HMS A3

Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristics

HMS A3 was an Template:Sclass2 submarine built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She sank in 1912. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

Design and description

A3 was a member of the first British class of submarines, although slightly larger, faster and more heavily armed than the lead ship, Template:HMS. The submarine had a length of Template:Convert overall, a beam of Template:Convert and a mean draft of Template:Convert. They displaced Template:Convert on the surface and Template:Convert submerged. The A-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 9 ratings.Template:Sfn

For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Template:Convert Wolseley petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a Template:Convert electric motor. They could reach Template:Convert on the surface and Template:Convert underwater. On the surface, A3 had a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert;Template:Sfn the boat had a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert submerged.Template:Sfn

The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as doing so that they had to compensate for their weight by an equivalent weight of fuel.Template:Sfn

Construction and career

Submarine A3. Sunk at Spithead by collision with HMS Hazard, with the loss of 14 lives, 2 February 1912

A3 was laid down by Vickers, Sons & Maxim as Yard No.295 at Barrow-in-Furness on 6 November 1902 and was launched on 9 May 1903.<ref name="SSRT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was commissioned on 13 July 1904.<ref name="SSRT" /> She primarily served as a coastal defense and training submarine in her over seven years of service.

On 2 February 1912, A3, along with several other submarines dispatched from the port of Gosport, conducted training exercises on target ships in the Solent.Template:Sfn Whilst attacking the depot ship Template:HMS, the semi-submerged A3 accidentally collided with its target Template:Convert southwest of the East Princessa Buoy in the eastern Solent.<ref name="DN03021912">Template:Cite news</ref> Its rudder and propeller were both disabled, and the holed submarine sank immediately with all 14 hands lost.Template:Sfn The King sent his immediate condolences to the families of the lost seamen.<ref name="DN03021912" />

The submarine was raised from the bottom on 11 March and was brought into the south lock of Portsmouth dockyard the following day, slung below a salvage lighter; the lock was pumped dry so that the 14 bodies could be recovered and the damages surveyed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After being towed from Portsmouth to Portland Naval Dockyard, the wreck was towed offshore into Weymouth Bay and, after some technical experiments on the hull, it was sunk as a gunnery target by shells from Template:HMS on 17 May 1912.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2016 the wreck of A3 was officially designated as a protected site.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

References

• Template:Cite book
• {{#invoke:template wrapper|{{#if:|list|wrap}}|_template=cite book

|_exclude=case, year, _debug
| last1 = Colledge
| first1 = J. J. 
| author-link1= J. J. Colledge
| last2 = Warlow
| first2 = Ben
| date = 2006
| orig-date = 1969
| title = Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present
| edition = Rev.
| location = London
| publisher = Chatham Publishing
| isbn = 978-1-86176-281-8
| OCLC = 67375475

}}

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

External links

• MaritimeQuest HMS A3 Pages
• 'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum Template:Webarchive
• "HMS A3" National Heritage List for England