HMS A3

HMS "A3" was an submarine built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She sank in 1912. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
Design and description.
"A3" was a member of the first British class of submarines, although slightly larger, faster and more heavily armed than the lead ship, . The submarine had a length of overall, a beam of and a mean draft of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The A-class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 11 ratings.
For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16-cylinder Wolseley petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, "A3" had a range of at ; the boat had a range of at submerged.
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 doing so that they had to compensate for their weight by an equivalent weight of fuel.
Construction and career.
"A3" was built at Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness and was commissioned on 13 July 1904. She primarily served as a coastal defense and training submarine in her over seven years of service. On 2 February 1912, "A3", along with several other submarines dispatched from the port of Gosport, conducted training exercises on target ships in the Solent. Whilst attacking the depot ship , "A3" accidentally collided with its target. Its rudder and propeller were both disabled, and the submarine sank with all hands lost. The submarine was risen in March and was sunk as a gunnery target by shells from on 15 May 1912. In July 2016 the wreck of "A3" was officially designated as a protected site.