USS ''B-3'' (SS-12) was one of three B-class submarines built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in the first decade of the 20th century.

Description

The B-class submarines were enlarged versions of the preceding ''Plunger'' class. They had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The B-class boats had a crew of one officer and nine enlisted men. They had a diving depth of .Friedman, p. 306 For surface running, they were powered by one

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as Autogas, liquefied petroleum gas and Common ...

that drove the single

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

. When submerged the propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

. The boats could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, they had a range of at and at submerged. The B-class boats were armed with two 18 inch (450 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of four torpedoes.Gardiner & Gray, p. 127

Construction and career

''B-3'' was laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding Company in

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company of then

New Suffolk New Suffolk is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of Southold in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The CDP's population was 403 as of the 2020 census. History The submari ...

L. I., as ''Tarantula'', making her the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

. She was launched on 30 March 1907 sponsored by Mrs. George S. Radford, wife of Naval Constructor Radford, and commissioned on 3 December 1907.

Service history

She reported to the Atlantic Fleet, and ''Tarantula'' operated along the Atlantic coast with the First and Second Submarine Flotillas on training and experimental exercises until going into reserve at

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and p ...

on 6 November 1909. She was recommissioned on 15 April 1910 and served with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet until assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Group, Charleston Navy Yard on 9 May 1911 and placed out of commission on 4 December 1912. On 17 November, ''Tarantula'' was renamed ''B-3''. On 6 December 1912, ''B-3'' was towed to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, and loaded onto the collier for transfer to the Asiatic Station. Arriving at

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

on 30 April 1913, ''B-3'' was launched from ''Ajax'' on 12 May. She was recommissioned on 2 September and remained in the Philippines where she served with Submarine Division 4, Torpedo Flotilla,

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

. Excerpts from the autobiography of Captain C.Q. Wright indicate he was the "Officer in Charge" of the B3 at Cavite. His crew launched the two subs off the deck of the ''Ajax''. They then retrofitted the gasoline powered engines and motors in the Cavite Navy Yard shop readying the subs for a 48-hour shake down cruise. The first tour of duty began with sealed orders at 1900 hours, guarding

Manila Bay Manila Bay (; ) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and ...

's Naval Base Manila, in the event hostilities broke out with Japan. Orders were to sink any Japanese war vessel that came into sight, although none did. 1914: B-3 awarded the "Battle Efficiency Pennant" for the best operating submarine in the US fleet, C.O. Ensign C.Q. Wright. Decommissioned at Cavite on 25 July 1921, ''B-3'' was subsequently used as a target.

Notes

References

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External links