USS Drum (SS-228)

History of USS Drums (SS-228)

When the United States went to war with Imperial Japan, it became clear that its underwater forces would play a key role in limiting the effective range of the island nation. Japan needs many war supplies from outsidemetal, oil, food, and suppliesand the U.S. Navy (USN) submarine fleet will be required to use enemy warships and merchant ships to choke the enemy into submission. Entering the conflict, the large Gato-class became an important part of the USN's submarine force, culminating in some 77 submarines led by the USS Gato (SS-212) itself.

Many of these ships were successful in the war, while about two dozen were killed in action. The job of a U.S. Navy submarine operator during World War II was one of the most dangerous jobs of the entire war.

Part of this outstanding submarine class is the USS Drum (SS-228). The ship was ordered on June 12, 1940, a full year before the United States declared war in December 1941. Drum was built by the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard in Kittry, Maine, and its keel was laid on September 11. 1940.

She was launched on May 12, 1941, and officially commissioned on November 1, 1941. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was scheduled to take place on December 7 of this year and led to the United States' official declaration of war the next day.

USS Drum follows the same design form established by USS Gato. Displacement was 1,510 tons when surfaced and 2,090 tons when submerged. She measures 311 ft 9 in length with a beam of 27 ft 3 in and a draft of 17 ft.

All boats in this class were diesel electric boats, which was the machinery of the time as far as attack submarines were concerned. As such, the Drum is powered by four Fairbanks-Morse model 38D8-1/8 9-cylinder diesel engines for surface cruise and four Elliott electric motors for submarine cruise. This arrangement drives two axles with 5,400 shaft horsepower.

When the boat surfaced, it was going at 21 knots, while underwater it was down to 9 knots. The range is up to 11,000 nautical miles on the ground and up to two days underwater. The ship is capable of wartime patrols of up to 75 days, giving U.S. naval battle planners good stamina across the vast Pacific Ocean.

The boat can reach a depth of 300 feet.

The USS Drum features a typical WWII-era submarine shape with its flat surface deck (made of teak) and an upturned bow. The conning tower is centrally located amidships and contains the necessary communications and sensor equipment, as well as search and attack periscopes. A walkway along the tower provides different views of the surrounding site. The edges of the surface deck are lined with safety railings to provide some protection for the outside crew when rough seas surface. Dive planes are mounted on both sides of the bow.

The sides of the hull are bulged in the middle to provide the interior volume needed for deep-sea submarines.

Due to her aggressiveness, the USS Drum is equipped with no less than 10 533 (21") torpedo tubes, divided into 6 tubes at the bow (forward) and 4 at the stern (stern) tube facing). This gives the captain a dual attack nature without having to turn his ship completely to face the enemy. WWII submarines fought by using a periscope to spot potential targets as the submarine approached the surface. Torpedoes ("fish") are usually fired in pairs or more staggered to provide the best chance of a critical strike against the hull of an unsuspecting enemy ship.

A total of 24 torpedo reloads took place.

In addition to the expected torpedo reserves, the USS Drum is equipped with a 76 mm (3 in) deck gun for use against surface targets. The gun provided the necessary range and firepower to deal with lightly armed and armored threats, with little danger to the submarine itself if it surfaced.

For air defense, Drum carried the venerable 40mm Bofors automatic cannon (single seat) and the smaller 20mm Oerlikon cannon (dual seat). These provided protection from aerial threats - the largest of which was a Japanese naval airship armed with depth charges.

The USS Drum had a crew of 83, divided into 75 crew members and 8 officers. Crew members are further divided into fixed shifts, serving at intervals to allow a quarter of the crew to have allotted downtime and rest periods for full efficiency.

