USS Barracuda (SS-163)
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USS Barracuda (SS-163)
USS ''Barracuda'' (SF-4/SS-163), lead ship of her class and first of the "V-boats," was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barracuda (after USS ''F-2''). Construction and commissioning ''Barracuda''′s keel was laid down at Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched as ''V-1'' (SF-4) on 17 July 1924, sponsored by Mrs. Cornelia Wolcott Snyder, wife of Captain Snyder, and commissioned on 1 October 1924. ''V-1'' and her sisters ''V-2'' (''Bass'') and ''V-3'' (''Bonita'') were the only class of the nine "V-boats" designed to meet the fleet submarine requirement of surface speed for operating with contemporary battleships. Engineering ''V-1'' was completed with two Busch-Sulzer direct-drive 6-cylinder 2-cycle main diesel engines of each, along with two Busch-Sulzer auxiliary diesel engines of each, driving electrical generators. The latter were primarily for charging batteries, but to reach maximum surfaced speed, they could augment the mechanica ...
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Battery (electricity)
An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons that will flow through an external electric circuit to the positive terminal. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, a redox reaction converts high-energy reactants to lower-energy products, and the free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells; however, the usage has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell. Primary (single-use or "disposable") batteries are used once and discarded, as the electrode materials are irreversibly changed during discharge; a common example is the alkaline battery used ...
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USS F-2 (SS-21)
USS ''F-2'' (SS-21) was an F-class submarine built for the United States Navy during the 1910s. Description The F-class boats had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The F-class submarines had a crew of 1 officer and 21 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of .Friedman, p. 306 For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of at and at submerged.Gardiner & Gray, p. 127 The F-class submarines were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow, no reloads were carried. Construction and career The boat was named ''Barracuda'' when she was laid down by Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California, but was renamed on 17 November 1911. She was launched on 19 March 1912 sponsored by M ...
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Barracuda
A barracuda, or cuda for short, is a large, predatory, ray-finned fish known for its fearsome appearance and ferocious behaviour. The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide ranging from the eastern border of the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, on its western border the Caribbean Sea, and in tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean. Barracudas reside near the top of the water and near coral reefs and sea grasses. Barracudas are targeted by sport-fishing enthusiasts. Etymology The common name "barracuda" is derived from Spanish, with the original word being of possibly Cariban origin. Description Barracuda are snake-like in appearance, with prominent, sharp-edged, fang-like teeth, much like piranha, all of different sizes, set in sockets of their large jaws. They have large, pointed heads with an underbi ...
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United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of its active battle fleet alone exceeding the next 13 navies combined, including 11 allies or partner nations of the United States as of 2015. It has the highest combined battle fleet tonnage (4,635,628 tonnes as of 2019) and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction, and five other carriers planned. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the United States Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 290 deployable combat vessels and more than 2,623 operational aircraft . The United States Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revo ...
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V-boat
The V-boats were a group of nine United States Navy submarines built between World War I and World War II from 1921 to 1934 under authorization as the "fleet boat" program. The term "V-boats" as used includes five separate classes of submarines: large, fast fleet submarines (''V-1'' through ''V-3''), large long-range submarines (the minelayer ''V-4'' and two submarine cruisers ''V-5'' and ''V-6'') and three medium-sized submarines (''V-7'' through ''V-9''). The successful fleet submarines of World War II ( through ) were descended from the last three, especially ''V-7'', though somewhat larger with pure diesel-electric propulsion systems. Originally called USS ''V-1'' through ''V-9'' (SS-163 through SS-171), in 1931 the nine submarines were renamed , , , , , , , , and , respectively. All served in World War II, six of them on war patrols in the central Pacific. ''Argonaut'' was lost to enemy action. Background In the early 1910s, only 12 years after inaugurated the Navy's u ...
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Lead Ship
The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may take as many as five to ten years to build. Improvements based on experience with building and operating the lead ship are likely to be incorporated into the design or construction of later ships in the class, so it is rare to have vessels that are identical. The second and later ships are often started before the first one is completed, launched and tested. Nevertheless, building copies is still more efficient and cost-effective than building prototypes, and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes be retrofitted to the lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned for shakedown testing before following ship ...
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Deck Gun
A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose weapon used to sink merchant shipping or shell shore targets, or defend the submarine on the surface from enemy aircraft and warships. Typically a crew of three operated the gun, while others were tasked with supplying ammunition. A small locker box held a few 'ready-use' rounds. With a well-drilled, experienced crew, the rate of fire of a deck gun could be 15 to 18 aimed shots per minute. Some submarines also had additional deck guns like auto-cannons and machine guns for anti-aircraft defense. While similar unenclosed guns are often found on surface warships as secondary or defensive armament (such as the US Navy's 5-inch (127 mm)/25 caliber gun which was removed from battleships to mount on submarines), the term "deck gun" normally r ...
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5"/51 Caliber Gun
5"/51 caliber guns (spoken "five-inch-fifty-one-caliber") initially served as the secondary battery of United States Navy battleships built from 1907 through the 1920s, also serving on other vessels. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 51 calibers long. Description The different marks of the gun were Marks 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15. The built-up gun consisted of a tube, full-length jacket, and single hoop with side swing Welin breech block and Smith-Asbury mechanism for a total weight of about 5 metric tons. Some Marks included a tapered liner. A charge of smokeless powder gave a projectile a velocity of . Range was at the maximum elevation of 20 degrees. Useful life expectancy was 900 effective full charges (EFC) per liner.Campbell 1985 p.136 US service The 5-inch/51 caliber gun was designed to engage destroyers, torpedo boats, and other surface targets. The 5"/51 gun entered service in 1911 as secondary ar ...
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Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a ''fish''. The term ''torpedo'' originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called naval mine, mines. From about 1900, ''torpedo'' has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device. While the 19th-century battleship had evolved primarily with a view to engagements between armored warships with naval artillery, large-caliber guns, the invention and refinement of torpedoes from the 1860s onwards allowed small torpedo boats and other lighter surface combatant , surface vessels, submarines/submersibles, even improvised fishing boats or frogmen, and later light aircraft, to destroy large shi ...
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Torpedo Tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboard surface vessels. Deck-mounted torpedo launchers are usually designed for a specific type of torpedo, while submarine torpedo tubes are general-purpose launchers, and are often also capable of deploying naval mine, mines and cruise missiles. Most modern launchers are standardized on a diameter for light torpedoes (deck mounted aboard ship) or a diameter for heavy torpedoes (underwater tubes), although other sizes of torpedo tube have been used: see Torpedo#Classes and diameters, Torpedo classes and diameters. Submarine torpedo tube A submarine torpedo tube is a more complex mechanism than a torpedo tube on a surface ship, because the tube has to accomplish the function of moving the torpedo from the normal atmospheric pressure within t ...
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Petty Officer
A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as a chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have served at least several years in their respective navies. Petty officers represent the junior and mid-grade non-commissioned officer ranks of many naval services, and are generally responsible for the day-to-day supervision of ranks junior to them. They may also serve as technical specialists within their rating (military occupation). Origin The modern petty officer dates back to the Age of Sail in the Royal Navy. Petty officers rank between naval officers (both commissioned and warrant) and most enlisted sailors. These were men with some claim to officer rank, sufficient to distinguish t ...
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