SUCH A DIFFICULT REVIVAL

 

Firstborn of Soviet submarine got the names of the categories “revolutionaries”, but the name of the head – type “Decembrist”. 3 units laid on the Baltic and the Black sea. Began construction. As for many other complex technical projects of the time in reviving the country, it was not just a job, but a real fight. With the shortage of people and materials, with lack of experience. The fight that was necessary to win.

 

This “battle” started on the drawing boards. The designers certainly tried to implement on his “firstborn” the most interesting of their ideas within the framework of reasonableness and deliverability. And something in this “field” was able to do. Curious “know-how” was the inclination of the axis of rotation of the vertical steering in the nose. The designers have assumed that in this case would be to stabilize the rate of circulation in a submerged position at which a submarine was thrown to the surface. However, the calculation of the innovation was unjustified – not for the last time. The rest of the design of a Soviet first-borns were consistent with already established norms; we can only note have not common internal bulkhead in the form of hemispheres: it was believed that so they can better resist the pressure difference in case of flooding of one compartment, of which there were seven, very decent for the time.

 

However, the lack of design experience was able to overcome due to the enthusiasm. Trouble began in preliminary tests. Trial dive (fortunately still in the dock) has led to the fact that both the head of the “rebel”, “Revolutionary” and “Decembrist”, began unpredictable to tip it to one side, then on the other – a sure sign of a lack of stability. Each team was afraid to be in such “inverted langkah-poly”. The situation was saved Namori (then the title of commander of the Navy) R. A. Muklevich, although a very peculiar way. Upon arriving in Kronstadt, he personally went to sea in “the Decembrist,” noting then that the submarine sufficiently stable, but the team does not know how to handle it. However, by the time the designer and Builder of boats Malinin and his immediate staff, and also Director of the Baltic plant were sitting on the benches, confessing in “sabotage”. Quickly figured measures to increase stability; in fact, they were quite small and required a month and a half of work and only 2% of the value of the boat. Developed them all the same designers, but now included in the staff of the “Special technical Bureau” – “sharashka” under the auspices of the OGPU – as prisoners. In fact, despite the “extremely suspicious” behavior of submarines, no tragedy there. Just needed to remove 10t “top” of the weight, passing on the shore a heavy lead anchor emergency ascent, and slightly modifying the design of the tanks. However, the designers were forced to spend years behind barbed wire, fortunately, still in relatively human terms “privileged prisoners”.

 

The first Soviet boats are generally considered unsuccessful, although a large and principled claims after the increase in stability has not been charged. Yes, there was a fair amount of minor flaws, including a rather unpleasant, such as failure to reach rated speed and increased time of immersion. But we remember that the same “ills” suffered many foreign models in countries, figuratively speaking, that ate the dog on the underwater shipbuilding. And all of our six successfully went Hiking for 10 years, until in November 1940, “D-1” has not returned from a short trip to the White sea. Believed she died as a result of one of its technical defects. (So far from the Baltic sea “D-1” was because in 1933 the Baltic three was transferred to the North.) In the war eternal rest on the seabed found “D-3”, who did not return from a trip to the coast of Norway, and “D-4”, lost under the depth charges a German patrol near Yalta. Another “Chernomorka”, “D-6”, received significant damage during a RAID by enemy aircraft; it was put on repair in dry dock in Sevastopol, where the German bombs had finished its purpose. The remaining pair survived the war and went to be scrapped only in the second half of 1950-ies, worthy of having served all the prescribed twenty years.

 

But let us return to the thirties. The Soviet submarine fleet gradually grew, and partly without the efforts of designers and shipyards. We are talking about the British “1.-55” who stumbles on a mine and went down with all hands in June 1919, when the evasion of the fire “red” destroyers “Gabriel” and “Azard”. After 9 years, it raised and in 1931 he commissioned. Although by the time “the English” could not be considered “young”, many were used on it technical solutions came just at the right time domestic engineers, forced verissima in its own juice, without access to foreign samples. Therefore, the role of “Atheist” (so – quite vindictive – renamed “L-55”) was not so much to strengthen the submarine forces of the red Navy how much as a kind of sample and the “source of knowledge and skills”. The very same “English” in the far did not go Hiking and almost throughout its service was used mainly for charging batteries capable Soviet “colleagues”.

 

Some of the “trophy” technical solutions were applied on the second series of domestic submarines belonging to the so-called “combined” type. We are talking about boats, capable, depending on the situation and objectives to act as a torpedo and as mine layers. The need in the past clearly recognized the leadership of our Navy at the outset of the underwater shipbuilding. And here it is appropriate to return to the years before the First world war when the Russian fleet was created the world’s first underwater Mensah, and very original design.

