USS Triton (SS-201)

History
United States
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine
Laid down	5 July 1939
Launched	25 March 1940
Commissioned	15 August 1940
Fate	Sunk by Japanese destroyers off the Admiralty Islands, 15 March 1943
General characteristics
Class & type	Tambor class diesel-electric submarine
Displacement	1,475 long tons (1,499 t) standard, surfaced; 2,370 tons (2,408 t) submerged;
Length	307 ft 2 in (93.62 m)
Beam	27 ft 3 in (8.31 m)
Draft	14 ft 7+1⁄2 in (4.458 m)
Propulsion	4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 9-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators; 2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries; 4 × high-speed General Electric electric motors with reduction gears; two propellers; 5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced; 2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged;
Speed	20.4 knots (38 km/h) surfaced; 8.75 knots (16 km/h) submerged;
Range	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h), fuel capacity 93,993 US gal (355,800 L) to 96,365 US gal (364,780 L) fuel oil
Endurance	48 hours at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged; patrol endurance, up to 75 days
Test depth	250 ft (76 m)
Complement	6 officers, 54 enlisted
Armament	10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft; 24 Mark 14 torpedoes or up to 40 mines); one 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber deck gun; 2 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machineguns;

USS Triton (SS-201) was the fourth Tambor-class submarine to be commissioned in the United States Navy in the years leading up to the country's December 1941 entry into World War II. Her wartime service was in the Pacific Ocean. She completed five patrols in the following 14 months, and is credited with the sinking of over 20,000 tons of Japanese shipping and warships. She was lost with all hands on or around 15 March 1943. Of the twelve Tambor-class submarines, only five survived the war.

Her keel was down on 5 July 1939 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard. She was launched on 25 March 1940 sponsored by Mrs. Martha E. King, wife of Rear Admiral Ernest J. King, and commissioned on 15 August 1940 with Lieutenant Commander Willis A. "Pilly" Lent (Class of 1925) in command. She was the first submarine and third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Triton, a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the sea.

The new submarine held her shakedown training in the Caribbean Sea from 14 January to 26 March 1941 and then conducted training and minelaying exercises in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire - New London, Connecticut area. Triton departed Portsmouth on 1 July, transited the Panama Canal on 12 July, and arrived at San Diego, California, on 20 July. Nine days later, she and sister ship USS Trout (SS-202) headed for Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 4 August 1941.