USS Wahoo (SS-238)

USS Wahoo off Mare Island Naval Shipyard (July 1943)
History
United States
Name	Wahoo
Builder	Mare Island Naval Shipyard[1]
Laid down	28 June 1941[1]
Launched	14 February 1942[1]
Sponsored by	Mrs. William C. Barker, Jr.
Commissioned	15 May 1942[1]
Stricken	6 December 1943
Fate	Sunk by Japanese ships and aircraft in La Pérouse Strait, 11 October 1943[2]
General characteristics
Class and type	Gato-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement	1,525 long tons (1,549 t) surfaced[2] 2,424 long tons (2,463 t) submerged[2]
Length	311 ft 9 in (95.02 m)[2]
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)[2]
Draft	17 ft (5.2 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators[2][4] 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[3] 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears[2] two propellers[2] 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[2] 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[2]
Speed	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) surfaced[3] 9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) submerged[3]
Range	11,000 nmi (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) surfaced at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)[3]
Endurance	48 hours at 2 kn (2 mph; 4 km/h) submerged[3] 75 days on patrol
Test depth	300 ft (90 m)[3]
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted[3]
Armament	10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes   (six forward, four aft; 24 Mark 14 torpedoes[3] 1 × 3 in (76 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun[3] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

USS Wahoo (SS-238) was a Gato-class submarine, the first United States Navy ship to be named for the wahoo. Construction started before the U.S. entered World War II, and she was commissioned after entry. Wahoo was assigned to the Pacific theatre. She gained fame as an aggressive and highly successful submarine after Lieutenant Commander Dudley Walker "Mush" Morton became her skipper. She was sunk by Japanese aircraft in October 1943 while returning home from a patrol in the Sea of Japan.