R-3

An aerial photo of the R-3 at an unknown location, early 1920's. It looks like she is getting ready to moor. It is probably late fall or early winter as several of the crew are wearing the heavy woolen pea coats.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

A closeup of the photo above, showing the crew making preparations to moor. They are flaking out mooring lines and coiling heavies.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman

R-3 shown sometime in the early 1930's based on the hull paint job and the placing of the name on the conning tower fairwater. At this time the R-3 was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii as part of SUBDIV 9.

The large square on the side of the bridge would have been painted a darkish green for the starboard running light. A likewise red square was painted on the port side for the red running light. The dark area on the lower conning tower was black with white letters and numbers. These identifiers are consistent with other photos from this time period.

A young lady poses for the camera seated on a large cleat mounted on the pier side. Her dress style is reminiscent of women's clothing worn in the early 1930's.

Two crewmembers are seated on benches attached to the outside rails of the deck gun sponsons. The gun was occasionally moved to this position while in port. This was likely done to clear the torpedo loading hatch on the forward deck if torpedoes were being loaded or unloaded. The block and tackle could be used for any number of tasks including loading torpedoes.

Photo courtesy of David Wright, Navsource.org

R-3 alongside at the League Island facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, January 4, 1934. She was undergoing a pre-layup overhaul, and was being prepared to enter reserve (mothball) status. She would remain in Philadelphia for the next six years, waiting for her chance to serve again. She was returned to active duty on August 19, 1940 as the nation began to gear up for a war that no one wanted, but that everyone suspected was coming.

Photo in the private collection of Ric Hedman.

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