 

The author of mintage “Crab” was M. P. Raids, modest train the technician who tried to realize his idea of “underwater Director of mines” in the Japanese besieged Port Arthur in 1904. It was there on their savings, he was able practically to build a 25-ton boat that can dive to 9 feet and make 4 mines or a couple of torpedoes. Nameless creation even passed the immersion test, after which, at least, the command of the 1st Pacific squadron and the port allocated to the inventor of the gasoline engine from the boat, which he unsuccessfully tried to get informed. But Raids have not had time to bring the frontier to combat-ready status prior to the surrender of the fortress; on the contrary, he had to dismantle all the equipment and blow up the building, so that the enemy got nothing. So anything that the very existence of naletevshego chokes for many years was considered questionable.

 

Meanwhile, the inventor himself after returning to Russia has developed the project has a 300-ton submarine, in which he proposed some very interesting ideas, including an ingenious system of storing and placing min of long “pipes” in the rear of the hull. Mines rolled down the inclined chute, the adhered roller, sliding rail located at the top of the tube. This system allowed the production more evenly and safely than with the German version of reset min. of the vertically oriented mines.

 

The first option, the Commission of the Naval Ministry with the participation of such a well-known expert shipbuilders, like I. G. Bubnov, and A. N. Krylov, having carefully considered the draft and made many valuable observations, still rejected him. But tireless inventor continued to work, consistently offering second, third and fourth embodiments, each additional few more than the previous, taking into account all comments made in the address of the predecessor. So in the end appeared the 500-ton frontier with quite decent characteristics that can take up to 60 minutes, armed himself with a pair of torpedo tubes. Production was supposed to lead now with a special chain transmission with a mechanical drive, zaplavka mines with anchors and ejected them from two pipes at the rear. The absence in the process of “human hands” provided a very uniform distribution of the deadly “balls”. This ship has satisfied discerning of the Commission, and in the fall of 1908 the building was finally approved.

 

 

 

 

 

Then began the realities of pre-revolutionary Russia, the country is rapidly progressing and at the same time, which had a pretty stagnant state and the bureaucratic apparatus. Construction on Nikolaevsk shipbuilding began only a year later, and it was conducted very slowly. And the Naval Technical Committee (MTK) bombarded engineers additional requirements, causing the need to redo the drawings and re-ordered parts and equipment. Raids were lost in a whirlwind of travel and securities; construction was repeatedly interrupted from-for unwillingness of the plant “bend” under the next options from the MTC, and the trivial lack of money. For testing min (same design Naletova) and the method of their production was special built towed pontoon, experiments that lasted for about a year. In the end, the factory refused to produce min; in 1912 the Ministry of the Navy had to re-sign him to a contract all the same “500-ton submarine frontier”. At the time, technically almost ready for the descent, held in August. Totally unprepared as a fighting unit housing immediately enrolled in the lists of the fleet and named it “Crab”. But at the same time removed from his creation Naletova, passing completion under the supervision of a “Special Commission of the Naval Ministry”. In full accordance with the proverb, seven nurses the child would be without the eye: factory testing only started in the summer of 1913. It is clear that they were difficult, primarily because of the capricious kerosene engines. Was also insufficient stability. To eliminate the defect of the multi-headed Commission proposed several options, from insertion into the housing of an additional section and decreasing by half the thickness of plating to… the full removal of kerosene engines. From this “idea” refused quickly: one “electrical” minzag could put mines, except that at the entrance to Sevastopol.

 

In August 1914 World war I began, and so necessary to the fleet, “Crab” was still in the shipyard, now in the process of restructuring. “Uluchshit” continued: in may of 1915 the supply chain min altered to “screw” by a huge auger. And then it took alteration of the min Problems were observed with the manual installation: on the surface of the water Minzah didn’t get to design as much as 3 knots; the underwater speed just inferior to the demand, though not as much.

 

That did not stop to try to use the ship for the important things even before final commissioning. At the end of June “Crab” went to sea with 58 mines on Board, accompanied by three new submarines of the “Walrus” and all four headed for the Bosphorus. Interestingly, in this very battle over the frontier trade was waving the Russian flag – it’s technically still was not part of the Navy of Russia. Despite the lack of speed, to the Strait came he used his “colleagues”, and successfully put minefield less than a mile and a half from the entrance to the Bosphorus. And, surprisingly enough, safely and without any serious accidents has returned to Sevastopol. Amazing because the crew, in fact, still very knew his ship, which, in turn, had a lot of defects.

