USS O-3
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsUSS O-3 (SS-64), also known as "Submarine No. 64", was one of 16 O-class submarines of the United States Navy commissioned during World War I. She was recommissioned prior to the United States entry into WWII, for use as a trainer.
Design
The O-1-class submarines were designed to meet a Navy requirement for coastal defense boats.Template:Sfn The submarines had a length of Template:Cvt overall, a beam of Template:Cvt, and a mean draft of Template:Cvt. They displaced Template:Cvt on the surface and Template:Cvt submerged. The O-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of Template:Cvt.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
For surface running, the boats were powered by two Template:Convert NELSECO 6-EB-14 diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a Template:Convert New York Navy Yard electric motor.Template:Sfn They could reach Template:Convert on the surface and Template:Cvt underwater. On the surface, the O-class had a range of Template:Convert at Template:Cvt.Template:Sfn
The boats were armed with four 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of eight torpedoes. The O-class submarines were also armed with a single [[3"/23 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/23 caliber]] retractable deck gun.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Construction
O-3Template:'s keel was laid down on 2 December 1916, by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 27 September 1917,Template:Sfn sponsored by Mrs. Alma Dickson,Template:Sfn and commissioned on 13 June.Template:Sfn
Service history
The new submarine joined the Atlantic coastal patrol and kept watch for U-boats from Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, to Key West, in Florida. In November, she joined a 20-submarine contingent that departed Newport, Rhode Island, on 3 November for service in European waters. Before the ships had reached the Azores, the Armistice with Germany ended World War I.Template:Sfn
After the war that had proved the worth of subs, O-3 sailed to New London, Connecticut, to train Submarine School students.Template:Sfn
When the US Navy adopted its hull classification system on 17 July 1920, she received the hull number SS-64.Template:Sfn
Reclassified as a second-line submarine, on 25 July 1924, while at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, and reverting to a first-liner on 6 June 1928, the vessel remained at New London, until she moved to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, to decommission on 6 June 1931.Template:Sfn
As American involvement in World War II became imminent, O-3 recommissioned at Philadelphia, on 3 February 1941, and sailed to New London, in June, to train submarine personnel, at the submarine school there, until war's end. She then steamed to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to decommission on 11 September 1945.Template:Sfn
Fate
She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 October 1945, and sold to John J. Duane Company, for scrapping, on 4 September 1946.Template:Sfn
Awards
- World War I Victory Medal
- American Defense Service Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
References
Bibliography
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External links
Template:Military navigation Template:WWI US ships Template:WWII US ships