Quote:
Originally Posted by cj95
What about the SSK mod boats? Any big advantages or disadvantages there?
We've got USS Cavalla here is town and Ive always wondered how they compare to the GUPPYs
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The SSKs were interesting in a few ways. They were more austere compared to what went on with the GUPPYs when it comes to all the battery and electric motor replacement and so on. They did get a streamlined sail and a little help in the hydrodynamics department with some of the streamlining, but for the most part they weren't going to be much faster underwater than your average fleet-boat. However, they did receive one of the best sonar sets out (AN/BQR-4) until the spherical array came along in the 60s.
Basically the SSKs were ambush boats designed to sit along a barrier (say GIUK Gap or maybe the Windward passage?) and listen for anything that's transiting through the area. Originally they were planning on mass-producing the Barracuda class, which was basically the smallest, cheapest boat possible built around the sonar array. Instead, what they ended up doing is dragging a bunch of the old Gatos out of moth-balls because it was cheaper. While you did need more crew and were certainly getting a bigger boat than you needed you had much better time on station, and the Gatos were a known commodity after what they did in the pacific.
The other interesting thing about the SSKs is why the Gatos were chosen. One of the other things about the GUPPYs, very few (really none in US service, they converted like 4 of them for Italy to austere GUPPY 1B standards) were Gato class, mainly because the Balao and Tench had the thick HTS (High-Tensile Steel) pressure hulls so they could dive deeper, and, while some of these Balaos and Tenches had little to no wear or use, the entire Gato class had been very busy during the war.
One of the other things they used the SSK program for is as a dress-rehearsal for reactivating the moth-ball fleet. If a war started during the 50s and those boats were needed, they would be needed in a hurry and wouldn't all be receiving GUPPY conversions. The SSK program at least brought them up to a level where they could take on picket duty guarding various places and freeing up other (presumably better equipped GUPPY boats) for more general purpose stuff like offensive operations.