USS Walrus (SS-437)

USS Walrus (SS-437), a World War II Tench-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the walrus, a gregarious, aquatic mammal found in Arctic waters, related to the seal and a prime source of leather, oil, ivory, and food. Like the second USS Walrus (SS-431), she was not completed.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Walrus.

USS Walrus (SS-437) is launched by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut, on 20 September 1946.
History
United States
Name:	USS Walrus
Namesake:	The walrus
Builder:	Electric Boat Company, Groton, Connecticut
Laid down:	21 June 1945
Launched:	20 September 1946
Sponsored by:	Miss Winifred P. Nagle
Completed:	Never
Commissioned:	Never
Stricken:	9 June 1958
Fate:	Construction contract cancelled 7 January 1946; sold incomplete for scrapping 1958
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tench-class diesel-electric submarine [1]
Displacement:	1,570 tons (1,595 t) surfaced [1] 2,416 tons (2,455 t) submerged [1]
Length:	311 ft 8 in (95.00 m) [1]
Beam:	27 ft 4 in (8.33 m) [1]
Draft:	17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) maximum [1]
Propulsion:	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 10-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators[2][3] 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[4] 2 × low-speed direct-drive General Electric electric motors[2] two propellers [2] 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[2] 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[2]
Speed:	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced [5] 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged [5]
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h) [5]
Endurance:	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged [5] 75 days on patrol
Test depth:	400 ft (120 m) [5]
Complement:	10 officers, 71 enlisted [5]
Armament:	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 forward, 4 aft) 28 torpedoes[4] 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun[4] Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

Walrus's keel was laid down on 21 June 1945 by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut. Work on the submarine was suspended on 7 January 1946 when the contract for her construction was cancelled, although she was launched on 20 September 1946, sponsored by Miss Winifred P. Nagle.

Walrus's hull was assigned to the New London Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 9 December 1952. Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 June 1958 and she was sold incomplete for scrapping.

References

1. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
2. Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–282. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
3. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
4. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
5. U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.