Soviet submarine L-4

Submarine L-4 Garibaldets
Career (USSR)
Name: L-4 Гарибальдиец(Garibalidiyets)
Laid down: 15 March 1930
Launched: 31 August 1931
Commissioned: 8 October 1933
Decommissioned: 2 November 1954
Fate: Stricken on 17 February 1956
General characteristics
Class and type:Leninets-class
Displacement:1,200 tons surfaced
1,335 tons submerged
Length:81 m (265 ft 9 in)
Beam:7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Draft:4.08 m (13 ft 5 in)
Propulsion:Diesel-electric
2 × diesels (1,600 hp total)
2 × electric motors (1,250 hp total)
2 shafts
Speed:14 knots (26 km/h) surfaced
9 knots (17 km/h) submerged
Range:7,400 nmi (13,700 km) at 9 kn (17 km/h) surfaced
154 nmi (285 km) at 3 kn (5.6 km/h) submerged
Complement:53
Armament:1 × 100 mm (3.9 in) L/68 gun
1 × 45 mm (1.8 in) gun
6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern)
12 × torpedoes
14 × mines
Service record
Part of: Black Sea Fleet

The World War II Soviet submarine L-4 belonged to the L-class or Leninets class of minelayer submarines. She had been named Garibaldets in honour of the men of Garibaldi. During the war she was commanded by Evgeniy Petrovich Polyakov (Russian: Евгений Петрович Поляков).[1]

Service history

For her service, the submarine was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.[2] Among her victories was the torpedoing of the German tanker Friederike (formerly Firuz), whose loss prevented her use during the Axis evacuation of Crimea during the Crimean Offensive.[3][4]

 Ships sunk by L-4 [5][6]
Date Ship Flag Tonnage Notes
15 September 1941 Chipka Kingdom of Bulgaria 2,304 GRT freighter (mine)
19 September 1941 W-2 Kingdom of Bulgaria ca. 50 GRT minesweeper (mine)
10 October 1941 Regele Carol I Kingdom of Romania 2,369 GRT minelayer (mine) [7][8]
22 July 1943 Hudayi Bahri Turkey 29 GRT sailing vessel (gunfire)
23 July 1943 Gurpinar Turkey 100 GRT sailing vessel (gunfire)
28 July 1943 EL-73 Nazi Germany 139 GRT lighter (mine) [9]
23 November 1943 Santa Fé Nazi Germany 4,627 GRT freighter (mine) [10]
11 May 1944 Friederike Nazi Germany 7,327 GRT tanker (torpedo). Not sunk but written-off.
Total:16,940 GRT

Mines from L-4 also damaged the German barge F-130. During an artillery duel she damaged the German barge F-329.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Orlov Alex, Dmitriy Metelev, Evgeniy Chirva. "Великая Отечественная - под водой". Town.ural.ru. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  2. ↑ Orlov Alex, Dmitriy Metelev, Evgeniy Chirva. "Великая Отечественная - под водой". Town.ural.ru. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  3. ↑ "Friederike ex Firuz". Forum-marinearchiv.de. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  4. ↑ "Operation "60,000" – 1944". WorldWar2.ro. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "L-4 of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the L (Leninec) class - Allied Warships of WWII". uboat.net. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  6. ↑ "Allied Submarine Attacks 1939-1945". Historisches Marinearchiv. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  7. ↑ "SMR Regele Carol I". WorldWar2.ro. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  8. ↑ "Allied Submarine Attacks 1939-1945". Historisches Marinearchiv. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  9. ↑ "Allied Submarine Attacks 1939-1945". Historisches Marinearchiv. Retrieved 2014-11-17.
  10. ↑ "Allied Submarine Attacks 1939-1945". Historisches Marinearchiv. Retrieved 2014-11-17.