USS F-3
USS Pickerel/F-3 , also known as "Submarine No. 22", was an F-class submarine|F-class] submarine in the United States Navy. She was the first ship of the USN to be named for the pickerel, a young pike, though she was renamed F-3 prior to launching.
Design
The F-class boats had an overall length of, a beam of, and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged with a diving depth of. The F-class submarines had a crew of 1 officer and 21 enlisted men.For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO diesel 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 F-class submarines were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow, no reloads were carried.
Construction
Pickerels keel was laid down by The Moran Company, of Seattle, Washington, on 17 August 1909. She was renamed F-3 on 17 November 1911, and launched on 6 January 1912, sponsored by Mrs. M. F. Backus. F-3 was commissioned on 5 August 1912.Service history
F-3 completed her trials in the Puget Sound area before reporting for duty at San Francisco, California, on 15 October 1912, when she joined the First Submarine Group, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla. The Flotilla operated along the coast of California, conducting constant exercises and experiments to develop the techniques of submarine warfare, and from August 1914 to November 1915, carried out similar operations in the Hawaiian Islands, the boats towed to their new operating area by armored cruisers. F-3 was placed in ordinary at Mare Island Navy Yard, in Vallejo, California, on 15 March 1916, returning to full commission on 13 June 1917.After training her new crew, F-3 was assigned to the Coast Torpedo Force, Pacific Fleet, based at San Pedro, California's San Pedro Submarine Base. She engaged in daily operations, surfaced and submerged, training students of the submarine school. During maneuvers on 17 December 1917, she and collided, the latter sinking almost immediately. F-3, along with other submarines with whom she was operating, rescued only three men out of the 22 on board F-1. F-3 suffered a cracked bow cap and after repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard, was assigned operations in cooperation with a civilian motion picture company in experiments with underwater photography.