Soviet submarine Shch-215
 Shchuka-class X-series submarine | |
| Career (Soviet Union) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: |
Shch-215 (1937–49); S-215 (1949–56)[1][2] |
| Builder: | Sudostroytelnyi zavod imeny 61 Kommunara, Mykolaiv, USSR[3] |
| Yard number: | 1039[4] |
| Laid down: | 27 March 1935[3] |
| Launched: | 11 January 1937[3] |
| Commissioned: | 30 August 1938[3] |
| Struck: | 29 December 1955[3] |
| Fate: | scrapped 18 January 1956 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Shchuka-class submarine, Type X[5] |
| Displacement: |
577 tons surfaced 704 tons submerged |
| Length: | 57.00 metres (187.01 ft) |
| Beam: | 6.20 metres (20.3 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.78 metres (12.4 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft diesel electric, 1370 bhp diesel, 800 bhp electric |
| Speed: |
12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) on the surface; 6.3 knots (11.7 km/h; 7.2 mph) submerged |
| Range: | 6,000 nautical miles at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Test depth: | 300 feet (91 m) |
| Complement: | 38 |
| Armament: |
4 × bow torpedo tubes 2 × stern torpedo tubes (10 torpedoes) 2 × 45 mm semi-automatic guns |
Щ-215 (transliterated as Shch-215 or sometimes SC-215) was a Soviet Navy Shchuka-class submarine, Type X.[5] She was built at the Sudostroytelnyi zavod imeny 61 kommunara in Mykolaiv, Ukrainian SSR, and entered service in October 1938[3] with the Soviet Black Sea fleet based at Sevastopol. Shch-215 survived the Second World War, was reclassified С-215 (S-215 in the Roman alphabet) in 1949 and was decommissioned in 1955.[3]
Shch-215 is notorious for an attack in February 1944 when she torpedoed and sank the motor schooner MV Mefküre[3] and machine-gunned survivors in the water.[1][2][4] Mefküre was carrying between 300 and 400 Jewish refugees, all but five of whom were killed.
Wartime service
On 9 October 1941, north of Cape Emine in Bulgaria, Shch-215 attacked what she identified as a patrol vessel. The submarine fired a torpedo but it missed.[3]
On 18 November, east-north-east of Tsarevo, Bulgaria, Shch-215 torpedoed and sank the 641 gross register tons (GRT) Turkish steamship Yenice.[3]
On 20 June 1942, south of the mouth of the Sulina branch of the Danube Delta, Shch-215 attacked the German minesweepers FR 1 and FR 11 with two torpedoes at the vessels, both of which missed.[3]
Late on 23 January 1943, south of Cape Tarkhankut in Crimea, Shch-215 fired three torpedoes at a German barge, all of which missed.[3] In the small hours of the next day, west of Yevpatoria in Crimea, Shch-215 attacked the German barge F 125. The submarine fired three torpedoes and her deck gun at the barge, all of which missed.[3]
On 8 March, west-south-west of Cape Tarkhankut, Shch-215 attacked the German 965 GRT tanker Wolga-Don escorted by two patrol vessels. The submarine fired three torpedoes at the tanker, all of which missed.[3] On 13 March, south-west of Cape Tarkhankut, Shch-215 attacked the Hungarian 465 GRT cargo ship Budapest. The submarine fired two torpedoes at the freighter but both missed.[3]
On 16 May, south of Sudak in Crimea, Shch-215 fired two torpedoes at the German barge F 170. On 24 May, north-north-west of Sevastopol, Shch-215 attacked the Italian 3,740 GRT tanker Celeno with four torpedoes, all of which missed. On 29 May, 40 nautical miles (74 km) south-east of Feodosiya in Crimea, Shch-215 fired a torpedo at the German tug Netty, but missed.
On 30 August, north of the Bosphorus in Turkey, Shch-215 torpedoed and sank the German 1,782 GRT cargo ship Thisbe.[3]
Early on 11 November, west of Yevpatoria, Shch-215 fired two torpedoes at an unidentified merchant ship, both of which missed. Two hours later Shch-215 fired two more torpedoes at a merchant ship, probably the same vessel, but again both missed. Early on 15 November off Cape Tarkhankut, Shch-215 fired two torpedoes at a German convoy of barges and smaller vessels.[3] Four hours later she fired two torpedoes, sinking the German barge F 592. The next day, west of Yevpatoria, Shch-215 fired two torpedoes at the German minesweeper MT 1, both of which missed.[3]
On 27 March 1944, in the western part of the Black Sea, Shch-215 sighted the German 2,760 GRT cargo ship Totila being escorted by U-Jäger ("Submarine chaser") UJ-117. She attacked with four torpedoes, all of which missed.[3]
On 16 April, midway between Constanța and Sevastopol, Shch-215 attacked a German convoy. The submarine fired four torpedoes, missing U-Jäger UJ-115.[3]
On 24 August, north of Cape Emine, Shch-215 torpedoed and sank the Bulgarian 180 GRT sailing vessel Vita.[3] The next day she torpedoed and sank the Turkish 712 GRT cargo ship Yilmaz.[3]
MV Mefküre massacre
On 5 August 1944, north-west of the Bosphorus, Shch-215 sank the Turkish small motor schooner Mefküre by torpedo and gunfire.[3][6] Mefküre's tonnage is uncertain: some sources state 52 GRT;[3][6][7] others 120 GRT.[8] As well as torpedoing Mefküre, the submarine fired 90 rounds from her 45-mm guns and 650 rounds from her 7.62 mm machine guns.[1][2][4] Shch-215's commander, A.I. Strizhak, claimed that he had seen about 200 armed men aboard Mefküre.[1][4]
In fact Mefküre was carrying Jewish refugees who had embarked at Constanța bound for Palestine. Exactly how many refugees were crowded aboard is unknown, but a number estimated to be between 289 and 394 were killed.[6] Six of Mefküre's seven crew and only five of the refugees survived.[6] At daybreak they were rescued by the merchant ship Bulbul, which was also carrying Jewish refugees on the same route as part of the same charter.[6]
Post-war fate
On 16 June 1949 Shch-215 was reclassified S-215 (С-215 in the Cyrillic alphabet).[2]
S-215 was laid up on 13 July 1953, decommissioned on 29 December 1955 and scrapped at Inkerman on 18 January 1956.[1][2]
See also
- Soviet submarine Shch-213, which sank the Jewish refugee ship MV Struma in 1942.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Nikolaev, Aleksandr S. "Щ-215, С-215 туп "Щ" X серии". Энциклопедия отечественного подводного флота (in Russian). Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Подводная лодка "Щ-215"". Черноморский Флот информационный ресурс (in Russian). 2000–2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 Helgason, Guðmundur. "USSR Shch-213". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Щ-215". СОВЕТСКИЕ ПОДВОДНЫЕ ЛОДКИ (in Russian). 23 April 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Helgason, Guðmundur. "ShCh (Scuka) class". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "מפקורה SS Mefküre Mafkura Mefkura". Haapalah / Aliyah Bet. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ Lettens, Jan (24 December 2012). "SV Mefkure (+1944)". The Wreck Site. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ↑ Lawson, Siri Holm. "Re: Identity of MEFKURE sunk 1944.". Norwegian Merchant Fleet WW II. Warsailors. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
Further reading
- Rohwer, Jürgen (1964). Die Versenkung der Judischen Flüchtlingstransporter Struma und Mefkura im Schwartzen Meer Feb. 1942–Aug. 1944 (in German). Frankfurt am Main: Bernard Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen.