Barracuda class submarine
Encyclopedia
The Barracuda class submarines were the product of Project Kayo, a research and development effort begun immediately after World War II
by the United States Navy
to "solve the problem of using submarines to attack and destroy enemy submarines." The three Barracuda ASW boats were not the only US submarine
s to bear the hull classification symbol
SSK. (SSK-246) was a converted WW2 Gato class submarine
.
The primary innovation created by Kayo was a low-frequency passive bow sonar
system, the BQR-4. With the sonar array occupying the boat's bow, the forward torpedo tubes had to be moved back and angled outward.
The Barracuda type SSK's were designed to be smaller than contemporary attack submarines and simpler in design and construction. It was hoped that this would allow them to be cheaply mass produced in the large numbers it was thought would be needed to combat the growing Soviet submarine fleet. It was also thought that this would allow shipyards without submarine experience, and aircraft contractors with experience in the mass production of large complex aircraft, to build these submarines.
Like other attempts to build smaller, cheaper submarines, the experiment was a failure. As with the pre-WWII Mackerel
class, and later , the result was a ship with insufficient performance to meet their intended operational usage. The Barracudas were slow and had limited endurance, and so were retired by the late 1950s. Their sonar, however, proved excellent, with good convergence zone detection ranges against snorkel
ing submarines. A bow sonar array and angled, amidships torpedo tubes have been used in every submarine design created since the Barracudas.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to "solve the problem of using submarines to attack and destroy enemy submarines." The three Barracuda ASW boats were not the only US submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s to bear the hull classification symbol
Hull classification symbol
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...
SSK. (SSK-246) was a converted WW2 Gato class submarine
Gato class submarine
The United States Navy Gato class submarine formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II...
.
The primary innovation created by Kayo was a low-frequency passive bow sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
system, the BQR-4. With the sonar array occupying the boat's bow, the forward torpedo tubes had to be moved back and angled outward.
The Barracuda type SSK's were designed to be smaller than contemporary attack submarines and simpler in design and construction. It was hoped that this would allow them to be cheaply mass produced in the large numbers it was thought would be needed to combat the growing Soviet submarine fleet. It was also thought that this would allow shipyards without submarine experience, and aircraft contractors with experience in the mass production of large complex aircraft, to build these submarines.
Like other attempts to build smaller, cheaper submarines, the experiment was a failure. As with the pre-WWII Mackerel
Mackerel class submarine
The Mackerel class submarines were a pair of experimental prototype submarines built just prior to the World War II. The two submarines were similar in size and capability to the S class submarines built at the end of World War I, and had been ordered to test the feasibility of using mass...
class, and later , the result was a ship with insufficient performance to meet their intended operational usage. The Barracudas were slow and had limited endurance, and so were retired by the late 1950s. Their sonar, however, proved excellent, with good convergence zone detection ranges against snorkel
Submarine snorkel
A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort.-History:...
ing submarines. A bow sonar array and angled, amidships torpedo tubes have been used in every submarine design created since the Barracudas.