K-3 (Submarine No. 34)
1914-1930
(Submarine No. 34; displacement 392 (surfaced), 521 (submerged); length 153'7"; beam 16'8"; draft 13'1" (mean); speed 14.0 knots (surfaced), 10.5 knots (submerged); complement 28; designed depth 200'0"; armament 4 18-inch torpedo tubes; class K-3)
Orca (Submarine No. 34) was renamed K-3 on 17 November 1911; laid down on 15 January 1912 at San Francisco, Calif., by Union Iron Works; launched on 14 March 1914; sponsored by Mrs. Clarence Meigs Oddie; and commissioned on 30 October 1914, Lt. (j.g.) Francis T. Chew in command.
K-3 joined the 3rd Submarine Division, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla 11, in December 1914 and operated along the California coast developing underwater warfare tactics and coordinating the use of underseas craft with the fleet. She arrived in Hawaiian waters on 14 October 1915 to perform similar exercises in the light of increasing emphasis on submarine warfare.
America's entry into the Great War [World War I] placed a greater urgency on the need for experienced submariners, and K-3 was dispatched to Key West, Fla., arriving on 8 January 1918. For the remainder of the war she conducted patrols along the Florida coast while training men in underwater techniques. K-3 continued operations along the East Coast after the war, testing new devices such as listening gear, storage batteries and torpedoes.
On 7 November 1922, K-3 arrived at Hampton Roads and was decommissioned there on 20 February 1923. Stricken from the Navy Register on 18 December 1930, she was scrapped on 3 June 1931.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
8 July 2024
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The second K-3 (SSK-3) was renamed Bonita (q.v.) on 15 December 1955.
