USS R-3
USS R-3 , also known as "Submarine No. 80", was an R-1-class coastal and harbor defense submarines of the United States Navy commissioned after the end of World War I.
Due to space constraints, the boats built at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard, were laid down much later than the boats built at the Union Iron Works and the Lake Torpedo Boat Company yards. Because of this, none were commissioned before the end of WWI.
Design
The R-boats built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, through, and the Union Iron Works, through, are sometimes considered a separate class, R-1-class, from those built by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, through, R-21-class.The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of, and a mean draft of. They displaced on the surface and submerged. The R-1-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of.
For surface running, the boats were powered by two NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Electro-Dynamic Company electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the R-1-class had a range of at, or if fuel was loaded into their main ballast tanks.
The boats were armed with four [American 21-inch torpedo|] torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The R-1-class submarines were also armed with a single /50 caliber deck gun.
Construction
R-3s keel was laid down on 11 December 1917, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 18 January 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Florence McCord, and commissioned on 17 April 1919, at Boston, Massachusetts.Service history
1919–1934
After shakedown off the Massachusetts coast, R-3 was assigned to Submarine Division 9 at New London, Connecticut. She departed New London, with the coaling ship, on 4 December 1919, for Norfolk, Virginia, and a winter deployment with the division in the Gulf of Mexico, from 13 January to 27 March 1920. R-3 returned to New London, on 18 May, for four months of summer exercises with her sister boats R-1 and. When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-80. She sailed on 13 September, for Norfolk, and overhaul.R-3 was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, with Division 9, on 8 April, transited the Panama Canal, on 28 May, and arrived 30 June, at her new base, San Pedro, California. After operating for two years in California waters, she was transferred 16 July 1923, to Pearl Harbor, where she was stationed for the next years, engaging in training and operations with fleet units.
R-3 was reassigned, 12 December 1930, to the Atlantic Fleet for duty with Division 4. She arrived on 9 February 1931, at New London. After acting as a training ship at the Submarine School, in New London, for five months, she was ordered 6 May, to Washington, DC, for air purification tests by the Naval Research Laboratory. In 1932, R-3 conducted sound and radio experiments for the laboratory and trained personnel from the Deep Sea Diving School, off Piney Point, Maryland.
R-3 was placed in reduced commission, 26 April 1933, and after testing low-pressure valves for the Naval Research Laboratory, departed for Annapolis, Maryland, on 2 June 1933, where she served as a training ship for future generations of submariners. She sailed 22 February 1934, for Guantanamo Bay, and sound operations with Eagle 58, followed by training duty at Washington, DC, with the Deep Sea Diving School. R-3 was decommissioned 10 August 1934, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.