The submarine was designed by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness and was laid down on 4 February 1901.

In early August 1902 John Alfred Moreton was appointed to the submarine depot ship HMS Hazard, to take command of HM Submarine No.3.

[2] Along with Holland 5, she was one of the first two submarines to be accepted into Royal Navy service on 19 January 1903.

[3] However, by the time she was launched she was already considered obsolete and thirteen A-class submarines had already been ordered.

This article about a specific naval submarine of the United Kingdom is a stub.