HMS M3
HMS M3
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS M3 |
| Builder: | Armstrong Whitworth |
| Launched: | 19 October 1919 |
| Completed: | July 1920 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 16 February 1932 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | M-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 305 ft 9 in (93.19 m) |
| Beam: | 24 ft 8 in (7.52 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Test depth: | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Complement: | 62 |
| Armament: |
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HMS M3, built by Armstrong Whitworth, Newcastle Upon Tyne was an M class submarine of the Royal Navy.
M3 was ordered from Armstrong Whitworth on 28 July 1916 and laid down at Elswick in December as an M-class submarine, but was referred to as K20. She was launched on 19 October 1919, and commissioned as M3 on 16 March 1920. After completion of trials on 17 August, she was placed in reserve.
M3 was recommissioned on 4 July 1921 under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Marrack, and joined the 1st Submarine Flotilla on 17 February 1922.
From 9 May to 14 May 1926, along with fellow submarines K26 and L23, M3 was used to help supply electricity to the Royal Victoria Dock, Royal Albert Dock and King George V Dock in London, during the General strike, in an action named Operation Blackcurrent. M3 alone kept four meat cold stores, two cranes, and many important pumps running.
On 15 October 1926 M3 was placed in reserve until 13 June 1927 when she arrived at Chatham to be converted to an experimental minelayer, as a result of the Washington Naval Treaty. The conversion was called a refit for political reasons. Her 12-inch and 3-inch guns were removed to make room for a large free-flooding superstructure extending over about 75% of her length. Two sets of rails ran along the pressure hull inside this structure, capable of accommodating 100 standard Type B contact mines. The mines were laid by means of a conveyor chain through a single large door at the stern.
The conversion was completed on 8 October 1928 at a contemporary cost of £10,235, and M3 finished her trials by the middle of November. Only 80 mines were carried initially, the remaining 20 being embarked later.
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