USS R-3 (SS-80)

USS R-3 (SS-80) was an R-class coastal and harbor defense submarine of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on December 11 1917 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Company in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on January 18 1919 sponsored by Mrs. Charles G. McCord, and commissioned on April 17 1919 at Boston, Massachusetts, with Lieutenant Commander Allen Herschel Guthrie in command.

After shakedown off the Massachusetts coast, R-3 was assigned to Submarine Division 9 at New London, Connecticut. She departed New London with //Camden// (AS-6)
on December 4 1919 for Norfolk and a winter deployment with the division in the Gulf of Mexico from January 13 to March 27 1920. R-3 returned to New London May 18 for four months of summer exercises with R-1 (SS-78) and R-2 (SS-79). Given hull classification symbol SS-80 in July, she sailed September 13 for Norfolk and overhaul.

R-3 was transferred to the Pacific with Division 9 on April 8, transited the Panama Canal on May 28, and arrived June 30 at her new base, San Pedro, California. After operating for two years in California waters, she was transferred July 16 1923 to Pearl Harbor where she was stationed for the next years, engaging in training and operations with fleet units.

R-3 was reassigned December 12 1930 to the Atlantic Fleet for duty with Division 4, arriving February 9 1931 at New London. After acting as a training ship at the Submarine School, New London for five months, she was ordered May 6 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 April 26 1933 and after testing low-pressure valves for the Naval Research Laboratory, departed for Annapolis, Maryland, on June 2 1933 where she served as a training ship for future generations of submariners. She sailed February 22 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 August 10 1934 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

R-3 recommissioned August 19 1940 at New London, was attached to Division 42, and after a brief period at New London, October 23 to December 10, headed for Coco Solo. Patrols and training duties followed and in mid-1941 she returned to New London to prepare for transfer to the Royal Navy. Decommissioned and transferred November 4 1941, R-3 was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on November 7 1941. She continued her career in British home waters as HMS P.511, a training submarine, until returned to the U.S. Navy in the United Kingdom, December 20 1944. Unfit for service after the war, she was scrapped at Troon, Scotland, in 1948.

Specifications

Electric Boat Company design
Displacement 530 (empty), 680 tons (loaded)
Dimensions: 179 (Waterline) or 186 (Overall) x 17½ x 13¾ feet (mean)
Armament: One 3-inch gun, four 21-inch Torpedo tubes
Machinery: 2 sets 6-cylinder 4-cycle Nelseco diesels and 2 Electric Dynamic Co motors (580/934 BHP) =13.5/10 knots
Complement: 27

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