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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive


Patch contributed by
Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (ret.)

O-3 (SS-64)

Radio Call Sign: November - Alpha - Mike - Romeo

O Class Submarine: Laid down, 2 December 1916, at Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, MA.; Launched, 27 September 1917; Commissioned, USS O-3, 13 July 1918; Designated (SS-64), 17 July 1920; Decommissioned, 6 June 1931, at Philadelphia, PA.; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Recommissioned, 3 February 1941, at Philadelphia, PA.; Decommissioned, 11 September 1945; Struck from the Naval Register, 11 October 1945; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 4 September 1946, to John J. Duane Co.

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 521 t., Submerged: 629 t.; Length 172' 4"; Beam 18' 0"; Draft 14' 5"; Speed, Surfaced 14 kts, Submerged 10.5 kts; Operational Depth Limit 200 ft; Complement 2 Officers 27 Enlisted; Armament, four 18", torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, one 3"/23 deck gun; Propulsion, diesel-electric, New England Ship and Engine Co, diesels, 880 hp, Fuel Capacity, 21,897 gal.; New York Navy Yard electric motors, 740 hp, Battery Cells 120, single propeller.
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O-3 64k O-3 (SS-64) pictured here during her shakedown trials on 24 March 1918. US National Archives photo # 19-N-599, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Partial text courtesy of DANFS.
O-3 55k Starboard side view of the O-3 (SS-64), underway, circa 1918. She is shown in much of her original form with a 3in/23 disappearing mount forward of her bridge fairwater and her two periscopes in faired shears.
US Naval Historical Center photo # 44546.
Partial text courtesy of U.S. Submarines Through 1945, An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman. Naval Institute Press.
O-3, 6 & 7 63k O-boats of Submarine Division Eight at the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, circa Christmas 1918. Note holiday greenery displayed on the submarines' superstructures. The three outboard submarines are (from left to right): O-6 (SS-67); O-3 (SS-64); and O-7 (SS-68). The two-stack ship in the left center distance is probably Dubuque (PG-17). Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 101013.
O-3 64k Gunner's Mate 2nd Class David J. Lohr, USN (left) poses with two friends, a Chief Gunner's Mate (center) and a 2nd Class Machinist's Mate (right), circa 1918-1920. The Machinist's Mate wears a O-3 (SS-64) band on his "flat hat". Note the distinguishing marks on the uniform sleeves of GM2c Lohr and the Chief. Both have the Torpedoman mark. Lohr wears the Expert Rifleman mark, and the Chief wears the Seaman Gunner mark.
Copied from the collection of David J. Lohr, by courtesy of Radioman 1st Class Pamela J. Boyer, USN, 1986. US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 100999.
O-5 & O-3 95k O-5 (SS-66), left and O-3 (SS-64) Probably at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, circa 1918-1920.
Collection of Christopher Henry William Lloyd, donated by Virginia M. Agostini, 1990. US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 98061.
O-1 128k Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina. Seven O-boats in drydock, circa 1919. O-10 (SS-71) is in the foreground. The most distant "boats" are O-1 (SS-62) , and O-3 (SS-64). The drydock is in the process of being filled.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 42564.
O-1 90k Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina. Seven O-boats in drydock, circa 1919. O-1 (SS-62) is in the foreground. O-3 (SS-64) is next astern, to left. O-10 (SS-71) is the most distant, in the right center. Outside the drydock (center background) are three destroyers, one of which is Terry (DD-25), and Asheville (PG-21), which is under construction. The drydock is being filled.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 60279.
O-1 137k Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina.Seven O-boats in drydock, circa 1919. 0-1 (SS-62) is in the foreground. O-3 (SS-64) is next astern, to left. O-10 (SS-71) is the most distant, in the right center. Outside the drydock (center background) are three destroyers, one of which is Terry (DD-25), and Asheville (PG-21), which is under construction. The drydock is being filled.
US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 42565.
O-3 44k Port side photo of O-3 (SS-64), circa 1919. USN photo by N.G. Moser from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919, courtesy of Robert Hurst.
O-boats 659k A steel sea monster, amphibious and formidable, is Uncle Sam's newest submarine just home from war duty. The great fin rudders stabilize the boat under water and assist in speedy submerging. They fold up snugly against the sides when the "sub." is under way. Several of these new O-boats are making their initial New York appearance in the Naval Review. Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Photo from the New-York Tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 27 April 1919, Image 47, via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. PDF added 10/02/10.
O-boats 85k Submarine Division 8,Commander Guy E. Davis commanding. Nine of the Division's ten O-boats at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 16 August 1921. Panoramic photograph by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 11 Portland Street, Boston. Submarines in the front row are (from left to right): O-3 (SS-64), O-6 (SS-67), O-9 (SS-70) and O-1 (SS-62). Those in the second row are (from left to right): O-7 (SS-68), unidentified (either O-2 or O-8), O-5 (SS-66), O-10 (SS-71) and O-4 (SS-65). Large four-stacked ship in the left center distance is the U.S. Army Transport Mount Vernon.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 103193.
Solo 162k US Submarine base at Coco Solo, Panama 1923.
The R-26 (SS-103) is in the background with the white tarp over her fore deck.
The Submarine Chaser in the background is SC 285.
The O-3 (SS-64) & O-7 (SS-68) are in front of the R-26. The O-9 (SS-70) is next closest to the camera. The two boats in the foreground are the O-5 and a mystery "O" boat.
The O-5 reported to Coco Solo in January of 1923 and she sank 18 Oct 1923 with the loss of 2 lives.
US Navy photo courtesy of Ric Hedman.
S-10 67k These O type and S type submarines which were used during the World War have since been decommissioned and are now laid up in the Phila. Navy Yard. The peaceful surroundings are quite a contrast to those of their active war days. They are pictured here on 17 July 1936.
The S-10 (SS-115) was decommissioned on the day this photo was taken at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA. and laid up in the Reserve Fleet.
Pictured also are any of the following boats that were at the PNY during this time.
The O boats:O-1 (SS-62), O-2 (SS-63), O-3 (SS-64), O-6 (SS-67), O-7 (SS-68), O-8 (SS-69), O-9 (SS-70),O-10 (SS-71).
The S boats: S-6 (SS-111), S-7 (SS-112),S-8 (SS-113), S-9 (SS-114),S-11 (SS-116), S-12 (SS-117),S-13 (SS-118), S-14 (SS-119),S-15 (SS-120),S-16 (SS-121),S-17 (SS-122) & S-48 (SS-159).
Photo & text courtesy of A.P. Wire courtesy of philly.com.
O-3 53k Shown here in the grim reality of winter in the North Atlantic is the training boat O-3 (SS-64) covered in snow and ice, circa 1943. The destroyer sent to escort them home can just be made out in the top left.
USN photo from the book "Submarine: An anthology of first-hand accounts of the war under the sea, 1939-1945", edited by Jean Hood & submitted by Robert Hurst.
O-3 78k O-3 (SS-64), underway, 17 July 1944, place unknown.
US Navy photo courtesy of Mike Green contributed from "U S Warships of World War II" by P. Silverstone courtesy of Aryeh Wetherhorn.

View the O-3 (SS-64)
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
HISTORIC SUBMARINE DOCUMENTARY AND TRAINING FILMS
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