first successful submarine-to-aircraft optical communications.Other examples of Dolphin's work include: In August 1969, Dolphin launched a torpedo from the deepest depth that one has ever been fired. She has internal and external mounting points, multiple electronic hull connectors, and up to ten equipment racks for project use. UseĮmployed by both civilian and Navy activities, Dolphin was equipped with an extensive instrumentation suite that supported missions such as acoustic deep-water and littoral research, near-bottom and ocean surveys, weapons launches, sensor trials, and engineering evaluations.īecause she was designed as a test platform, Dolphin could be modified both internally and externally to allow installation of up to 12 tons of special research and test equipment. The submarine has no snorkel mast the main hatch must be open when diesels are running. Hull openings were minimized for structural strength and minimum hull weight, in addition to eliminating possible sources for flooding casualties. The entire design of the pressure hull was kept as simple as possible to facilitate its use in structural experiments and trials. It is a constant diameter cylinder, closed at its ends with hemispherical heads, and utilizes deep frames instead of bulkheads. The single most significant technical achievement in the development of Dolphin is the pressure hull itself. She is now a museum ship in San Diego Bay under the management of the San Diego Maritime Museum. The reason for the selection of "555" as Dolphin 's hull number is not known.ĭespite a recent repair and upgrade, Dolphin was decommissioned on 15 January 2007 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on the same date. Dolphin 's hull number was taken from a block of cancelled hull numbers from the World War II vintage Tench class, the last of which was commissioned in 1951. At the time of her 1968 commissioning, the five other new submarines commissioned that year, all of the Sturgeon class, had hull numbers ranging from 638 to 663. She was the Navy's last operational conventionally powered submarine.ĭolphin 's hull number, "555", is unusual in that it was taken out of sequence. Her 38-year career was the longest in history for a US Navy submarine. She was commissioned in 1968 and decommissioned in 2007. USS Dolphin (AGSS-555) was a United States Navy diesel-electric deep-diving research and development submarine. An external tube could be mounted to be used for experiments.įitted with a 20-ton keel section to be jettisoned by explosive bolts for surfacing under emergency conditions (10 knots (12 mph 19 km/h), 3–4 knots (3.5–4.6 mph 5.6–7.4 km/h) sustainedġ2 tons on external mounting pads, six port, six starboard, forward and aft of sail.2 × General Motors V71 12-cylinder diesel engines, 425 hp (317 kW).Museum Ship at the Maritime Museum of San Diego
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