A fleet submarine is a submarine with the speed, range, and endurance to operate as part of a navy's battle fleet. Examples of fleet submarines are the British First World War era K class and the American World War II era Gato class.
The term has survived in Britain to refer to modern nuclear-powered attack submarines. In the United States Navy, the term came to be used primarily for the long-range submarines that served in World War II.
Examples United States The term was used by the United States Navy to distinguish submarines suitable for long range patrols in the Pacific Ocean from earlier classes such as the United States S-class submarines. The initial goal, pursued with frequent interruptions since the AA-1-class (aka T-class) launched 1918–19, was to produce a submarine with a surfaced speed of 21 knots to operate with the Standard-type battleships of the surface fleet.Friedman, pp. 99–104 Most of the nine "V-boats" launched 1924–33 (V-1 through V-6) were either attempts to produce a fleet submarine or were long-range submarine cruisers. Eventually, a long range of was combined with high speed, beginning with the Salmon-class launched in 1938, to allow sustained operations in Japanese home waters while based at Pearl Harbor.Friedman, p. 310 These qualities also proved important in the Pacific commerce raiding of World War II, but the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty's prohibition on unrestricted submarine warfare precluded inter-war planning in this area.Friedman, p. 163 Although the Gato-class was considered the fully developed archetype,Potter & Nimitz, p. 797 the earlier Porpoise, Salmon, Sargo and Tambor-classes were incrementally improved prototypes distinctly different from the two contemporary experimental Mackerel-class coastal submarines. The Tambors were fully developed and similar to the Gatos except for diving depth and separation of the engines into two compartments.Silverstone, p. 176Friedman, pp. 310–311
Japanese Japanese I-boats were a conceptually similar long-range differentiation from smaller "medium" or "sea-going" Ro-boats, although some I-boats had features like aircraft hangars and large-caliber deck guns more often associated with submarine cruisers.Watts, pp. 161, 186
British In order to reach the speeds – over 20 knots while surfaced – required to match their capital ships and to be able to screen ahead of the fleet or flank the enemy, the British initially used steam propulsion. The K-class entering service in 1916 were large for their time. Although able to achieve 24 knots, the complexity of shutting down boilers and stowing funnels made them slow to dive.Edward C. Whitman "K for Katastrophe"
As the speed of capital ships increased, the United Kingdom abandoned the fleet submarine concept following completion of three 21-knot River-class submarine submarines of the early 1930s using supercharged diesels, because the size required for range and surface speed decreased maneuverability.Lenton & Colledge, p. 135
Others Continental European nations sometimes used the terms "ocean-going", "long-patrol", "type 1" or "1st class" submarines, generally referring to Atlantic or Indian Ocean operations in the absence of anticipated need for Pacific patrols, and often without the speed for fleet operations.le Masson, p. 143
Comparison of World War II submarines
NameTypeNationSurface DisplacementSubmerged DisplacementSpeedTorpedo TubesCrewReferencefleet submarineUnited States1,525 tons2,415 tons20 kt1080Silverstone, p. 195fleet submarineUnited Kingdom1,850 tons2,723 tons22 kt861Lenton & Colledge, p. 138fleet submarineJapan1,833 tons2,602 tons23 kt680Watts, p. 188Type IXD2ocean-going submarineGermany1,616 tons1,804 tons19 kt657Taylor, p. 104Redoutable-classocean-going submarineFrance1,570 tons2,084 tons17 kt961le Masson, pp. 152, 153Kaichū typemedium submarineJapan1,115 tons1,447 tons19 kt480Watts, p. 189Type XBminelayerGermany1,763 tons2,177 tons16 kt252Taylor, p. 106submarine cruiserItaly1,461 tons2,136 tons18 kt1485Kafka & Pepperburg, p. 790Type B1submarine cruiserJapan2,584 tons3,654 tons23 kt6100Watts, p. 185O 21-classmedium submarineNetherlands888 tons1,186 tons19 kt855Lenton, p. 43Type VIICmedium submarineGermany769 tons871 tons17 kt544Taylor, p. 101minelayerItaly1,371 tons1,883 tons15 kt666Kafka & Pepperburg, p. 793600 seriesmedium submarineItaly615 tons855 tons14 kt641S-classmedium submarineUnited Kingdom715 tons990 tons14 kt644Lenton & Colledge, p. 139minelayerUnited Kingdom1,520 tons2,157 tons15 kt659medium submarineFrance662 tons856 tons14 kt941le Masson, p. 161Narwhal-classsubmarine cruiserUnited States2,730 tons4,050 tons17 kt690Silverstone, p. 186Surcoufsubmarine cruiserFrance3,250 tons4,304 tons18 kt12118le Masson, p. 157minelayerUnited States2,710 tons4,080 tons15 kt489S-boatsmedium submarineUnited States840 tons1,150 tons15 kt442Silverstone, p. 183
Modern boats United Kingdom Since the mid-1960s, the Royal Navy has used the term Fleet Submarine for its nuclear-powered attack submarines, distinguishing them from the ballistic missile submarines (and, in the 20th century, from the diesel-electric submarines, which it termed 'Patrol Submarines').
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