USS Bass (SS-164)


For other ships of the same name, see USS Bass.
Career (United States)
Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down: 20 October 1921
Launched: 27 December 1924
Commissioned: 26 September 1925
Decommissioned: 9 June 1937
Commissioned: 5 September 1940
Decommissioned: 3 March 1945
Struck: 10 March 1945
Fate: Scuttled as a sonar target off Block Island, 12 March 1945
General characteristics
Class & type: V-1 (Barracuda)-class composite direct-drive diesel and diesel-electric submarine
Displacement: 2,119 tons (2,153 t) surfaced, 2,506 tons (2,546 t) submerged
Length: 326 ft (99 m) (waterline), 341 ft 6 in (104.09 m) (overall)
Beam: 27 ft 6⅝ in (9.4 m)
Draft: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Propulsion:
  • As Built: 2 × Busch-Sulzer direct-drive 6-cylinder 2-cycle diesel engines, 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) each, 2 × BuEng (MAN-licensed) 6-cylinder 4-cycle diesel auxiliary engines, 1,000 hp (750 kW) each, driving electrical generators, 2 × 60-cell Exide batteries, 2 × Elliott electric motors, 1,200 hp (890 kW) each
  • Re-engined: 2 × BuEng (MAN-licenced) 6-cylinder 4-cycle diesels, 1,000 hp (750 kW) each, 2 × Ridgway motors, 2 × 60-cell Exide UH53 batteries, two shafts
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h) surfaced, 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged
Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) @ 11 knots (20 km/h), 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 11 kn with fuel in main ballast tanks (bunkerage 90,935 US gallons (344,230 l)
Endurance: 10 hours @ 5 knots (9 km/h)
Test depth: 200 ft (60 m)
Complement:
  • As Designed: 8 officers, 80 enlisted
  • 1931: 7 officers, 11 chief petty officers (CPOs), 69 enlisted
  • 1938: 7 officers, 9 CPOs, 70 enlisted (1938)
  • Conversion to Transport, 1943: 9 officers, 44 enlisted
Armament: 6 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four forward, two aft, 12 torpedoes; removed 1943), (as built) 1 × 5-inch (127 mm)/51 cal deck gun (changed to 1 × 3-inch (76 mm)/50 cal 1928, removed 1943)

USS Bass (SF-5/SS-164), a Barracuda-class submarine and one of the "V-boats", was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bass. Her keel was laid at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched as V-2 (SF-5) on 27 December 1924 sponsored by Mrs. Douglas E. Dismukes, wife of Captain Dismukes, and commissioned on 26 September 1925, Lieutenant Commander G.A. Rood in command.