 

Interestingly, already after the entry into operation of the same job – mine production from the Bosporus – “the Crab” was not lucky. When it resumes in late February, 1916, was played serious storm, and the boat had to return to port. The campaign was repeated in June, this time successfully. Another 60 min was established just half a mile from the Turkish coast. In fairness it should be noted that in this campaign crashes and troubles was much more than the first “adventure”. And their number is only increased when trying to mine the approaches to the Bulgarian city of Varna, where the “Crab” several times attacked by enemy planes. The service ended. Frontier set for repair, which never ended before the revolution. Then he, along with the Crimea and Sevastopol went up, first German, then English. The British and put it to the bottom, leaving the Peninsula in 1919.

 

Only in 1935, the firstborn of the Russian underwater protective case is lifted from the bottom. But by that time already built a new boat, able to continue his work. Before designers and industry had a difficult task: first of all, not to repeat the story of the “Crab”, which is infinitely long (8 years!) built, and then, after several trips, repaired. Required maximum speed of design and construction. And I must say, our “worker-peasant” shipbuilders with the purpose of this handle.

 

The second series of Soviet submarines was called “combined” because they have expected to keep a very powerful torpedo armament, combined with the ability to put a small mine “banks” of 10-25 pieces in enemy waters. “For speed” development of a technical solution took the already under construction “Decembrists”, “simplicity” – something borrowed raised “Englishman”. So, instead of double casing design was polutorakratnoe, lines hull performed a lapidary straight, vertical stem. Battery to deliver a lot of trouble in completely closed isolated box on the 1-series, was lowered into the holds, covered with light wooden floors, which if necessary can be quickly removed. From a distant ancestor, “Crab”, “Leninists” (so the name of the parent unit was called series) borrowed the system setting min. They were placed in a tube “stores” in the stern, although the design mechanics have changed, adopting a more simple and reliable option, all the same Malinin. Started construction in 1929 -1930 years, “combination” boats entered service before the rise-suffering “Crab.” In principle, they were quite reasonable, although the main disadvantage when used as suppressors remained a small amount of minutes, not allowed to put the long boom.

 

Almost simultaneously with the construction of the “Leninists” in the case went to the development of another project, the relevant “position” submarine. It was assumed that these submarines will be used in the shallow waters of the Baltic sea and the Gulf of Finland, including intricate archipelago off the coast of Finland. They had to “be able” for a long time lying on the ground on the position (location and classification), waiting for the battleships and cruisers of the “foe”, who in those years was seen primarily England. This required a powerful torpedo and apparatus 533-mm caliber. Among the priorities included in the same shallow draft and good underwater speed, higher than on the surface.

 

In General, the boats of the third series, the designation of “pike”, the former for many years almost synonymous with Soviet submarines of the great Patriotic war, proved to be very simple in comparison with the pretentious “Decembrists”. There is already a trophy of “L-55” was able to extract the maximum benefit, benefit, to some extent, submarines originally had a lot of similarities in ideas. The hull lines have become more angular, formed mainly of straight lines, which greatly simplified the manufacture of the kit and covering. And the design itself “dropped” to almost single, although it was listed as “pike” polutorospalnye: Nedelko-the”Boule” is left only the main ballast tanks. Became less and compartments is just 5 and the bulkhead between them is “tricky” spherical returned to traditional surface ships flat.

 

But the sailors did not give the engineers finally slip “in simplicity”, insisting where possible on improvements to the design. As a result, the size of the “pike” grew still at the design stage, and the original surface 350 and 400 tons of underwater turned into 575 and 700, respectively. And the submarine in General changed the class: is the coastal “positional” became “medium”. But at the same time – and the most successful in the first stage of development of the Soviet submarine fleet.

 

 

 

However, she still had to grow and develop. The first “pike” only went for water, when in 1931, the designers demanded a new, improved design. He received the designation “series 3 bis”; then units of this type are renamed in “Pike-A”, and sometimes called type “Fish”, named head. (Initially, all boats series 3 and 3 bis were given the names of fish.) In the new series is actively used welding and light alloys, while simultaneously reinforcing the internal bulkheads, installing more powerful engines and better equipment. Many of them had to serve in the far East, where, after a long period of wretchedness and even of oblivion was revived a real fleet. These units are still produced in Leningrad, and then sent in a disassembled state by rail across the country, I had to consider when designing.

