Leninets-class submarine

The Leninets or L class were the second class of submarines to be built for the Soviet Navy. Twenty-five were built in four groups between 1931 and 1941. 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). These boats were considered successful by the Soviets. Groups 3 and 4 had more powerful engines and a higher top speed.

Submarine L-4 Garibaldets
Class overview
Preceded by	Dekabrist class
Succeeded by	Shchuka class
Built	1931–1941
In commission	1931–1971
Completed	25
Lost	4
Preserved	1 (partially)
General characteristics [citation needed]
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)
Draft	All 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
Complement	53
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 (L-1 to L-6), 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
L-1	Leninets (Ленинец)	Follower of Lenin	Baltic	28 February 1931	Sunk by German artillery October 1941, salvaged 1944, scrapped 1949
L-2	Stalinets (Сталинец)	Follower of Stalin	Baltic	21 May 1931	Sunk 14 November 1941 by mine off Keri Island
L-3	Frunzenets (Фрунзенец)	Follower of Frunze	Baltic	8 August 1931	Renamed B-3 in 1949; decommissioned 15 February 1971, conning tower preserved as a memorial
L-4	Garibaldets (Гарибальдиец)	Follower of Garibaldi	Black Sea	31 August 1931	Renamed B-34 in 1949; decommissioned 2 November 1954 and scrapped on 17 February 1956
L-5	Chartist (Чартист)	An adherent of Chartism	Black Sea	5 June 1932	Decommissioned 25 December 1955 and scrapped in 1956
L-6	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 (L-7 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
L-7	Voroshilovets	Follower of Kliment Voroshilov	Pacific	15 May 1935	Stricken 1958 and later scrapped
L-8	Dzerzhinets	Follower of Dzerzhinsky	Pacific	10 September 1935	Decommissioned 1959, served as a training vessel until 1970; dismantled in 1973; conning tower preserved as a memorial to L-19
L-9	Kirovets	Follower of Kirov	Pacific	25 August 1935	Renamed L-19 in 1945 in honor of the sunken L-19, renamed B-19 in 1949; stricken in 1958 and later scrapped
L-10	Menzhinets	Follower of Menzhinski	Pacific	18 December 1936	Renamed B-10 in 1949, decommissioned in 1959; served as floating charging station ZAS-18 (later PZS-20), stricken in 1967 and scrapped
L-11	Sverdlovets	Follower of Sverdlov	Pacific	4 December 1936	Renamed B-11 in 1949; decommissioned and stricken in 1959 and later scrapped; conning tower preserved as a memorial to L-16
L-12	Molotovets	Follower of Molotov	Pacific	7 November 1936	Renamed B-12 in 1949, decommissioned in 1959; stricken in 1983; hull entombed in a stone pier in Magadan in 1986

Group 3

Series XIII. (Group 3)

Seven ships were built (L-13 to L-19) 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
L-13	Pacific	2 August 1936	Renamed B-13 in 1949, decommissioned 1956; stricken in 1958
L-14	Pacific	20 December 1936	Renamed B-14 in 1949, decommissioned 1956, stricken in 1984 and scrapped
L-15	Pacific	26 December 1936	Transferred to the Northern Fleet via the Panama Canal in late 1942; stricken in 1958 and scrapped
L-16	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]
L-17	Pacific	5 November 1937	Renamed B-17 in 1949, decommissioned 1959; served as training ship UTS-84 into the 2000s
L-18	Pacific	12 May 1938	Renamed B-18 in 1949, decommissioned 1958; served as training ship UTS-85 into the 2000s
L-19	Pacific	25 May 1938	Lost on or after 24 August 1945 to unknown cause; probably mined in or off the Le Pérouse Strait

Group 4

Series XIII-38. (Group 4)

6 ships were built (L-20 to L-25) 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
L-20	Baltic	14 April 1940	Renamed B-20 in 1949, decommissioned 1956; sank on 10 October 1957 in Chernaya Bay during nuclear testing
L-21	Baltic	17 July 1940	Renamed B-21 in 1949, stricken 1955 and scrapped in 1958
L-22	Baltic	23 September 1939	Transferred to Northern Fleet 1941; renamed B-22 in 1949, decommissioned 1955; participated in nuclear testing in 1957–1958; stricken in 1959 and scrapped
L-23	Black Sea	29 April 1940	Missing after 1 January 1944; likely sunk 17 January 1944 off Cape Tarchakut by German sub-chaser UJ106
L-24	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] wreck found in 1991
L-25	Black Sea	26 February 1941	Never finished; 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.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Yakubov, Vladimir and Worth, Richard. (2008) Raising the Red Banner: The Pictorial History of Stalin's Fleet 1920-1945. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-450-1

External links

• L-class submarines (in Russian)