HMS D3

The D-class submarines were designed as improved and enlarged versions of the preceding C class, with diesel engines replacing the dangerous petrol engines used earlier. D3 and subsequent boats were slightly larger than the earlier boats. They had a length of {{convert|164|ft|7|in|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|20|ft|5|in|m|1}} and a mean draught of {{convert|11|ft|5|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|495|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|620|LT|t}} submerged.Harrison, Chapter 4 The D-class submarines had a crew of 25 officers and ratings and were the first to adopt saddle tanks.Gardiner & Gray, p. 87

For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|600|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} diesels, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|275|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|9|kn}} underwater. On the surface, the D class had a range of {{convert|2500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.

The boats were armed with three 18-inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes, two in the bow and one in the stern. They carried one reload for each tube, a total of six torpedoes.

D3 was laid down on 15 March 1910 by Vickers at their Barrow shipyard, was launched on 17 October 1910 and completed on 30 August 1911.Harrison, Appendix 1, p. App. I.5

In February 1913, D3 was listed as being part of the 8th Submarine Flotilla.{{cite magazine |title=Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Submarines |magazine=The Navy List |date=March 1913 |page=269d |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/94246554 |access-date=3 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}} D3 remained part of the 8th Flotilla, based at Portsmouth in July 1914.{{cite magazine |title=Fleets and Squadrons in Commission at Home and Abroad: Submarines |magazine=The Navy List |date=August 1914 |page=269c |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/91884214 |access-date=5 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}}

The 8th Flotilla, consisting of modern submarines of the D- and E-class, was assigned the wartime role of offensive operations in the North Sea, operating from Harwich.Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, p.10 As the risk of war with Germany increased, the British Fleet was mobilised on 1 August,Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, pp. 30–31 and on 5 August, the day after the United Kingdom declared war on Germany and entered the First World War, D3 was at the 8th Flotilla's base at Harwich.{{cite web |title=Ships of the Royal Navy - Location/Action Data, 1914–1918: Admiralty "Pink Lists", 5 August 1914 |work=World War I at Sea |publisher=naval-history.net |date=24 March 2015 |url=https://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Locations2PL1408.htm |access-date=5 July 2023}} D3{{'}}s first operations during the war were defensive, being ordered along with most of the rest of the flotilla to patrol in the east end of the English Channel to protect the British Expeditionary Force during its passage to France in early August.Naval Staff Monograph No. 6 1921, pp. 14, 56 D3, together with D2, E5 and E7 were deployed to the Heligoland Bight in support of a sweep of the Grand Fleet into the North Sea from 15 to 17 August. D3 was deployed off the mouth of the Ems estuary, and while she spotted a trawler and a German torpedo boat during the patrol, was unable to get into a position to deliver an attack.Naval Staff Monograph No. 23 1924, pp. 81–82, 84 The 8th Flotilla continued to maintain patrols in the Bight,Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, p. 36 and on 12 September, D3, together with {{HMS|D5||2}}, {{HMS|E1||2}}, {{HMS|E8||2}} and {{HMS|E9||2}} left Great Yarmouth{{#tag:ref|Yarmouth was often used as a forward operating base for the 8th Flotilla's patrols into the German Bight. Not only was it closer, but it allowed minefields near Southwold to be avoided.Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, p. 46|group=lower-alpha}} for a patrol between Ameland and Sylt. Weather in the Bight was very poor, and D3{{'}}s forward hydroplanes were damaged by the high seas.Naval Staff Monograph No. 24 1924, pp. 46–47 On 3 November 1914, German battlecruisers and cruisers attacked Yarmouth. D3, D5 and {{HMS|E10||2}} were in Yarmouth harbour and were ordered out when gunfire was heard. D5, however, struck a mine and was sunk, and D3 and E10 were recalled.Massie 2007, pp. 310–311Naval Staff Monograph No. 28 1925, p. 10

