Bridge: "Helmsman where's your rudder?"
Helmsman: "Back under the after torpedo room sir".
-EMC(SS) Cover
The Gato class was the prototype for what would become the mainstay for American Fleet Submarine design during WWII and was the result of combining key features from the previous fleet boat designs.
A total of 73 Gato class submarines were built from 1941 to 1943 at Portsmouth Navy Yard, Mare Island Navy Yard, the Electric Boat Company and the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. Although the basic design was the same between all Gatos, the boats built at the government yards, Portsmouth and Mare Island, differed slightly from the ones produced at EB and Manitowoc in their design.
While some of these differences were subtle, such as the limber hole configurations in the boats superstructure or which side the anchor was located, each manufacturer included their own features into the boats' design. Other variations included the make of the main diesel engines, the electric motors or the configuration of the maneuvering room controls.
Fleet Submarines
The fleet submarine is separated into nine water-tight compartments, all contained within the pressure hull. The pressure hull, or "people tank", is then surrounded by the sub's various ballast and fuel tanks along its length which are in turn enclosed by the outer hull and the superstructure which includes the deck, bridge and periscope shears.
The nine compartments, starting at the forward end of the submarine are the: (1) Torpedo Room, (2) Forward Battery, (3) Control Room, (4) Conning Tower (directly above the Control Room), (5) After Battery, (6) Forward Engine Room, (7) After Engine Room, (8) Maneuvering Room, (9) After Torpedo Room.
Regardless of where they were built, all Gatos had the following specifications:
| Displacement (Surfaced): | 1,526 tons |
| Displacement (Submerged): | 2,410 tons |
| Length: | 311' 9" |
| Beam: | 27' 3" |
| Draft: | 15' 3" |
| Powerplant (Surfaced): | 4 x 1,350BHP diesel main engines |
| Powerplant (Submerged): | 4 x 685HP electric motors |
| Powerplant (Auxiliary): | 1 x 300kw diesel engine |
| Speed: | Surfaced: 21 knots Submerged: 9 knots |
| Endurance: | 11,000 miles on the surface at 10 knots 48 hours at 2 knots submerged |
| Test Depth: | 300' |
| Armament:* | 10 21" torpedo tubes (6 fwd, 4 aft); 24 torpedoes 1 3"/.50, 4"/.50, or 5"/.25 deck gun 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun 4 .50-cal MG 2 .30-cal MG |
| Complement: | 6 officers 54 enlisted |
| * There was no standard configuration of the deck armament for fleet submarines. The type, number and placement of the guns depended on a number of different factors. |
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