Dekabrist-class submarine
 D-3 "Krasnogvardyeyets" at soviet stamp | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Dekabrist |
| Builders: |
3 at Ordzhonikidze Shipyard, Leningrad 3 at Marti Yard, Nikolayev |
| Operators: |
 Soviet Navy |
| Built: | 1927-1929 |
| In service: | 1928-1958 |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Lost: | 4 |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | diesel/electric-powered attack submarine |
| Displacement: |
933 tons surfaced 1,354 tons submerged |
| Length: | 76.00 m (249 feet 4 inches) |
| Beam: | 6.5 m (21 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.80 m (12.5 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shafts, three-bladed propellers - Two 1,100hp MAN/Kolomna diesels - Two 525hp PG-20 electric motors - Two electric creeping motors 50hp - 60 DK storage batteries |
| Speed: |
14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h) submerged |
| Range: |
3,600 nmi (6,700 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h) surfaced 7,500 nmi (13,900 km) at 9 kn (17 km/h) surfaced 132 nmi (244 km) at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged |
| Test depth: | 295 ft (90 m) |
| Complement: | 53 officers and crew |
| Armament: |
8 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern), 14 torpedoes carried 1 x 100mm/51 cal. Main deck gun 1 x 45mm/46 cal. K-21 AA gun 1 x 7.62 machine-gun |
The Dekabrist'-class were the first class of submarines built for the Soviet Navy after the October Revolution. They were authorized in the Soviet Naval Shipbuilding Program of 1926.
Operational-tactical requirements and design concepts were formulated in 1923. In 1925 A Soviet naval mission obtained blueprints for the Balilla class submarine from the Italians and used concepts from that design together with Soviet ideas. The boats were constructed by the Ordzhonikidze Shipyard and the principal designer was B.M. Malinin. The first boat in the class was laid down on March 5, 1927; launched on November 3, 1928, and commissioned on November 18, 1930. This first boat, the Dekabrist, was later designated D-1, September 15, 1934.
The class was of a double–hull design with 7 compartments and constructed using riveting. These boats were of Soviet design and had numerous technical shortcomings and construction defects. The most serious problems were their slow diving time and poor stability during diving.
In May 1933, the Dekabrist was shifted to the Northern Fleet via the White Sea-Baltic Canal. She remained in service until 1940. She showed high seaworthiness in polar circumstances. The boat was lost with entire crew in a diving accident on November 13, 1940 in Molotovskiy Bay.
Ships
| Ship | English Translation | Builder | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-1 Dekabrist Декабрист | A member of the Decembrist revolt | Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad | 3 November 1928 | Lost in accident November 1940 in Motovsky Gulf near Murmansk during training mission. |
| D-2 Narodovolets Народоволец | A member of Narodnaya Volya | Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad | 1929 | Decommissioned 1958 but from 1956 to 1987 was based in Kronstadt and served as a training ship. Finally, in 1989 on completion of the reconstruction was installed on shore as a memorial museum in St Petersburg. |
| D-3 Krasnogvardyeyets Красногвардеец | Red Guardsman | Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad | 12 July 1929 | Sunk July 1942 off Norway |
| D-4 Revolutsioner Революционер | Revolutionary | Marti Yard, Nikolayev | 1929 | Sunk by German armed trawlers UJ 102 and UJ 103 off Yevpatoria, Crimea |
| D-5 Spartakovets Спартаковец | Follower of Spartacus | Marti Yard, Nikolayev | 1929 | Decommissioned 1950s |
| D-6 Yakobinets Якобинец | Jacobin | Marti Yard, Nikolayev | 1929 | Destroyed by bombing in Sevastopol dockyard, 12 November 1941 |
See also
References
- Conway's All the World's Fighting ships 1922-1946
- Vladimir Yakubov and Richard Worth, Raising the Red Banner -2008 Spellmount ISBN 978-1-86227-450-1
- (English) Steel Navy
- (English) Info from Russian Museums
- (English) Narodovolets D-2, submarine memorial complex, Article, Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia,
- (Russian) Article on Morflot website
- (English) Uboat.net Website
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