USS C-3 (SS-14) was one of five C-class submarines built for the United States Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.
The C-class submarines were enlarged versions of the preceding B class, the first American submarines with two propeller shafts. They had a length of 105feet overall, a beam of 13feet and a mean draft of 10feet. They displaced 240LT on the surface and 273LT submerged. The C-class boats had a crew of 1 officer and 14 enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 200feet.[1]
For surface running, they were powered by two 2400NaN0 Craig gasoline engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 115hp electric motor. They could reach 11kn on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the boats had a range of 776nmi at and 24nmi at submerged.[1]
The boats were armed with two 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried two reloads, for a total of four torpedoes.[2]
C-3 was laid down by Fore River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts, under a subcontract from Electric Boat Company, as Tarpon. She was launched on 8 April 1909 as Tarpon sponsored by Katherine E. Theiss, and commissioned on 23 November 1909.[3] She was renamed C-3 on 17 November 1911. The boat cruised along the east coast with the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet and the Atlantic Submarine Flotilla through the early 1913, operating in tests and exercises. From May to December 1913, she was based at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and on 12 December reported at Cristóbal, Panama Canal Zone. Her operations included exploration of anchorages, tactical drills, and harbor defense patrol at Canal Zone ports. In the summer of 1918, she patrolled off Florida, then returned to Panamanian waters. C-3 was placed in ordinary at Coco Solo, Canal Zone, on 22 August 1919, decommissioned there on 23 December 1919, and sold on 12 April 1920.