.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (December 2009) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the German article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 8,932 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Barbel-Klasse]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|de|Barbel-Klasse)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
The launch of USS Blueback
The launch of USS Blueback (SS-581) in 1959
Class overview
NameBarbel class
Builders
Preceded byUSS Darter (SS-576)
Built1956 – 1959
In commission1959 – 1990
Completed3
Retired3
Preserved1
General characteristics
TypeAttack submarine
Displacement
  • 1,750 tons (1,778 t) light[2]
  • 2,146 tons (2,180 t) full
  • 2,637 tons (2,679 t) submerged[2]
  • 402 tons (408 t) dead
Length219 ft 2 in (66.80 m) overall[2]
Beam29 ft (8.8 m)[2]
Draft29 ft (8.8 m) max[2]
Propulsion
Speed
Range14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)[1]
Endurance
  • 90 minutes at full speed submerged,
  • 102 hours at 3 knots (5.6 km/h) submerged
Test depth700 ft (210 m)[1]
Complement8 officers, 69 men
Sensors and
processing systems
  • BQS-4 active sonar
  • BQR-2 passive sonar
  • MK 101 fire control system
Armament6 × 21 inch (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes, 22 torpedoes[1]

The Barbel-class submarines, the last diesel-electric propelled attack submarines built by the United States Navy, incorporated numerous, radical engineering improvements over previous classes. They were the first production warships built with the teardrop-shape hull first tested on the experimental USS Albacore (AGSS-569), and the first to combine the control room, attack center, and conning tower in the same space in the hull. They were of double hull design with 1.5-inch thick HY80 steel. This class of submarine became part of the United States Navy's fleet in 1959 and was taken out of service 1988–1990, leaving the Navy with an entirely nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

The Barbel class' design is considered to be very effective.[3] The Zwaardvis-class submarines of the Netherlands and the Hai Lung class of the Republic of China (designed and built in the Netherlands) were closely derived from the Barbel class design. The Japanese Uzushio class and its successors were also influenced by the Barbel class.

Design

Designed under project SCB 150,[1] the class overall was a somewhat smaller diesel-powered version of the Skipjack-class nuclear submarines, the first of which entered service only three months after Barbel, having been laid down only 11 days later. Several features of the experimental Albacore were used in the Barbel-class design, most obviously the fully streamlined "teardrop" hull. Albacore's single-shaft configuration, necessary to minimize drag and thus maximize speed, was also adopted for the Barbels, Skipjacks, and all subsequent US nuclear submarines. This was a matter of considerable debate and analysis within the Navy, as two shafts offered redundancy and improved maneuverability.[1] For the first time, the Barbels also did away with the conning tower, instead combining the functions of attack center and control room into the same space, another feature adopted for all subsequent US submarines. This was facilitated by the adoption of "push-button" ballast control, another feature of Albacore.[1] Previous designs had routed the trim system piping through the control room, where the valves were manually operated. The "push-button" system used hydraulic operators on each valve, remotely electrically operated (actually via toggle switches) from the control room. This greatly conserved control room space and reduced the time required to conduct trim operations. The overall layout made coordination of the weapons and ship control systems easier during combat operations.

The torpedo tube arrangement of the Barbels was the same as the Skipjacks', with six bow tubes in a three-over-three configuration. These (and the Skipjack-derived George Washington-class SSBNs) were the only US Navy classes to have this configuration, as subsequent SSN designs used four angled midships torpedo tubes to make room for a large bow sonar sphere, and most SSBNs had four bow tubes.

The Barbels were built with bow mounted diving planes, but these were replaced by sail planes (aka fairwater planes) within a few years. This feature was standard on US Navy submarines until bow planes returned with the improved Los Angeles class, the first of which was launched in 1987.

Ships in class

Name Hull number Builder Laid Down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Period of service Fate
Barbel SS-580 Portsmouth Naval Shipyard 18 May 1956 19 July 1958 17 January 1959 4 December 1989 30.9 Decommissioned 4 December 1989, scrapping delayed due to asbestos insulation, expended as a target 30 January 2001
Blueback SS-581 Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi 15 April 1957 16 May 1959 15 October 1959 1 October 1990 30.9 Decommissioned 1 October 1990, museum ship at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, Oregon from 1994.
Bonefish SS-582 New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey 3 June 1957 22 November 1958 9 July 1959 28 September 1988 29.3 Not repaired following a fire that killed three on 24 April 1988, hulked 17 August 1989, hull acquired for tests by Northrop Grumman.

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Friedman, Norman (1994). U.S. Submarines Since 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 31–35, 242. ISBN 1-55750-260-9.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 283. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  3. ^ Polmar, Norman and Moore, K. J. (2004). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines, 1945–2001. Dulles: Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-57488-594-1, p. 215

Sources

  • Polmar, Norman and Moore, K. J. (2004). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines, 1945–2001. Dulles: Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-57488-594-1.
  • Gardiner, Robert and Chumbley, Stephen, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995, London: Conway Maritime Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.

External links

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Barbel-class submarines
US submarine classes after 1945
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