Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Dorado (SS-248)
Keel Laying - Sinking

To Additional Pages

Abbott Collection of Submarine Paintings of the Dorado
USCS Log

Gato Class Submarine: Laid down, 27 August 1942, at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT.; Launched, 23 May 1943; Commissioned USS Dorado (SS-248), 28 August 1943; Final Dispostion, lost at sea while in transit from New London, CT. to the Panama Canal; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown).

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, 5,400HP, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gal., four General Electric main motors, 2,740HP, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin screws.

Size	Image Description	Source
346k	The keel of the Dorado (SS-248) being laid, 27 August 1942, at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT. This part of the keel is the steel beam between the outer hull and the pressure hull. It also likely separated a tank, for example it could separate the port and starboard portion of a main ballast tank or variable ballast tank. It appears the man is operating a pneumatic rivet gun. I would says he is driving the symbolic first rivet for the keel laying. Interesting that this is being done prior to the keel being landed on the keel blocks. Then there is the welding ground clamp below the man's right hand and a welder with hood standing by. It could be that the first rivet was driven followed by the first weld.	Text courtesy of Darryl Baker. Electric Boat photo in the NARA (National Archives & Records Administration) files, courtesy of Patrick Donnelly, Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
200k	First day cover for keel laying of the Dorado (SS-248). Her keel was laid in the Victory Yard of the Electric Boat Company on 27 Aug 1942.	Courtesy of Darryl L. Baker
42k	This photo might be the Dorado (SS-248) being constructed at the Victory Yard of the Electric Boat Company.	USN photo courtesy of Theodore Roscoe, from his book "U.S. Submarine Operations of WW II", published by USNI.
77k	Launching of the Dorado (SS-248) at Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 23 May 1943.	Electric Boat Co. photo USNHC # 79755.
108k	Closeup view of Dorado's (SS-248) midships area, taken while she was fitting out at the Electric Boat Company shipyard, Groton, Connecticut, in August 1943. Note women workers in the foreground, and the ship's bell at left. Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Fenno Jacobs, USNR.	Official U.S. Navy Photograph USNHC # 80-G-468485 now in the collections of the National Archives.
301k	Not exactly completely Dorado (SS-248) related, but an interesting photo anyway. Safety garb for women workers. The uniform at the left, complete with the plastic "bra" on the right, will prevent future occupational accidents among feminine war workers. Los Angeles, CA. 1 Aug 1943. Acme. (Women's Bureau),	Defense Visual Information Center photo # HD-SN-99-02473, NARA FILE #: 086-WWT-33-41 courtesy of dodmedia.osd.mil.
202k	Officers and crew of the Dorado (SS-248) at their commissioning party taken 13 August 1943 at Polly's Inn off West Norwich Road, Montville, CT.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
323k	Officers and crew of the Dorado (SS-248) with their wives and girl friends at their commissioning party. The photo was taken 13 August 1943 at Polly's Inn off West Norwich Road, Montville, CT. *Dorado's* (CO), LCDR Earle (Penrod) C. Schneider, former (XO) of the Trigger (SS-237), and son of a Chief Torpedoman, is the first officer in the first row, on the right hand side, sixth person in, sitting with his wife's arm around him; his (XO), LCDR George A. Wagner & his wife, are the eigth & ninth in the third row (last row sitting, next to the guy wearing glasses to his right). LCDR D. Glass, Jr., is I believe, six people to the left of LCDR Schneider.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
38k	Polly's Inn off West Norwich Road, Montville, CT, where the Dorado (SS-248) and other crews celebrated before heading off to war. The building has since burned down.	Photo courtesy of Patrick Donnelly, Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
24k	Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Dorado's (SS-248) commissioning, 28 August 1943.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
50k	Commemorative postal cover issued on the occasion of the Dorado's (SS-248) commissioning, 28 August 1943.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
166k	Bow view of the Dorado (SS-248) on sea trials off the New England coast, August 1943.	Electric Boat photo in the NARA (National Archives & Records Administration) files, courtesy of Patrick Donnelly, Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
147k	Stern view of the Dorado (SS-248) on sea trials off the New England coast, August 1943.	Electric Boat photo in the NARA (National Archives & Records Administration) files, courtesy of Patrick Donnelly, Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
122k	"Fire away! Buy extra bonds," by Georges Schreiber, Oil on board, 1944. The first Series E U.S. Savings Bond was purchased by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 1 May 1941. During WWII war bonds were a source of monetary income for the United States government. Americans were urged to buy war bonds and war savings stamps. Purchasing bonds was considerd not only patriotic, but also an investment in victory. While the initial goal of selling war bonds was to finance the war, it had the positive side-effect of raising morale on the home-front. By the end of the war 85 million Americans had invested in war bonds. The 5th war loan campaign began on 12 June 1944 with a goal of $16 billion. When this campaign ended on 8 July 1944, $20.6 billion worth of bonds had been sold. In the upper left corner of this poster is a reference to the Dorado (SS-248).	Text and photo courtesy of the Illinois State Library, library.uiuc.edu., Poster published by the United States Government Printing Office, United States Treasury Department War Finance Division, entitled *"Fire Away"* by Georges Schreiber, Oil on board, 1944.
17k	50th anniversary commerative Dorado (SS-248) envelope.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
20k	U.S. Navy Martin PBM-3S Mariner patrol bomber, circa 1944. The pilot starts his port engine, as crewmen stand by with fire extinguishers in case of a blaze. Tufts of smoke spurt from the exhaust stacks as the engine catches. Photographed at a naval air station in the Caribbean, taken prior to November 1944. This is the type of plane which may have last seen the Dorado (SS-248).	Photo courtesy of USNI.
123k	U.S. Sub Vets Memorial to the Dorado (SS-248) at Wichita, Kansas.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
96k	Memorial to the Dorado (SS-248) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.	Courtesy of Douglas Campbell & ussdorado.com
77k	In memory of the Dorado (SS-248).	Photo courtesy of Tom Kermen.
65k	Google Earth satellite photo of the site and surrounding islands of Dorado's (SS-248) last approximate position based during post-war debriefings. This position is thought to be the final resting place of the *Dorado* and her crew.	View courtesy of Google Earth.
117k	The wife of a World War II U.S. submarine veteran, tosses a flower into a reflecting pool to honor the memory of one of the 52 submarines lost during World War II at the National Submarine Memorial-West on board Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. On this Veterans Day, the Submarine Veterans of World War II transferred ownership of the memorial to the U.S. Navy. The following text is from The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton., pg. 478. "Major Sullivan Bullen of Illinois was killed in the battle, and just before it he had written to his wife, Sarah, to tell her that he believed he was going to be killed and to express a tremulous faith that could see a gleam of light in the dark: "But O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and float unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you in the gladdest days and in the gloomiest nights, always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your chest it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait, for we shall meet again!"	U.S. Navy photo N-1159B-021 by Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, courtesy of news.navy.mil.
304k	Memorial to Dorado (SS-248) crew. In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. submariners who died defending their county: "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay / He brought me forth also into a large place: / he delivered me because he delighted in me./"	Courtesy of Robert Miller's Albums : National Sub Memorial - West / epson.com.