USS R-3

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USS R-3 (SS-80) was a U.S. Navy R-1-class coastal submarine named Submarine No. 80. Built by Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts, its keel was laid on December 11, 1917. It was launched on January 18, 1919, and commissioned on April 17, 1919.

Specifications were typical for its class: about 186 feet long, 18 feet wide, and a draft of 15.5 feet. It displaced roughly 574 tons on the surface and 685 tons submerged. It carried two diesel engines for surface running and two electric motors for submerged operation, could reach about 12.5 knots on the surface and 9.3 knots underwater, and had a range of several thousand miles. The crew consisted of 2 officers and 27 enlisted men. Armament included four 21-inch torpedo tubes (with eight torpedoes total) and one 3-inch deck gun.

After fitting out, R-3 joined Submarine Division 9 at New London, Connecticut. It sailed to Norfolk in December 1919 and spent the winter of 1920 in the Gulf of Mexico, then returned to New London for summer training with sister boats R-1 and R-2. In 1920 its hull number was officially set as SS-80. The submarine moved to the Pacific Fleet in 1921, transiting the Panama Canal and arriving at San Pedro, California. After two years on the West Coast, it was transferred to Pearl Harbor in December 1923 for continued training and operations.

In December 1930, R-3 was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet and arrived at New London in February 1931 for submarine school duties. It served as a training ship and conducted experiments for the Naval Research Laboratory in 1932. By 1933 it was placed in reduced commission for further testing, and in 1934 it served again as a training vessel before being decommissioned on August 10, 1934, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

R-3 was recommissioned on August 19, 1940, and attached to Division 42. After a period of operations near New London and at Coco Solo, it prepared for transfer to the Royal Navy in 1941. It was decommissioned and transferred on November 4, 1941, and struck from the Navy list on November 7. In British service it became HMS P.511 and served as a training submarine in home waters.

The submarine was returned to the U.S. Navy on December 20, 1944. On the journey back to scrapping, it was beached on November 12, 1947, and later foundered on November 21, 1947, at Karnes Bay. It was scrapped in Troon, Scotland, in 1948.