Barbel 1963
Blueback 1967
Barbel 1990
| No | Name | Yard No | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Comm | Fate |
| SS580 | Barbel | Portsmouth N Yd | 18.5.1956 | 19.7.1958 | 17.1.1959 | stricken 1.1990 | |
| SS581 | Blueback | 1041 | Ingalls, Pascagoula | 15.4.1957 | 16.5.1959 | 15.10.1959 | stricken 10.1990 |
| SS582 | Bonefish | 515 | New York SB, Camden | 3.6.1957 | 22.11.1958 | 9.7.1959 | fire 24.3.1988, stricken 28.2.1989 |
|
Displacement standard, t |
|
|
Displacement normal, t |
2146 / 2639 |
|
Length, m |
66.8 |
|
Breadth, m |
8.80 |
|
Draught, m |
6.30 |
|
No of shafts |
1 |
|
Machinery |
3 Fairbank Morse diesel-generators, 1 Westinghouse electric motor |
|
Power, h. p. |
3150 / 4700 |
|
Max speed, kts |
14 / 18.5 |
|
Fuel, t |
diesel oil |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | 14000(10) / 306(3) |
|
Armament |
6 - 533 Mk 58 TT (bow, 22) |
|
Electronic equipment |
BPS-12 radar, BQS-4, BQR-2 sonars, BLR-1 ECM suite |
|
Complement |
77 |
|
Diving depth operational, m |
210 |
Project history: These submarines, the last US diesel-electric types built, adopted the streamlined hull form of the experimental Albacore to achieve high underwater speed, albeit for only relatively short periods. Stern torpedo tubes had to be eliminated because of the adoption of a single propeller shaft. As built, they had conventional bow diving planes, but they were later modified with planes in their fin structures. They were the first US submarines with all controls centralized in an 'attack center', a practice adopted for all later classes.
Unlike earlier diesel submarines. they were not refitted with PUFFs passive fire control gear, perhaps because the three large sonar domes involved would have ruined streamlining. They differ from Albacore-shaped nuclear submarines in that they retain a substantial casing with a noticeable free-flooding slot running most of its length.
Modernizations: 1960s, all: - BLR-1 ECM suite; + WLR-1 ECM suite
Naval service: Bonefish was stricken following a serious fire (three fatalities), on 24 March 1988 in 160nm off Atlantic coast of Florida.
Barbel 1979
© Ivan Gogin, 2015