HMS C3
{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:HMS C3 AWM A05731.jpeg |Ship caption=C3 at Southsea, UK, circa. 1917 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS C3 |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship laid down= 13 November 1905 |Ship launched= 3 October 1906 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= 23 February 1906 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Packed with explosives and rammed into the viaduct at Zeebrugge, Belgium, destroying the boat, 23 April 1918. Later scrapped. |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=C-class submarine |Ship displacement=*{{convert|287|LT|t|abbr=on}} surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|142|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|13|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|6|in|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|600|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} petrol
|Ship propulsion=*1 × 16-cylinder Vickers petrol engine
|Ship speed=*{{convert|12|kn|abbr=on|lk=in}} surfaced
|Ship range={{convert|910|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}} on the surface |Ship test depth={{convert|100|ft|1}} |Ship complement=2 officers and 14 ratings |Ship armament=2 × 18 in (450 mm) bow torpedo tubes |Ship notes= }} |
HMS C3 was one of 38 C-class submarines built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The boat was used to demolish a viaduct during the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918.
Design and description
The C class was essentially a repeat of the preceding B class, albeit with better performance underwater. The submarine had a length of {{convert|142|ft|3|in|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|13|ft|7|in|m|1}} and a mean draft of {{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|287|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|316|LT|t}} submerged. The C-class submarines had a crew of two officers and fourteen ratings.Gardiner & Gray, p. 87
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder {{convert|600|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} Vickers petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a {{convert|300|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|7|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the C class had a range of {{convert|910|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|12|kn}}.Harrison, Chapter 3
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 they would have to remove an equal weight of fuel in compensation.Harrison, Chapter 27
Construction and career
C3 was built by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard, laid down on 13 November 1905 and was commissioned on 23 February 1906. The obsolete C3 was packed full of explosives for her last mission, which was to destroy a viaduct connecting the mole to the shore during the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918. Her commanding officer, Richard Douglas Sandford, received the Victoria Cross for the successful action.
Notes
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=0-85177-245-5|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite web|url=http://rnsubs.co.uk/dits-bits/br-3043.html|title=The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)|last=Harrison|first=A. N.|date=January 1979|publisher=RN Subs|access-date=27 September 2022}}
External links
- [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/submarines/pages/c_class/c_3_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest HMS C-3 Pages]
{{British C class submarine}}
{{April 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|North Sea}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:C03}}
Category:British C-class submarines
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea
Category:Royal Navy ship names