HULL:
Type:
Balao-class Submarine
Constructed:
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Keel Laid:
23 July 1942
Launched:
7 December 1942, nicknamed, "The Pearl Harbor Avenger"
Sponsor:
Mrs. Jane Gawne, wife of CAPT James Orville Gawne, U.S. Navy, who was head of the Portsmouth Navy Shipyard
Commissioned:
1 May 1943
Complement:
Originally 70 men (7 officers & 63 enlisted), later increased to 80 men (8 officers & 72 enlisted); Bowfin carried 85 men on her last war patrol.
Displacement:
1,810 tons (on surface); 2,415 tons (submerged)
Length:
311 feet 9.8 inches
Maximum Beam (widest point):
27 feet 3 inches
Mean Draft (depth to keel on surface):
15 feet 3 inches
Freeboard (distance from deck to surface of water):
12 feet 5 inches at bow 3 feet 11 inches at stern
Pressure Hull Maximum Diameter:
16 feet 3/8 inch
Torpedo Tubes:
6 tubes in the forward torpedo room, and 4 in the aft torpedo room
Torpedoes:
24 total, 10 in tubes and 14 in reload racks. Primary torpedoes used were the Mark 14 and Mark 23, both steam-driven. By the end of the war, Bowfin was using the Mark 18 electric torpedo and Mark 27 acoustic torpedo, nicknamed "cutie."
Guns:
Originally, one 4 inch 50-caliber and two 20 mm. Upgraded to one 5 inch 25-caliber, one 40 mm and one 20 mm.
MACHINERY:
Main Engines:
Four General Motors Model 16-278A diesel, V-16
Main Generators:
Four General Electric 1,100 kw; 2,650 amps/415 volts propulsion; 3,600 amps/296 volts battery charging.
Main Motors:
Four General Electric 1,375 HP
Gears:
Combining and reduction type
2 -- 1,375 HP @ 1,300 RPM inputs
1 -- 2,740 HP @ 280 RPM output
Batteries:
Two 126-cell Exide type. Each cell was about 4.5 feet high, 1.25 feet deep, and 1.75 feet wide, and weighed about 1,650 pounds.
Maximum Speed:
20.25 knots surface speed; 8.75 knots submerged
23.3 MPH/37.5 KPH; 10 MPH/16.2 KPH
Propellers:
Two four-bladed, 8-foot diameter
Rudder:
One balanced streamlined type, limits 38 degrees to port and starboard.
Fuel Capacity:
Diesel, 54,000 gallons normal; 116,000 gallons maximum
