[Rab09]

After reading many posts I though I would bring up a misconseption. S-Boats are not the Salmon class boats:

The S-boats (built around 1915-1920??) were a notable advance over the O and R class boats, which were merely slight improvements over the K-L class boats. It was 230 feet long, displaced 800 tons and carried tweleve torpedoes. Most built by Electric Boat; Simon Lake built about twenty boats. There is a fundamental difference between the Electric Boats and Simon Lake S-boats. The Electric Boat submarnines, populary called "Holland S-boats", had internial ballast tanks (inside pressure hull) and were therefore called "single-hull" boats. The Lake S-boats had externial ballast tanks humped on the pressure hull, like saddles, were therefore called :double-hull" boats.

The Salmon class boats along with the P- class boats (were commissioned between 1935-1939 and the Salmons followed the P's). All were similar to, but larger than, the Cachalot- Cuttlefish design. All were powered by the new lightweight high-performance diesel engines developed by private enterprise. The P class had four torpedo tubes forward and two aft. the Salmon class boats had four tubes forward and four aft. All had 3-inch deck guns and dived within sixty seconds.

The power arrangement was a new system known as "diesel-electric" drive. Each had four engines turning a generator. For submerged operations they had a new, more powerfull battery, manufactured by Exide Storage or Gould Battery Company. The battery contained 250 large cells, in two compartments, beneath main deck. Theoretically, a fully charged battery could propel a submerged P or Salmon at 2 knots for 48 hours or at max speed for one hour. They were also equipted with the Mark I (TDC). They were also airconditioned. This served two purposes: first it made boats livable in tropical waters, and it reduced humidity and condensation which collected on the inside of the pressure hull and caused electrical shorts.

Finally both classes were equipted with several new safety features. Each carred a supply of Momsen Lungs, the forward and after torpedo hatches were fitted with divices to lock on the McCann Rescue Chamber. In addition all boats had buoys containing telephones.

The next boats were the Tambor class boats