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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Orca / K-3 (SS-34)

Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Hotel

K Class Submarine: Originally assigned the name Orca, Renamed K-3, 17 November 1911; Laid down, 15 January 1912, at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, CA., Launched, 14 March 1914; Commissioned, USS K-3, 30 October 1914; Designated (SS-34), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 20 February 1923, at Hampton Roads, VA.; Laid up in the Reserve Fleet; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 3 June 1931.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 392 t., Submerged: 521 t.; Length 153' 7"; Beam 16' 8"; Draft 13' 1"; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 9.5 kts; Operating Depth, 200'; Complement, 2 Officers, 26 Enlisted; Armament, four 18" torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New London Ship & Engine Co., diesel engine, HP 950, Fuel Capacity, 18,126 gals., Electro Dynamic Co., electric motor, HP 680, Battery Cells, 120, single propeller.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
92k	Sliding down the ways, and all dressed up with flags on her launching day, the K-3 (SS-34) is waterborne at the Union Iron Works shipyard, San Francisco, California, on 14 March 1914.	US Navy photo.
132k	K-3 (SS-34) fitting out at the Union Iron Works shipyard, San Francisco, California, on 7 April 1914.	US Navy photo courtesy of ussubvetsofwwii.org.
309k	From left to right:K-3 (SS-34), K-2 (SS-33), & two other *K class* boats.	US Navy photo courtesy of STSCS(SS) Robert Carlin.
387k	From outboard to inboard, what looks to be K-8 (SS-39), K-4 (SS-35), K-3 (SS-34) & K-7 (SS-38), at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii on the 14 of October, 1915.	US Navy photo from NARA, courtesy of Daniel Dunham. Photo added 07/14/06.
55k	K-3 (SS-34) photographed prior to World War I.	USNHC photo # NH 43077, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
82k	Alert (AS-4) (1875-1922) tied up at Kuahua Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, while serving as a submarine tender, 22 August 1917. Submarines alongside *Alert* include, from inboard to outboard, K-4 (SS-35), K-3 (SS-34) and either K-7 (SS-38) or K-8 (SS-39).	USNHC photo # NH 42542, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
77k	K-4 (SS-35) underway with a sister submarine, trimming down "ready for nose dive", circa 1918. The second submarine is probably K-3 (SS-34), K-7 (SS-38), or K-8 (SS-39).	USNHC photo # NH 41968, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
108k	K-4 (SS-35) underway with a sister submarine, trimming down "ready for nose dive", circa 1918. The second submarine is probably K-3 (SS-34), K-7 (SS-38), or K-8 (SS-39).	USNHC photo # NH 41967, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
77k	K-3 (SS-34) underway, starboard side view, probably circa 1918.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13-8-87, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
68k	K-3 (SS-34) underway, port side view, probably circa 1918, when she was dispatched to Key West, arriving 8 January 1918. For the remainder of the war, she conducted patrols along the Florida coast while training men in underwater techniques.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13-4-32, courtesy of Daniel Dunham. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
69k	K-3 (SS-34) underway, starboard side view, probably circa 1918.	US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13-4-33, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
93k	Port side view of the K-3 (SS-34) underway, probably circa 1918.	US Navy photo courtesy of Robert M. Cieri. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. Photo added 07/14/06.
146k	Busy unknown and undated dockyard scene. From left to right: K-8 (SS-39), K-2 (SS-33), unknown *K class* boat, K-3 (SS-34) & K-1 (SS-32).	US Navy photo courtesy of STSCS(SS) Robert Carlin.

View the Orca / K-3 (SS-34)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Not Applicable to this Vessel

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Through the Looking Glass, a Historic Look at Submarines

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