USS Manta (SS-299)

	USS Manta
History
United States
Builder	Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Yard number	554
Laid down	15 January 1943
Launched	7 November 1943
Commissioned	18 December 1944
Decommissioned	10 June 1946
Recommissioned	2 August 1949
Decommissioned	6 December 1955
Stricken	30 June 1967
Fate	Sunk as a target off Hampton, Virginia, 16 July 1969
General characteristics
Class and type	Balao class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced; 2,424 tons (2,463 t) submerged;
Length	311 ft 6 in (94.95 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) maximum
Propulsion	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-1⁄8 9-cylinder opposed-piston diesel engines driving electrical generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears; 2 × propellers; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.04 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.25 knots (38 km/h) surfaced; 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) surfaced at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; 75 days on patrol;
Test depth	400 ft (120 m)
Complement	10 officers, 70–71 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 forward, 4 aft; 24 torpedoes; 1 × 5-inch (127 mm) / 25 caliber deck gun; Bofors 40 mm and Oerlikon 20 mm cannon;

USS Manta (SS/ESS/AGSS-299), a Balao-class submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the manta.

Construction and commissioning

Manta was laid down on 15 January 1943 by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; launched on 7 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Michael J. Bradley; and commissioned on 18 December 1944.

Service history

Upon completion of her shakedown cruise, Manta departed New London, Connecticut, 27 March 1945 for Hawaii via the Panama Canal. She sailed from Pearl Harbor 28 May 1945 for her first war patrol, off the Kurile Islands. Returning 16 July, she began her second patrol 8 August and ended it with the cessation of hostilities 15 August.

Returning to Pearl Harbor 10 September, Manta engaged in training through December. On 2 January 1946, she sailed for San Francisco and preinactivation overhaul. She was decommissioned 10 June 1946 and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

Manta recommissioned 2 August 1949, Lt. E. H. Edwards, Jr., in command, as ESS-299. On 1 September she was redesignated AGSS-299 and ordered to Key West, Fla. For the next 4 years she operated as a target ship for experimental antisubmarine warfare projects of Operational Development Force, Atlantic Fleet.

On 5 July 1955, Manta departed Key West for Portsmouth, N.H., to prepare for inactivation. Towed to New London, she decommissioned 6 December 1955 and was placed in the Inactive Reserve Fleet. In April 1960 she was assigned to Naval Reserve training duties with the 3rd Naval District. Declared as excess to the needs of the Navy, she was struck from the Navy List on 30 June 1967 and sunk as an aircraft target off Hampton, Virginia on 16 July 1969.

Awards

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. pp. 285–304. ISBN 1-55750-263-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 275–280. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775–1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 271–280. ISBN 978-0-313-26202-9.
^ U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 261–263
^ ^a ^b ^c U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305–311
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f U.S. Submarines Through 1945 pp. 305-311