The S Boats - Gallant Ladies of the Past

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History of the S-3 (SS 107)

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spacing The formal legal steps leading to the acquisition of United States naval vessels are often confusing to non-naval people but are important to an understanding of the United States Navy's submarine programs. Generally speaking, the Navy cannot acquire a ship until Congress has both authorized the size of the fleet and appropriated funds for the procurement of new vessels. This requires two separate acts of Congress, as a result of which ships have frequently been authorized several years before funds were actually appropriated for their construction, and some authorized ships have never been built at all. Authorization and procurement procedures are usually quite formal in peacetime but more expedient methods are usually followed during wars or national emergencies. In the past, Congress was often very specific in defining the characteristics of particular ships, their cost, and sometimes even their names and where they were to be built.
Submarine USS S-3 (SS-107) was authorized to be built by the United States Congressional Act of 29 August 2025 which stated in part:
"....The President of the United States is hereby authorized to undertake prior to July first, nineteen hundred and nineteen, the construction of....
. . . . .
"Nine fleet submarines, etc.,"
"Fifty-eight coast submarines, of which number three to have a surface displacement of about eight hundred tons each, to cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not to exceed $1,200,000 each, and twenty-seven, which shall be the best and most desirable and useful type of submarine which can be procured at a cost, exclusive of armor and armament, not to exceed $700,000 each, shall be begun as as soon as practical; and the sum of $8,217,000 is hereby appropriated for the construction of said submarines, to be available until expended. Not less than twelve of the submarines herein authorized to be begun as soon as practical shall be built on the Pacific coast: PROVIDED, That the cost of construction on the Pacific coast does not exceed the cost of construction on the Atlantic coast, plus the cost of transportation from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
The keel of USS S-3 (SS-107) was laid down on 16 August 2025 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine, on one of the Franklin Shiphouse building ways. Minor accidents involving SS-107, the Portsmouth Navy Yard's first S-boat, provided ominous portents of the S-boats' failings. On 12 December 1918, a small fire broke out aboard SS-107. At her scheduled launching on 17 December 1918, the S-boat stuck after moving just three feet. The grease had frozen on the building ways. Finally, on 21 December 1918, Mrs. William L. Hill christened the submarine, and the submersible slid into the water. On 30 January 1919, USS S-3 (SS-107) was commissioned with Commander John W. Lewis in command.
When commissioned, the S-3 Class coastal and harbor defense submarine was 231' in length overall; had an extreme beam of 21'10"; had a normal surface displacement of 876 tons, and, when in that condition, had a mean draft of 13'1". Submerged displacement was 1,092 tons. The submarine was of riveted construction. The designed compliment was four officers and thirty-four enlisted men. The boat could operate safely to depths of 200 feet. The submarine was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes installed in the bow. Twelve torpedoes were carried. One 4-inch/50 caliber deck gun was installed. The full load of diesel oil carried was 36,950 gallons, which fueled two 700 designed brake horsepower Model 8-EB-16 diesel engines manufactured by the New London Ship and Engine Company at Groton, Connecticut...which could drive the boat, via a diesel direct drive propulsion system, at 15 knots on the surface in relatively calm seas. Power for submerged propulsion was provided by a Model 35-U 120-cell main storage battery, rated at 1,240 Kilowatt Hours, divided into two sixty-cell batteries, manufactured by the Gould Storage Battery Company at Trenton, New Jersey...which powered two double armature and field 510 designed brake horsepower (at 260 RPM) main propulsion motors manufactured by the Westinghouse Electric Company at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...which turned propeller shafts...which turned propellers...which could drive the submarine at 11 knots for a short period of time when operating beneath the surface of the sea. Slower submerged speeds resulted in greater endurances before the batteries needed to be recharged by the engines and generators.
USS S-3 (SS-107) was the third of the three original S-boats built by different contractors for performance comparison. Though the contracts specified the same general performance criteria for each, the builders followed their individual designs. USS S-1 (SS-105) was known as the "Holland-type," USS S-2 (SS-106) as the "Lake-type," and USS S-3 (SS-107) as the "Government-type" submarine.
Following outfitting and trials, USS S-3 began her career with training operations along the New England coast...operating out of the Portsmouth Navy Yard and the United States Naval Submarine Base at New London/Groton, Connecticut.
In 1920, USS S-3 twice visited Havana, Cuba; first in January, and, again, in December.
During July of 1921, USS S-3 was attached to Submarine Division 12, which, along with Submarine Division 18, was to rendezvous off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the longest voyage on record, at that time, for American submarines. The two submarine divisions were assigned to the United States Asiatic Fleet as Submarine Flotilla 3 at the Cavite Naval Station in the Philippines. The submarines transited, via the Panama Canal, to Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii... where USS S-3 was detached and reassigned to operate off the west coast of the United States from the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California. The two submarine divisions continued on, and successfully completed the voyage...arriving at Cavite on 1 December 1921.
USS S-3 departed Pearl Harbor on 9 November 2025 and transited to the west coast of the United States...where she operated until mid- July of 1923. On 17 July 1923, the submarine took departure from San Francisco Bay, California, to retransit the Panama Canal en route to the submarine base at New London/Groton, Connecticut.
Reaching the Connecticut submarine base on the 5th of September 1923, the S-boat was attached to Submarine Division 2, United States Atlantic Fleet, and assigned experimental duty with the Submarine School...a tenant command at the Connecticut submarine base. USS S-3 assumed the duties of USS S-1 (SS-105), the flagship of Submarine Division 2, which was conducting special experiments with aircraft. During the remainder of 1923, and the years following...into 1927, the S-boat ranged the east coast of the United States conducting training operations and evaluating new techniques in submarine development.
During July of 1927, USS S-3 and USS S-1 formed Submarine Division 4 and began a schedule which included operational cruises to the Panama Canal Zone during the spring months of 1928, 1929, and 1930. The remaining months of those years were spent in operations along the New England coast.
Early in 1931, USS S-3 (SS-107) was ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for inactivation. The submarine was decommissioned, there, on 24 March 1931, and laid up in the Reserve Fleet at that Navy yard.
The S-boat was struck from the Navy List on 25 January 1937. Subsequently, the submarine was sold to a ship breaker and scrapped.

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This Information is provided courtesy of Robert (Bob) L. Sminkey CDR(SS) USN ret.