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Originally Posted by Peto
Main differences between a Balao and a Tench are the Tench had a 600 foot diving depth as opposed to 400 and it carried 28 torpedoes instead of 24. I think only a couple of the got into the action during the war (Tigrone was a Tench I know).
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According to The Book The Fleet Boat in the US Navy....both Tench and Balao had an operational Depth of 400 feet with the standard USN emergency crush depth factor of 1.5x giving the safe emergency depth of 600 feet to both classes. While, the Tamber\Gar (Tamber and Gar were identical in design, except for the Gars haiving a rienforced gun platform capable of carrying a 5in\51 caliber deck gun as compared to the Tamber's origenal 3in\50 and later 5in\25 gun) and Gato (basicly a repeat of the Tamber class with a seperator bolkhead, deviding the engine room into two compartments, while tamber had one) classes were limited to a 300 feet operational depth with emergancy of 450 ft. The difference in depth was directly related to the steel used to build the boats. The Gato and Tamber were brult using a mild steel while the Balao and Tench used a high tensel strength steel. The switch over in materials used in construction was actually one of the most guarded secrets of the war, and wasn't declassified until well into the GUPPY program. the different steels gave rise to the older boats being called thin skinned boats and the newer boats as thick skin boats or heavy hulled boats.
The Salmon and Sargo types were still limited to operating at 250 feet. even though they had the same thickness and tensel strength of the Tamber. Tamber and Gato types got the extra depth because of construction methods had improved the stiffness of the boat.
The main difference in the Tench class and the Balao (basicly a repeat of design of Gato using the heavier steel) class is the layout of the trim tanks. This lead to a better internal layout elimanating the risors in both Torpedo rooms and clearing space to carry more torpedos. The risors in the Balao class was thought to be a point of weakness in the boat design. The rearangement of the the trim tanks gave the Tench class its destinctive nuckle at the bow.
Both boats were thought equal in the eyes of the crews that maned them.
As for the engine layout that depended on what yard laid them down. Both types could have geared or direct drive. It depended on the yard and time they were laid down.
Deck guns were mounted acording to the pattern that was set at time of service. Some Tenches had two, just like some Balaos had two. Jest depends on the time.