On 28 June 1915, D3 was one of six submarines{{#tag:ref|{{HMS|D1||2}}, D3, {{HMS|D6||2}}, {{HMS|E4||2}}, {{HMS|E6||2}} and {{HMS|E16||2}}Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, p. 267|group=lower-alpha}} ordered to patrol in the Bight in case of a suspected sortie of the German High Seas Fleet. D3 fired two torpedoes at a German patrol boat on 1 July, but both missed.Naval Staff Monograph No. 29 1925, pp. 267–268 On 24 July 1915, D3 left Harwich in company with E4 for a patrol off Horns Rev. They spotted a German submarine west of the North Hinder lightvessel. D3 continued on to her patrol area while E4 attempted to attack the German submarine. D3 observed several neutral ships, along with a number of trawlers during her patrol, but did not make any attacks.Naval Staff Monograph No. 30 1926, pp. 49–50 On 20 August 1915, D3 left for a patrol off the Dutch coast, but aborted the patrol on the evening of 21 August and returned to port because of an injured crewmember.Naval Staff Monograph No. 30 1926, p. 158

On 9 February 1916, D3 left port for a patrol in the Bight. She arrived on station on the night of 10/11 February, and on surfacing the next day, spotted four light cruisers and four torpedo boats that had just passed over her, heading east, but they were already too far away to engage. Later in the patrol she spotted several torpedo boats, but they were again too far away to attack. She returned to port on 15 February.Naval Staff Monograph No. 31 1926, p. 80 In May 1916, it was decided to supplement the 8th Flotilla's normal operations in the German Bight with patrols off Terschelling on the Dutch coast. D3 left for Harwich on 1 June for a patrol to Terschelling, but was forced to return to base on 3 June with faulty motors.Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, p. 49 On 21 July, D3 left for another patrol off the Dutch coast, but was forced to return the next day when Arsine fumes from her batteries rendered her crew ill.Naval Staff Monograph No. 33 1927, p. 66 D3 was still listed as part of the 8th Submarine Flotilla in August 1916,{{cite magazine |title=Supplement to the Navy List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.: II.—Harwich Force |magazine=The Navy List |date=August 1916 |page=13 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92073846 |access-date=8 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}} but by September, had transferred to the 3rd Submarine Flotilla, under the Rear Admiral Commanding East Coast of England, and no longer part of the Harwich Force.{{cite magazine |title=Supplement to the Navy List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.:VII—Vessels Under Rear Admiral Commanding East Coast of England |magazine=The Navy List |date=September 1916 |page=16 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92074266 |access-date=8 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}}

From 19–27 February 1917, D3, together with the submarines {{HMS|D7||2}}, {{HMS|E32||2}} and {{HMS|E54||2}}, and supported by the depot ship {{HMS|Vulcan|1889|2}}, patrolled off the West coast of Ireland in order to counter German submarine attacks, and from 5 March, D3 was one of six submarines that set out with the cruiser {{HMS|Adventure|1904|2}}) from Queenstown (now Cobh) in the South of Ireland for more anti submarine patrols. In late March, D3, together with {{HMS|D7||2}} and {{HMS|D8||2}}, supported by the depot ship Platypus were deployed to Lough Swilly for patrols to the north and west of Ireland.Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 335 On 23 April 1917, D3 spotted the German submarine {{SMU|UC-66||2}} stopping and sinking the British barque Arethusa off Eagle Island, County Mayo. D3 closed and fired two torpedoes at UC-66, but both missed.Naval Staff Monograph No. 34 1933, p. 442 Platypus{{'}}s flotilla was ordered to Killybegs, on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal at the end of April 1917. On 8 May D3 fired two torpedoes at the British submarine {{HMS|E48||2}}, which missed. As a result, orders were changed so that adjacent submarines on patrol would be {{convert|30|nmi|mi|abbr=on}} apart.Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 100

D3 was still listed as part of Platypus{{'}}s Flotilla in December 1917,{{cite magazine |title=Supplement to the Navy List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.:VII—Coast of Ireland Station |magazine=The Navy List |date=December 1917 |page=17 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92177542 |access-date=9 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}} but by January had transferred to the 6th Submarine Flotilla, based at Portsmouth.{{cite magazine |title=Supplement to the Navy List showing Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officers' Commands, &c.:VIII—Local Defence Flotilla |magazine=The Navy List |date=January 1918 |page=18 |url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/92232202 |access-date=9 July 2023 |via=National Library of Scotland}}

