HMS A3 was an submarine built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She sank in 1912. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

Design and description

A3 was a member of the first British class of submarines, although slightly larger, faster and more heavily armed than the lead ship, . The submarine had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The A-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 9 ratings.

For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Wolseley petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, A3 had a range of at ; the boat had a range of at submerged.

The boats were armed with two 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as doing so that they had to compensate for their weight by an equivalent weight of fuel.

Construction and career

thumb |Submarine A3. Sunk at Spithead by collision with HMS Hazard, with the loss of 14 lives, 2 February 1912

A3 was laid down by Vickers, Sons & Maxim as Yard No.295 at Barrow-in-Furness on 6 November 1902 and was launched on 9 May 1903. She was commissioned on 13 July 1904. Its rudder and propeller were both disabled, and the holed submarine sank immediately with all 14 hands lost. The King sent his immediate condolences to the families of the lost seamen.

After being towed from Portsmouth to Portland Naval Dockyard, the wreck was towed offshore into Weymouth Bay and, after some technical experiments on the hull, it was sunk as a gunnery target by shells from on 17 May 1912. In July 2016 the wreck of A3 was officially designated as a protected site.

Notes

References

  • MaritimeQuest HMS A3 Pages
  • 'Submarine losses 1904 to present day' - Royal Navy Submarine Museum
  • "HMS A3" National Heritage List for England