USS Adder

Adder running trials in Long Island Sound, 1903
History
United States
Name	Adder
Namesake	Vipera berus
Ordered	7 June 1900
Awarded	25 August 1900
Builder	Crescent Shipyard, Elizabethport, New Jersey
Laid down	3 October 1900
Launched	22 July 1901
Sponsored by	Mrs. Jane S. Wainwright
Commissioned	12 January 1903
Decommissioned	26 July 1909
Recommissioned	10 February 1910
Decommissioned	12 December 1919
Renamed	A-2 (Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 3), 17 November 1911
Stricken	16 January 1922
Identification	Hull symbol: SS-3 (15 July 1920) Call sign: NBF
Fate	Designated for use as a target, 24 September 1920 and expended mid-January 1922
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Plunger-class submarine
Displacement	107 long tons (109 t) surfaced 123 long tons (125 t) submerged
Length	63 ft 10 in (19.46 m)
Beam	11 ft 11 in (3.63 m)
Draft	10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
Installed power	160  bhp (120 kW) surfaced 150 bhp (110 kW) submerged
Propulsion	1 × Otto Gas Engine Works gas engine 1 × Electro Dynamic electric motor 60-cell battery 1 × shaft
Speed	8  kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) submerged
Test depth	150 ft (45.7 m)
Complement	1 officer 6 enlisted
Armament	1 × 17.7 in (450 mm) "18-in" torpedo tube (5 torpedoes)
Armor	Conning tower: 3+5⁄8 in (92 mm)

USS Adder/A-2 (SS-3), also known as "Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 3", was one of seven Plunger-class submarines built for the United States Navy (USN) in the first decade of the 20th century.

Design

Plan of Plunger-class. A, storage batteries; B, gas-engine; C, dynamo and motor; D, water-tight compartments; E, main ballast tanks; F, air-flasks; G, gasolene tank; H, expulsion tube.

The Plunger-class submarines were enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Holland, the first submarine in the USN. They had a length of 63 ft 10 in (19.5 m) overall, a beam of 11 ft 11 in (3.6 m) and a mean draft of 10 ft 7 in (3.2 m). They displaced 107 long tons (109 t) on the surface and 123 long tons (125 t) submerged. The Plunger-class boats had a crew of one officer and six enlisted men. They had a diving depth of 150 feet (45.7 m). ^[2]

For surface running, they were powered by one 180- brake-horsepower (134 kW) gasoline engine that drove the single propeller. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 70-horsepower (52 kW) electric motor. ^[2] The boats could reach 8  kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) on the surface and 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) underwater. ^[3]

The Plunger-class boats were armed with one 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tube in the bow. They carried four reloads, for a total of five torpedoes. ^[2]

Construction

Adder was laid down on 3 October 1900, at the Crescent Shipyard, in Elizabethport, New Jersey, by Lewis Nixon, a subcontractor for the Holland Torpedo Boat Company, New York City; launched on 22 July 1901; sponsored by Mrs. Jane S. Wainwright, wife of Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright. Adder was commissioned on 12 January 1903, at the Holland Torpedo Boat Station, at New Suffolk, New York. ^[4] Due to her being laid down and commissioned first, the boats of the Plunger-class is often referred to as the Adler-class by historians, she was the second submarine commissioned in the United States Navy after Holland. ^[5]

Service history

A crewman guiding one of the submarine's three torpedoes below deck through the torpedo loading hatch.

After initial experimental duty at the Naval Torpedo Station at Newport, Adder was towed to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard by the tug Peoria, arriving there on 4 December 1903. In January 1904, the submarine torpedo boat was assigned to the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla. Placed out of commission on 26 July 1909, Adder was loaded onto the collier Caesar, and was transported to the Philippines, arriving on 1 October 1909. ^[4]

Recommissioned on 10 February 1910, she was assigned to duty with the 1st Submarine Division, Asiatic Torpedo Fleet. Over almost a decade, the submarine torpedo boat operated from Cavite and Olongapo, principally in training and experimental work. During this time, she was renamed on 17 November 1911, becoming simply A-2 (Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 3). ^[4]

During World War I, she carried out patrols off the entrance to Manila Bay, and around the island of Corregidor. ^[4]

Fate

She was decommissioned on 12 December 1919. A-2, was assigned the alphanumeric hull number SS-3 on 17 July 1920, and designated for use as a target on 24 September 1920. ^[4] Sunk as a target in mid-January 1922, ^[6] she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 16 January 1922. ^[4]

References

1. Mohl.
2. Friedman 1995, p. 306.
3. Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 127.
4. Cressman 2022.
5. Friedman 1995, pp. 27–31.
6. Adder.

Bibliography

• Mohl, Michael. "Adder / A-2 (SS-3)". Navsource.net. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
• Cressman, Robert J. (21 June 2022). "A-2 (Submarine Torpedo Boat No. 3)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command . Retrieved 21 June 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Friedman, Norman (1995). U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-263-3.
• Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   0-85177-245-5.
• "Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. NAVY SHIPS: USS Adder (Submarine # 3, later SS-3), 1903-1922. Later renamed A-2". 5 July 2003. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

Further reading

• Wright, C. C. (2003). "Question 40/02: Submarines Expended as Targets 1922". Warship International. XL (4): 286–298. ISSN   0043-0374.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Adder at NavSource Naval History
• history.navy.mil: USS Adder Photos
• Crescent Shipyard Information on Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard, location of John P. Holland's site of operations in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.