File:William McKinstry Heriot-Maitland-Dougall Plaque, CFB Halifax.jpg]]

On 12 March 1918, D3 was on an anti-submarine patrol in English Channel off Dieppe when she was spotted by the French airship AT-0. D3 fired rockets in an attempt to identify herself, but AT-O{{'}}s crew thought that the rockets were aimed at the airship, as they had not been informed of the signals used by D3. AT-0 returned fire with a machine gun and when D3 dived, dropped six {{convert|52|kg|0|adj=on}} depth bombs. D3 came to the surface briefly before sinking. After sighting survivors in the water, and hearing their shouts, AT-0{{'}}s commanding officer realised that a British submarine may have been sunk. AT-0 dropped lifebelt and left to find a ship to rescue the survivors, but the men drowned before help could arrive. All 25 of D3{{'}}s crew were killed.Kemp, pp. 66–67Hepper, p. 124

{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{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}}
• {{cite book |last=Hepper |first=David |title=British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era 1860–1919 |year=2006 |location=London |publisher=Chatham Publishing |isbn=9781861762733}}
• {{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Paul |title=The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century |year=1999 |location=Stroud, UK |publisher=Sutton Publishing Limited |isbn=0-7509-1567-6}}
• {{cite book|last=Massie|first=Robert K. |title=Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the War at Sea| year=2007|publisher=Vintage Books|location=London|isbn=978-0-099-52378-9}}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 6: The Passage of the Expeditionary Force, August 1914|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=III|year=1921|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|pages=1–70|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.III_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 6|1921}} }}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 23: Home Waters—Part I.: From the Outbreak of War to 27 August 1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=X|year=1924|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.X_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 23|1924}} }}
• {{cite book |title=Monograph No. 24: Home Waters—Part II: September and October 1914 |series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical) |volume=XI |year=1924 |publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XI_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 24|1924}} }}
• {{cite book|title= Monograph No. 28: Home Waters Part III: From November 1914 to the end of January 1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume= XII|year=1925|publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XII_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 28|1925}} }}
• {{cite book|title= Monograph No. 29: Home Waters Part IV: From February to July 1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume= XIII|year=1925|publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XIII_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 29|1925}} }}
• {{cite book|title= Monograph No. 30: Home Waters Part V: From July to October 1915|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume= XIV|year=1926|publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XIV_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 30|1926}} }}
• {{cite book|title= Monograph No. 31: Home Waters Part VI: From October 1915 to May 1916|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume= XV|year=1926|publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XV_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 31|1926}} }}
• {{cite book|title= Monograph No. 33: Home Waters Part VII: From June 1916 to November 1916|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume= XVII|year=1927|publisher=Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XVII_opt.pdf |ref={{harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 33|1927}} }}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 34: Home Waters—Part VIII: December 1916 to April 1917|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=XVIII|year=1933|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XVIII_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 34|1933}} }}
• {{cite book|title=Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX: 1 May 1917 to 31st July 1917|series=Naval Staff Monographs (Historical)|volume=XIX|year=1939|publisher=The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Naval-Staff-Monographs-Vol.XIX_opt.pdf|ref={{Harvid|Naval Staff Monograph No. 35|1939}} }}

• [https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/submarines/pages/d_class/d_3_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest HMS D-3 Pages]
• [https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/submarines/pages/d_class/d_3_roll_of_honour.htm HMS D-3 Roll of Honour]
• [https://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2006/march/12_hms_d_3.htm MaritimeQuest 12 March 2006 Daily Event HMS D-3]

{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}

{{British D class submarine}}

{{March 1918 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:D03}}

Category:British D-class submarines

Category:Royal Navy ship names

Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel

Category:Submarines sunk by aircraft

Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War I

Category:British submarine accidents

Category:Maritime incidents in 1918

Category:1910 ships

Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands