View source for USS F-3

{{Short description|F-class submarine of the United States}}
{{other ships|USS Pickerel}}

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|Ship image=[[File:USS F-3 1912.jpg|300px|USS F-3]]
|Ship caption=USS ''F-3''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1922}}
|Ship name=USS ''F-3''
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|Ship builder=[[The Moran Company]], [[Seattle, Washington]]
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|Ship laid down=17 August 1909, as USS ''Pickerel''
|Ship launched=6 January 1912
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|Ship commissioned=5 August 1912
|Ship decommissioned=15 March 1922
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|Ship renamed=USS ''F-3'', 17 November 1911
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|Ship fate=Sold, 17 August 1922
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[United States F-class submarine|F-class]] [[submarine]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|330|LT|t|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|142|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|15|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|12|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed={{convert|14|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} 
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|Ship complement=22 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=4 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
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|}

'''USS ''F-3'' (SS-22)''', was a [[United States F-class submarine|F-class]] [[submarine]]. She was named ''Pickerel'' when her [[keel]] was laid down by [[The Moran Company]] of [[Seattle, Washington]], making her the first ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for the pickerel, a type of [[Esox|pike]].  She was renamed ''F-3'' on 17 November 1911, [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 6 January 1912 sponsored by Mrs. M. F. Backus, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 5 August 1912.

==Service history==
''F-3'' completed her trials in the [[Puget Sound]] area before reporting for duty at [[San Francisco]], [[California]], on 15 October 1912, when she joined the First Submarine Group, Pacific Torpedo Flotilla. The Flotilla operated along the coast of California, conducting constant exercises and experiments to develop the techniques of submarine warfare, and from August 1914 to November 1915, carried out similar operations in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] out of [[Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor]]. ''F-3'' was placed [[in ordinary]] at [[Mare Island Navy Yard]] at [[Mare Island]] in [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]], California, on 15 March 1916, returning to full commission on 13 June 1917.

After training her new crew, ''F-3'' was assigned to the Coast Torpedo Force, Pacific Fleet, based at [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro, California]]'s [[San Pedro Submarine Base]]. She engaged in daily operations, surfaced and submerged, training students of the submarine school. During maneuvers on 17 December 1917, she and {{USS|F-1|SS-20|2}} collided, the latter sinking almost immediately. ''F-3'', along with other submarines with whom she was operating, rescued only three men out of the 22 on board the ''F-1''. ''F-3'' suffered a cracked bow cap and after repairs at Mare Island Navy Yard was assigned operations in cooperation with a civilian motion picture company in experiments with [[underwater photography]]. From 1919 to 1921, ''F-3'' served at San Pedro, California, as [[training ship]], and on 15 March 1922 she was decommissioned. She was sold on 17 August 1922.

{{multiple image
| align = left
| image1 = US Navy F-Class Plans-1 1910.jpg
| width1 = 200
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = US Navy F-Class Plans-2 1910.jpg
| width2 = 225
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = Plans for the F-class submarines of the US Navy
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/f-3.html}}

==External links==
*{{navsource|08/08022|USS F-3}}

{{F class submarine}}
{{December 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:F-3 (SS-22)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Seattle]]
[[Category:1912 ships]]
[[Category:United States F-class submarines|F-3]]
[[Category:World War I submarines of the United States]]
[[Category:United States submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]