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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.
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SS-3492kSliding 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.
SS-34132kK-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.
K-2 & 3 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.
SS-34387kFrom 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.
SS-3455kK-3 (SS-34) photographed prior to World War I.
USNHC photo # NH 43077, courtesy of the US Naval Historical Center.
SS-3582k 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.
SS-3577kK-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.
SS-35108kK-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.
SS-3477kK-3 (SS-34) underway, starboard side view, probably circa 1918.
US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13-8-87, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS-3468kK-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.
SS-3469kK-3 (SS-34) underway, starboard side view, probably circa 1918.
US Navy photo from NARA # 19-N-13-4-33, courtesy of Daniel Dunham.
SS-3493kPort 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.
K class 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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