Dekabrist-class submarine

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1973 CPA 4278.jpg
D-3 Krasnogvardyeyets on a Soviet stamp
Class overview
NameDekabrist
Builders
  • 3 at Ordzhonikidze Shipyard, Leningrad
  • 3 at Marti Yard, Nikolayev
Operators Soviet Navy
Preceded byNone
Succeeded by Leninets class
Built1927-1929
In service1928-1958
Planned6
Completed6
Lost4
Retired1
Preserved1
General characteristics
Typediesel/electric-powered attack submarine
Displacement
  • 933 tons surfaced
  • 1,354 tons submerged
Length76.00 m (249 ft 4 in)
Beam6.5 m (21 ft)
Draught3.80 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 depth295 ft (90 m)
Complement53 officers and crew
Armament
  • 8 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern), 14 torpedoes carried
  • 1 × 100mm/51 cal. Main deck gun
  • 1 × 45mm/46 cal. K-21 AA gun
  • 1 × 7.62 machine-gun

The Dekabrist class, also known as Series I, 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 and were the first submarines to be designed and built in the Soviet Union. Of the six vessels built, four were lost during World War II.

Design and construction[]

Operational-tactical requirements and design concepts were formulated in 1923. In 1925 a Soviet naval mission had obtained blueprints for the Balilla-class submarine from the Italians: concepts from that design were used together with Soviet ideas. The boats were divided between the Baltic and the Black Sea Fleets of the Soviet Navy: Three vessels (D1-3) were constructed by the Ordzhonikidze Shipyard in Leningrad, and the other three (D4-6) at the Marti Yard at Nikolayev. The principal designer was Boris 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, Dekabrist, was later designated D-1 on September 15, 1934.[1]

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. However they were reported to be good sea-boats, and reached speeds of 15.3 kn (surface) and 8.7 kn (submerged) on trials.[2]

Service history[]

In May 1933 Baltic boats were transferred to the Northern Fleet, in the Arctic Ocean, via the White Sea–Baltic Canal. All six were in service at the outbreak of World War II, and showed high seaworthiness in polar circumstances. D-1 was lost with her entire crew in a diving accident on November 13, 1940 in Motovsky Gulf, and three more were lost in action during the Great Patriotic War: D-3 was sunk off Norway in June 1942, D-6 was scuttled at Sevastopol in June 1942, and D-4 was sunk off Crimea in December 1943.[2]

Ships[]

Number Ship English translation Builder Launched Notes&Fate
D-1 Dekabrist (ru)
Декабрист 		A member of the Decembrist revolt Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad 3 November 1928 Lost in accident 13 November 1940 in Motovsky Gulf near Murmansk during training mission.
D-2 Narodovolets (ru)
Народоволец 		A member of Narodnaya Volya Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad 19 May 1929[3] Sank German merchant Jacobus Fritzen.[4] 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.[5]
D-3 Krasnogvardyeyets(ru)
Красногвардеец 		Red Guardsman Ordzhonikidze Yard, Leningrad 12 July 1929 Lost after 10 June 1942 off Norway, possibly due to mines.
D-4 Revolutsioner (ru)
Революционер 		Revolutionary Marti Yard, Nikolayev 12 March 1929 Sunk German merchants Boy Federson, Santa Fé and Bulgarian merchant Varna.[6] Lost off western Crimea after 1 December 1943, reportedly sunk by German submarine chasers.[2]
D-5 Spartakovets (ru)
Спартаковец 		Follower of Spartacus Marti Yard, Nikolayev 12 October 1929 Sank Turkish sailing vessel Koiboglu on 8 December 1942. Broken up at Sevastopol after 18 January 1956.
D-6 Yakobinets (ru)
Якобинец 		Jacobin Marti Yard, Nikolayev 15 November 1930 While under repairs, destroyed and scuttled 12 November 1941 at the Sevastopol dockyard by her own crew to prevent capture by the advancing Germans. Raised after the war and broken up.
Narodovolets (D-2) on display in St Petersburg

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ [1] Archived April 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c Conway p.332
  3. ^ Yeoman. "Your most complete source for Museum Ships Worldwide!". museumships.us. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  4. ^ "D-2 / Narodovolyets". uboat.net. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Narodovolets D-2, submarine memorial complex". Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  6. ^ "D-4 / Revolutsyoner". uboat.net. Retrieved 11 December 2014.

References[]

  • 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.
  • Robert Gardiner, Roger Chesnau: Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 (1980) Conway Maritime Press ISBN 0 85177 146 7
  • Vladimir Yakubov and Richard Worth, Raising the Red Banner -2008 Spellmount ISBN 978-1-86227-450-1

External links[]

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