Leninets-class submarine

The Leninets or L class were the second class of submarines to be built for the Soviet Navy. They were minelaying submarines and were based on the British L-class submarine, HMS L55, which was sunk during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some experience from the previous Dekabrist-class submarines was also utilised. The boats were of the saddle tank type and mines were carried in two stern galleries as pioneered on the pre-war Russian submarine Krab (1912), the world's first minelaying submarine. These boats were considered successful by the Soviets and 25 were built in four groups between 1931 and 1941. Groups 3 and 4 had more powerful engines and a higher top speed.

Submarine L-4 Garibaldets
Class overview
Preceded by Dekabrist class
Succeeded byShchuka class
Built1931–1941
In commission1931–1971
Completed25
Lost4
Preserved1 (partially)
General characteristics
Displacement
  • Group 1+2:
  • 1,051 tons surfaced
  • 1,327 tons submerged
  • Group 3+4:
  • 1,123 tons surfaced
  • 1,416 tons submerged
Length
  • Group 1+2: 81 m (265 ft 9 in)
  • Group 3+4: 83.3 m (273 ft 4 in)
Beam
  • Group 1+2: 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)
  • Group 3+4: 7 m (23 ft 0 in)
DraftAll Groups: 4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric, 2 shafts
  • Group 1+2:
  • 2,200 hp (1,600 kW) diesels
  • 1,450 hp (1,080 kW) electric motors
  • Group 3+4:
  • 4,200 hp (3,100 kW) diesels
  • 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) electric motors
Speed
  • Group 1+2:
  • 14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged
  • Group 3+4:
  • 18 knots (33 km/h) surfaced
  • 10 knots (19 km/h) submerged
Complement53
Armament
  • 1 × 100 mm gun
  • 1 × 45 mm gun
  • 6 × 21-inch (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes
  • 12 × torpedoes
  • 20 × mines
  • 2 stern mounted torpedo tubes added in Groups 3 and 4

Ships
Further information: Submarine warfare in the Black Sea campaigns (1941–42)

Group 1
Series II. (Group 1)

Six ships were built (L1 to L6), all launched in 1931. Three were assigned to the Baltic Fleet and three to the Black Sea Fleet, including Soviet submarine L-3.

Number Name Meaning Fleet Launched Fate
L1 Leninets (Ленинец) Follower of Lenin Baltic 28 February 1931 Sunk by German artillery October 1941, salvaged 1944, scrapped 1949
L2 Stalinets (Сталинец) Follower of Stalin Baltic 21 May 1931 Sunk by mine off Keri Island 14 November 1941
L3 Frunzenets (Фрунзенец) Follower of Frunze Baltic 8 August 1931 Decommissioned 15 February 1971, conning tower preserved as a memorial
L4 Garibaldets (Гарибальдиец) Follower of Garibaldi Black Sea 31 August 1931 Decommissioned 17 February 1956
L5 Chartist (Чартист) An adherent of Chartism Black Sea 5 June 1932 Decommissioned 25 December 1955
L6 Carbonari (Карбонарий) Carbonari Black Sea 3 November 1932 Sunk with depth charges near Sevastopol on 18 April 1944 by the German submarine chaser UJ-104[1] [2] [3]

Group 2
Series XI. (Group 2)

Six ships were built (L7 to L 12) and launched between 1935 and 1936. All were built for the Pacific Fleet by plant 202 "Dalzavod" Vladivostok and plant 199 Komsomolsk-na-Amure.

Number Name Meaning Fleet Launched Fate
L7 Voroshilovets Follower of Kliment Voroshilov Pacific 15 May 1935 Decommissioned 1956
L8 Dzerzhinets Follower of Dzerzhinsky Pacific 10 September 1935 Decommissioned 1950s
L9 Kirovets Follower of Kirov Pacific 25 August 1935 Decommissioned 1950s
L10 Menzhinets Follower of Menzhinski Pacific 18 December 1936 Decommissioned 1950s
L11 Sverdlovets Follower of Sverdlov Pacific 4 December 1936 Decommissioned 1950s
L12 Molotovets Follower of Molotov Pacific 7 November 1936 Decommissioned 1950s

Group 3
Series XIII. (Group 3)

Seven ships were built (L13 to L19) and launched from 1937 to 1938. All were assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Considered a new project, the hull was based on the Srednyaya class. They carried 18 mines.

Ship Fleet Launched Fate
L13 Pacific 2 August 1936 Decommissioned 1950s
L14 Pacific 20 December 1936 Decommissioned 1950s
L15 Pacific 26 December 1936 Transferred to the Northern Fleet via the Panama Canal in late 1942, decommissioned 1950s
L16 Pacific 9 July 1937 Torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-25 on 11 October 1942, near the coast of Oregon while being transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet[4][5]
L17 Pacific 5 November 1937 Decommissioned 1950s
L18 Pacific 12 May 1938 Decommissioned 1950s
L19 Pacific 25 May 1938 Lost on or after 24 August 1945; probably mined in or off the Le Pérouse Strait

Group 4
Series XIII-38. (Group 4)

6 ships were built (L20 to L25) and launched from 1940 to 1941. 3 were assigned to the Baltic Fleet and 3 to the Black Sea Fleet. This group added stern torpedo tubes and new, more powerful diesel engines.

Ship Fleet Launched Fate
L20 Baltic 14 April 1940 Decommissioned 1950s
L21 Baltic 17 July 1940 Decommissioned 1950s
L22 Baltic 23 September 1939 Transferred to Northern Fleet 1941, Decommissioned 1950s
L23 Black Sea 29 April 1940 Sunk 17 January 1944 off Cape Tarchakut, most likely by German sub-chaser UJ106.
L24 Black Sea 17 December 1940 Sunk between 15 and 29 December 1942 off Cape Shabla by a mine of the Romanian flanking barrage S-15,[6] laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia[7]
L25 Black Sea 26 February 1941 Unfinished. Sunk while being towed from Tuapse to Sevastopol on 18 December 1944.

References
  1. L-6 (Карбонарий) (+1944) on wrecksite
  2. "L-6 of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the L (Leninec) class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  3. "Великая Отечественная - под водой". www.sovboat.ru. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  4. "Researcher @ Large - Soviet submarine L16 and its loss". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. "Researcher@Large - The Death of Chief Photographer Sergei Mihailoff, USNR and the Soviet submarine L16". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  6. Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935-1953, p. 266
  7. Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323

Sources
  • Budzbon, Przemysław & Radziemski, Jan (2020). "The Beginnings of Soviet Naval Power". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford, UK: Osprey. pp. 82–101. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
  • Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Yakubov, Vladimir and Worth, Richard. (2008) Raising the Red Banner: The Pictoral History of Stalin's Fleet 1920-1945. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-450-1
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