The Drum became the twelfth ship to be named the Gato-class, considered the first to actually serve the USN in World War II. Gato-class ships were quickly recognized for their inherent firepower, ocean-going speed and endurance. On April 1, 1942, Drum arrived at Pearl Harbor from the east coast of the United States via the Panama Canal to enter the war. She then embarked on her first war patrol, hunting off the coast of Japan. On May 2, she claimed to own IJN's Mizuho seaplane carrier - a vital vessel capable of carrying about 24 seaplanes.

However, Drum was the recipient of an IJN depth charge attack that kept her underwater for 16 hours. Drum survived her first excursion before sailing again and claiming three Japanese merchant ships before returning to friendly waters for an overhaul. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 12.

Her second war patrol from mid-July to early September was less nerve-racking and only damaged one freighter. She returned to Midway and has since undergone another major overhaul.

On September 23, 1942, Drum took over her third war patrol, capturing a Japanese cargo ship. Enemy air support shot Drum down. Another attack the next day caused the ship to be submerged again to avoid the disruption of the Japanese response. Drum captured three more cargo ships before returning to Pearl Island on November 8.

From November 29, 1942 to January 24, 1943, Drum conducted her fourth war patrol. She spread mines on the Bungo Channel in the Japanese islands and successfully destroyed the light aircraft carrier Ryuho. She takes damage and survives another depth charge and returns to Pearl for an overhaul. From March 24 to May 13, she conducted her fifth war patrol, during which she sank two enemy cargo ships.

On her sixth war patrol from mid-June to late July, Drum picked up a passenger/cargo ship.

Drum started her seventh war patrol on 16 August from Brisbane, Australia. On the 31st, the crew claimed another cargo ship and patrolled for a while before arriving in Brisbane again. So her eighth war patrol came on November 2, when she captured another cargo ship on November 17. A few days later, she was severely damaged by a depth charge, and she was sent back to Pearl Island for repairs.

From here she was dispatched to the US West Coast for more thorough repairs - culminating in a shipyard in 1943.

Beginning on March 29, after the installation of a new conning tower, Drum began her ninth wartime patrol at Pearl Harbor. During this excursion, she was able to use her stealth abilities to locate enemy positions near Iwo Jima and elsewhere. When she sailed to Majuro, she underwent an overhaul and began her tenth wartime patrol in June 1944.

During this voyage, she supported Allied operations and claimed a large enemy ship. She returned to Pearl in mid-August.

In mid-September, Drum went on her eleventh war patrol in support of Leyte's amphibious assault. She captured three more enemy cargo ships and rescued Allied pilots before returning to Majuro for an overhaul. Her 12th war patrol in January 1945 found nothing of interest, so her 13th war patrol ran from 11 February to 2 April. During this time, she supported Allied amphibious operations on Iwo Jima and Okinawa - two classic Allied war victories. With fewer Japanese surface targets available to her torpedoes, Drum was relegated to intelligence gathering, rescue Allied pilots and other non-contact roles for the remainder of her service career.

She was transferred to the West Coast of the United States for another refit and returned to Pearl Island for training in August. On August 15, 1945, the Japanese government officially ended the fighting in the Pacific by signing the surrender document en route to the 14th conflict patrol.

The official surrender ceremony was held in Tokyo Bay on September 2, marking the official end of World War II.

After the war, Drum was sent to the East Coast of the United States. Her services were no longer needed, and she retired on February 16, 1946. She served as a supporting role for Naval Command Potomac River from March 18, 1947, and then lived in Norfolk, Virginia waters from 1967 to 1969. On April 14, 1969, she was handed over to the USS Alabama Battleship Commission for public display.

It was established on May 18, 1969, and received its first visitors in July. The USS Drum, anchored near the USS Alabama, was damaged in Hurricane George in 1998, causing her hull to be lifted and placed on shore supports that lie today (2014) under the moving sun.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 also appeared. It remains open to the public as part of the USS Alabama floating exhibit, which also includes exterior aircraft, armored vehicles and artillery systems, as well as an indoor aircraft hangar.

All parts of the ship are accessible, including the forward torpedo bay, aft torpedo bay, conning tower and everything in between.

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