USS D-3


USS Salmon/D-3 , also known as "Submarine No. 19", was a [United States United States D-class submarine|D-class submarine|D-class] submarine built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after the salmon. She was the first submarine to make an over ocean voyage under her own power.

Design

The D-class submarines were enlarged versions of the preceding C class, the first American submarines armed with four torpedo tubes. They had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. The D-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of.
For surface running, they were powered by two gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of at and at submerged.
The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They did not carry reloads for them.

Construction

Salmon was laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company of Groton, Connecticut. Salmon was launched on 12 March 1910, sponsored by Eunice Fitzgerald, the daughter of Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald.
In July 1910, captained by Electric Boat Company executive, and former naval officer, Gregory C. Davison, she journeyed from Massachusetts to Bermuda, and returned. Travelling about, it was the first over-sea trip made by a submarine under its own power.

Service history

Salmon was commissioned on 8 September 1910, and joined the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet at Newport, Rhode Island. She was renamed D-3 on 17 November 1911. The torpedo fleet was active along the East Coast and made a cruise to the Caribbean Sea, from 17 October 1912 – 20 January 1913, after which D-3 remained to serve with the forces operating in Mexican waters following the occupation of Veracruz. She rejoined the flotilla at Norfolk, Virginia, on 16 June 1914, and with them visited Washington, DC, from 17–22 July, before returning to their homeport on 24 July. From 21 September 1917, D-3 served as flagboat of Submarine Division 2. She trained aspiring submariners at Newport and New London, Connecticut, until placed in commission, in reserve on 5 September 1919.

Fate

She was placed in ordinary, on 15 July 1921. D-3 was towed into Philadelphia Navy Yard, on 20 March 1922, where she was decommissioned and her name struck from the navy list the same day. She was sold for scrapping on 31 July 1922.