[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

Of course, that's a Gato class boat & no idea if a Balao is bigger inside or not.

Gato's and Balao's were virtually identical in dimensions and displacement.
as expected, the Balao's carried some improvements from wartime experience as that was the first boat designed and implemented during the war. oddly enough, improvement in "electronics" in this era meant that the new equipment needed MORE room than its predecessor which in some cases did not exist. so "improvement" meant less room for the crew.

the Gato's were designed before the war and Tench's were an evolution of the Gato-Balao line but did not have the same implementation numbers as the two older siblings.

the single greatest(?) difference between the two classes (Gato-Balao) was the upgrade in steel used in the pressure hull that allowed the Balao to survive at deeper depths than the Gato. there was a glitch in the pump design that limited the Balao depth to something less than what the hull could sustain but Balao's were able to dive deeper and safer than its younger sibling.

Tench's were also virtually identical to both earlier classes in both dimensions and displacement. the difference in the Tench was a redesigned ballast tank system which in turn provided room for more ammo in the forward torpedo room. of course, by the time these boats were patrolling the Japanese home waters, there were very few merchies on which to use the extra torpedoes.