 

As already noted, the main problems in the construction of the first series of Soviet submarines occurred mainly with individual components of weapons and equipment. Thus, the artillery of these underwater units represented “the remnants of the king’s time”. In the list of matching samples consisted of obsolete models, both originally of French origin: 75-graph paper of the firm of Kane and the 47-mm “skorostrel” from Hotchkiss, both samples even in 1891 – 1892 years! They are ill suited for modern warfare because of short range. It is clear that the “old” was not suitable for firing at air targets, from the outset, an important task for “submarine artillery”. However, they served on the old boats “leopard”; a couple of “Kanarek” received and extracted from the sea bottom trophy – “L-55”. However, the need for new artillery systems was quite obvious. And since 1927, began the development of a universal 4-inch guns. As the Foundation took excellent car of destroyers like “Novik”. However, these long-range guns had a very long barrel, which embed on the narrow deck of the boat had to be shortened by a quarter. In addition, engineers designed a new machine, providing at least some shooting at the planes.

 

Unfortunately, that “at least some”. Installation B-2 worked at high angles of elevation is not particularly good: spin the wheels gunner had a very large force. Uncomfortable was loading, and as a result, the apparently low rate of fire. However, the first Soviet boat 102-graph paper was a clear step forward, and it was mounted on all the units of the first two series. Officially it was removed from service only after the victory over Germany in the summer of 1945. Even less useful was the “sorokopyatka” – “main caliber” of the first “pike”. The lack of automation made her absolutely not rapid-fire and of little use for firing at aircraft and ships. It is not the superior weapons of the British submarines, as we remember, who fought with ships and troops on the sea of Marmara in 1915. And our boats in the war had to spend up to 150 of these smaller shells to sink even small boats. Interestingly, one of the commanders of the black sea boats offered to take on Board… backpack flamethrowers, ensuring that this helps to kill surface enemy is much more effective than 45-mm “pukalki”.

 

However, speaking of exotic weapons, in 30-e years on submarines red Navy appeared briefly quite original weapons, which had none of the leading countries. We are talking about the Dynamo-reactive cannon (DRP), created by engineer Kurczewski. They worked on the same principle that anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades, shooting, in fact, missiles. It is clear that in this case the impact was small, and the caliber of the installation it was possible to dramatically improve. So, the first 76-mm setting DRP replaced the ancient 47-mm “hockey” slightly less ancient “Hollands”-a”AG” that was a definite (and significant) gain. And in 1934, the former Barca with the original name “Chartist” on the Black sea experimental Dynamo-reactive 6-inch! However, the euphoria of such artillery quickly began to decline: all of its performance was much lower than claimed. Particularly affected the accuracy to get from this “miracle” even in a big target at a short distance was very unusual. In the end, further experiments it did not matter.

 

The situation with the torpedoes proved to be too problematic. From the pre-revolutionary fleet in the inheritance of the workers and peasants moved some stock 450-mm torpedoes. 120 pieces were assembled from parts remaining from the same era. They had not only on those in the ranks, but also to newly built units. But here’s the thing: in accordance with the terms of reference they had a 533-mm devices. The situation was quite peculiar: for vehicles that has made a special earbud that allows you to shoot the old torpedoes. And the vast majority of target practice was conducted of 450-mm “fish”. Not very successful was the newly designed 533-mm torpedo “53-27”, discontinued in 1935.

 

 

 

 

 

Big problems (like almost all countries) created the diesels. The young Soviet government turned to Germany, who willingly provided assistance to the country, the former being hardly a “natural ally” of the vanquished, crushed by the Treaty of Versailles. Famous diesel firm MAN helped to establish production at the plant in Kolomna, and for units 1-series just sold 4 of the motor. Domestic product suffered a rapid deterioration, that just does not fit for submarines, where the efficiency of the engines is a matter of life or death. Gradually the defects fixed, but it took a few years. Much better was the situation with electric motors, the production of which was successfully developed at all without foreign aid. But with the battery the thing went wrong, mostly due to “illness” that has become permanently chronic: poor compliance with modern technology. The battery came with a large spread of characteristics; some of them had to charge 2-3 nights just to in one day to keep the boat in position. It is clear that the attack is at high speed was not always achievable.

 

However, step by step, the Soviet submarine fleet moved forward. Yes, a lot had to do themselves, without relying on world experience, periodically opening a long time ago “America”. But submarines have become increasingly capable and numerous. And occupied an increasingly important position in the ranks of the red fleet. Because the “imperialists” led by almost the main enemy of the young Country of the Soviets and, concurrently, the first naval power of the world, Britain had a vastly superior surface fleet. Had to think about an asymmetrical response, such as “invented” in Germany in the First world war. The position of Soviet Russia was complicated by the fact the age-old fact that separate Navy had to keep in four separate theatres: the Baltic, the Black sea, the North and the far East. And not just submarines could be the gun is relatively inexpensive, very mobile and many that would inflict telling blows and to protect its shores.