USS T-3 (SS-61) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS T-3 (SS-61/SF-3) was an AA-1-class

AA-1 class submarine

The AA-1 class was a class of three experimental submarines of the United States Navy, built toward the end of World War I, between 1916 and 1919. The design was not a success and none of the submarines saw active service...

submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

in the service of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

originally named AA-3.

She was laid down as AA-3 on 21 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

by the Electric Boat Co. of New York, launched on 24 May 1919, sponsored by Mrs. Lilian Terhune Jordan, redesignated SF-3 on 17 July 1920, renamed T-3 on 22 September 1920, and commissioned on 7 December 1920 at the Boston Navy Yard

Boston Navy Yard

The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...

with Lt. Comdr.

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

Charles Milford Elder in command.

The second of three ships in a program to construct long-range reconnaissance

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

submarines to operate with the surface fleet, T-3 joined T-1

USS T-1 (SS-52)

The first USS T-1 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-1 was also known as Schley and AA-1....

in Submarine Division 15, Atlantic Fleet

U.S. Atlantic Fleet

The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

, soon after commissioning. She operated with that division — later to include T-2

USS T-2 (SS-60)

USS T-2 was an AA-1-class submarine in the service of the United States Navy; T-2 was also known as AA-2.She was laid down as AA-2 on 31 May 1917 at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company yard in Quincy, Massachusetts by the Electric Boat Co...

— conducting maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet until the fall of 1922. By that time, flaws in the design and construction of the T-boats — particularly in their propulsion plants — caused them to perform poorly. The decision was made to retire all three to the reserve fleet, and T-3 was the first to go. On 11 November 1922, she was decommissioned at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and berthed at the submarine base there. Later, she was moved to Philadelphia.

However, T-3's active service did not end there. At the time of the T-boats' decommissioning, the idea of testing German-produced diesel engines in one of them had been bantered about in Navy circles. T-1 had originally been designated for this purpose, but funds were not then available. In 1925, when money was forthcoming, it was T-3 that came out of mothballs for the tests. On 1 October 1925, T-3 was recommissioned at Philadelphia. For the following 21 months, she tested her newly installed 3,000 horsepower (2.2 MW) M.A.N. diesel engines for the Bureau of Engineering. Early in the summer of 1927, she completed the tests and, on 14 July 1927, was placed out of commission at Philadelphia. After a little over three years of inactivity, her name was stricken from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 19 September 1930. Her hulk was broken up, and the materials were sold for scrap on 20 November 1930.

See also