mission.
During her thirteenth war patrol, she was called upon to destroy a US submarine which had run aground on a reef and could not be recovered. Efforts to keep the sub out of enemy hands by destroying her with torpedoes failed, due to the shallow water around the reef, so the 6-inch deck guns of the Nautilus were used.
After completing her fourteenth war patrol, Nautilus was sent back to the US to be decommissioned. She was stricken from the naval register on July 25th, 1945, and was sold to be scrapped in November of 1945.
Warspite1
Mike - thanks this is excellent and I am really grateful for the help, without which the US and Japanese subs are not going to get done before November [:)]. You have also identified a problem with my submarine write-ups, whereby I put the technical details at the start....[&:]. I shall amend accordingly.
I have formatted your write-up and would make the following comments:
1. Before the technical details, please insert a little blurb about the class you are wrting about.
2. I have changed the technical details you chose so that these are the same for all submarine write-ups.
3. I have (very briefly) filled out her missing war career from your write-up. You may think this is necessary or not. I have also added some detail i.e. the name of the Japanese destroyer, the US submarine she sunk, and a few dates etc.
4. As part of the standardisation, can you include a completion date at the start of the unit write-up and a separate line that confirms when she was scrapped as per below? This is just to ensure standardisation.
5. Finally, I am starting the US write-ups (with one or two necessary exception e.g. USS Reuben James) from 7th December 1941 only. Can you take care with mention of things like "at the start of the war" so that it is clear what period you are referring to?
[4261 Submarine - by Mike Dubost]
.P These World In Flames counters represent a number of submarines rather than
any specific individual submarine. The dates printed on the back of the counters
do not relate in any meaningful way with build dates for the various classes of
United States Navy (USN) submarine class and therefore the counter date in most
cases should be ignored. These US submarine write-ups contain the usual technical
data, followed by a brief history of one or more submarines from each of the main
classes that saw action during the Second World War.
.P When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the USN had a total of one hundred
and eleven large and medium submarines, of which fifty-five large and eighteen of
the medium type were assigned to the Pacific and Asiatic Fleets. There were a
further seventy-seven under construction. The average large fleet submarine had a
displacement of around fifteen hundred tons, while the smaller S-boats had
displacements of approximately one thousand tons, and the largest fleet submarine
displaced around two thousand seven hundred tons.
.P At the time of the outbreak of war in Europe, the US was a signatory to the
London Naval Treaty of 1930, which prohibited unrestricted submarine warfare
(Article 22 required attackers to first place passengers, crew, and ship’s papers
in “a place of safety”). USN sub doctrine therefore emphasized attacks on capital
ships, especially battlecruiser types and larger. Following the attack on Pearl
Harbor and the entry of the US into the war, the USN concluded that the survival
of the US was at risk in the war, and consequently ordered the use of
unrestricted air and submarine warfare [in line with practice adopted by nations
already at war??] According to Samuel Eliot Morison, combat vessels were still
considered prime targets, but attacks on merchant ships were of major importance.
.P Unlike German U-boats which operated in so-called wolf-packs for greater
effectiveness, US submarines typically operated alone, due in part to the large
distances which had to be covered from their few bases. US submarines would
usually attack while submerged, using periscope observations to gather the data
to input into the mechanical targeting computer.
.P Initially, US torpedoes were defective. However, once the torpedo faults were
corrected, US submarines became very effective attackers. Nearly one third of
Japanese combat vessels lost were due to the submarine service, as well as nearly
two thirds of Japanese merchant losses.
.P
.P This write-up looks at the two-ship Narwhal-class that were...and specifically
the USS Nautilus.
.P INSERT BRIEF DETAILS OF THE CLASS HERE
.P
.B Name: USS Nautilus
.B Engine(s) output: 5,633 hp (Surfaced) 1,600 hp (Submerged)
.B Top Speed: 17.44 knots (Surfaced), 8 knots (Submerged)
.B Main armament: 6 x 21-inch torpedo tubes and 2 x 6-inch (152mm) gun
.B Displacement (Fully Submerged): 3,960 tons
.B Diving Depth: 300 ft
.P USS Nautilus was launched in March 1930 at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in
San Francisco Bay and completed four months later. She completed a total of
fourteen war patrols, stretching from Midway to the Solomon Islands to the Kurile
Islands.
.P On her first war patrol in June 1942, Nautilus participated in the battle of
Midway. After sighting and unsuccessfully attacking a large force of warships,
Nautilus was attacked by the destroyer Arashi. As the destroyer was returning to
the main force of Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) vessels, she was spotted and
tracked back to the carriers by one of the groups of dive-bombers from the USS
Enterprise. The finding of the IJN carriers by the dive-bombers was thus due in
part to the presence of the Nautilus.
.P Her second war patrol was the raid on Makin in August 1942 (see USS Argonaut).
Following this, she undertook three further patrols between September 1942 and
April 1943 that netted seven merchant ships sunk. In the last of these three
patrols she took carried troops for landings on Attu.
.P Her sixth war patrol began in September 1943 and was a photo-reconnaissance
mission to the Gilbert Islands prior to the invasion of Tarawa. For her seventh
war patrol, she was sent back to gather last-minute surf and weather readings.
During this mission, she was struck by friendly fire from the destroyer Ringgold.
Despite significant damage to the conning tower, she was repaired and
successfully completed the mission.
.P Subsequent patrols saw her in the southwest Pacific, operating off the
Philippines. During her thirteenth war patrol, she was called upon to destroy the
US submarine Darter, which had run aground on a reef and could not be recovered.
Efforts to keep the submarine out of enemy hands by destroying her with torpedoes
failed due to the shallow water around the reef, so the 6-inch deck guns of the
Nautilus were used to accomplish the task.
.P After completing her fourteenth war patrol, Nautilus was sent back to the US
to be decommissioned.
.P USS Nautilus was scrapped in November 1945.
