The photo below shows an S-Boat next to a Gato. Secondly, their torpedo tubes were too short to accommodate the new MK14 torpedo, so they were forced to use the older MK10. Two factors tended to offset some of the negatives:įirst, they were surprisingly fast under water, with a typical max speed of 11 knots. In spite of all the shortcomings, they did achieve a surprising number of successes. It is said that this is the class that gave birth to the term "Pig Boat". filled with a stench that defies description. Crew accommodations were cramped, and in tropical waters, their lack of air conditioning turned them into virtual pressure cookers. Too slow for "Fleet Duty", they were typically used for recon and supply missions. (Something the S-Boat skipper needed to keep in mind when "playing" with Japanese DDs.) While these storage tactics did allow the boats to achieve ranges in the 5000 to 8000 nm range, they also contributed to the tendency of these boats to produce more or less continuous oil slicks in their wakes. like using part of the main ballast tank volume to store diesel. This range was obviously inadequate for Pacific service, and radical steps were taken to deal with this. One serious problem these boats faced was their original design range of 2600 to 3000 nm. I have broken them into four specification groups here, but the reality is that by the time WWII came around, even those four groups are an oversimplification. One problem with describing the S-Boats stems from the fact that they were in a state of almost continuous modification throughout the late 20s and 30s. The first boat in the class was commissioned in 1918, and the last boat, S-51, was commissioned in 1925. These are really World War 1 vintage boats. (.So if you find something that doesn't agree with one of your books, don't be too quick to jump on me. This has been a surprisingly difficult project, as many of the commonly accessible information sources differ on many of the technical points.
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