HMS L55

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS L55
Builder Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Launched29 September 1918
FateSunk, 9 June 1919
Naval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1950-1991).svgSoviet Union
NameЛ-55 Bezbozhnik
AcquiredRaised, 11 August 1928, and repaired
Recommissioned7 August 1931
Renamed7 August 1931
FateScrapped c. 1960
General characteristics
Class and type L class submarine
Displacement
  • 960 long tons (975 t) surfaced
  • 1,150 long tons (1,168 t) submerged
Length230 ft 6 in (70.26 m)
Beam23 ft 6 in (7.16 m)
Draught13 ft 1 in (3.99 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Vickers diesel engines, 2,400 hp (1,790 kW)
  • 2 × electric motors, 1,600 hp (1,193 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed
  • 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) surfaced
  • 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) submerged
Range4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement44
Armament

HMS L55 was a British L class submarine built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Clyde. She was laid down on 21 September 1917 and was commissioned on 19 December 1918.

Contents

In 1919 L55 was sunk in the Baltic Sea by Bolshevik vessels while serving as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The submarine was raised in 1928 and repaired by the Soviets. After being used for training, she finally was scrapped in the 1950s.

British service

HMS L55 was based at Tallinn, Estonia as part of the Baltic Battle Squadron, which was supporting the Baltic states fighting for independence. On 9 June 1919 in Caporsky Bay in the Gulf of Finland L55 attacked two 1,260-ton Bolshevik Orfey-class minelayer-destroyers, Gavriil and Azard. HMS L55 missed her targets and was forced into a British-laid minefield. [1] Soviet sources stated Azard sank her by gunfire. [2] If she was sunk by gunfire, L55 was the only British submarine sunk by hostile Soviet vessels. [3]

Salvage

The wreck was found by Soviet minesweepers in 1927. The Soviets raised her on 11 August 1928. As the Soviets refused to allow any British warship into their waters, the remains of the crew members were returned on the British merchantman Truro before transfer to HMS Champion. [4] The crew, 42 officers and men, were buried in a communal grave at the Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery in Portsmouth on 7 September 1928. [5] [6]

Soviet service

The boat was rebuilt by Baltic Works, Leningrad, the reconstruction cost of 1 million roubles being financed by a public fund as "an answer to Chamberlain". She was recommissioned as a Soviet submarine with the same number (Л-55) on 7 August 1931. She was later named Bezbozhnik ("Atheist") and was used as the basis of design for the Soviet L-class submarines. L55 was used for training until the beginning of World War II, when she was damaged in an accident in early 1941. She was scrapped in 1953 or possibly 1960.

Notes

  1. Kettle, Michael (1992). Russia and the Allies, 19171920. Routledge. p. 469. ISBN   0-415-08286-2.
  2. "Бывшая британская типа "L" III серии". Великая Отечественная - под водой (in Russian). Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  3. Budzbon, Przemysław; Lemachko, Boris (January 1988). "The Salvage of HM S/M L55 by the Soviet Navy: The Reason Why". Warship (45): 4.
  4. Evans, A.S. Beneath The Waves: A History of HM submarine losses 19041971.
  5. "Remembrance - The Royal Navy". veterans-uk.info. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  6. CWGC Cemetery Report.

Bibliography


Related Research Articles

Russian battleship <i>Petropavlovsk</i> (1911) Russian Gangut-class battleship

Petropavlovsk was the third of the four Gangut-class dreadnoughts built before World War I for the Imperial Russian Navy, the first Russian class of dreadnoughts. She was named after the Russian victory in the siege of Petropavlovsk during the Crimean War. The ship was completed during the winter of 1914–1915, but was not ready for combat until mid-1915. Her role was to defend the mouth of the Gulf of Finland against the Germans, who never tried to enter, so she spent her time training and providing cover for minelaying operations. Her crew joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet after the February Revolution of 1917 and she was the only dreadnought available to the Bolsheviks for several years after the October Revolution of 1917. She bombarded the mutinous garrison of Fort Krasnaya Gorka and supported Bolshevik light forces operating against British ships supporting the White Russians in the Gulf of Finland in 1918–1919. Later, her crew joined the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921 and she was renamed Marat after the rebellion was crushed.

<i>Bogatyr</i>-class cruiser

The Bogatyr class were a group of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the Baltic Fleet and two ships for the Black Sea Fleet.

Russian destroyer <i>Novik</i> (1911) 1911 Russian destroyer

Novík was a destroyer of the Russian Imperial Navy and Soviet Navy, commissioned in 1913 where she served with the Baltic Fleet during World War I. She joined the Bolsheviks in November 1917 and was renamed Yakov Sverdlov in 1923. She was a training ship when Operation Barbarossa began, but was recalled to active duty the following day. She struck a mine on 28 August 1941 and sank while escorting an evacuation convoy during the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn.

<i>Leninets</i>-class submarine Soviet WW2-era submarine class

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.

Shchuka-class submarine Submarine produced in the Soviet Union

The Shchuka-class submarines, also referred to as Sh or Shch-class submarines, were a medium-sized class of Soviet submarines, built in large numbers and used during World War II. "Shchuka" is Russian for pike. Of this class, only two submarines entered service after 1945, although they were launched before the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British campaign in the Baltic (1918–1919)</span> 1918–1919 British naval intervention during Russian Civil War

The British campaign in the Baltic 1918–1919 was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The codename of the Royal Navy campaign was Operation Red Trek. The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia. It failed to secure the control of Petrograd by White Russian forces, which was one of the main goals of the campaign.

<i>Morzh</i>-class submarine

The Morzh-class submarines were built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy shortly before World War I.

Sarancha-class missile boat Class of Soviet hydrofoil missile boats

The Sarancha class is the NATO reporting name for a hydrofoil missile boat built for the Soviet Navy. The Soviet designation was Project 1240 Uragan.

BAP <i>Almirante Guise</i> (1933)

BAP Almirante Guise was a destroyer that served in the Russian, Estonian, and Peruvian navies from 1917 to 1954. She was a rebuilt type of the Izyaslav class. Originally named Avtroil while in Russian service, in 1918 she was captured by Royal Navy and handed over to Estonia where she was renamed Lennuk. The ship participated in the Estonian War of Independence, and served with the Estonian Navy until 1933, when she was sold to Peru where she was renamed Almirante Guise.

Russian cruiser <i>Bogatyr</i>

The cruiserBogatyr, launched 1901, was the lead ship of the Bogatyr class of four protected cruisers built between 1898 and 1907 for the Imperial Russian Navy.

Russian rescue ship <i>Kommuna</i> Submarine rescue ship in the Russian Navy

Kommuna is a submarine rescue ship in service with the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet and the world's oldest active duty naval vessel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barents Sea submarine campaign (1941)</span>

The Barents Sea campaign in 1941 was a submarine operation in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea during World War II. It was a combined Soviet and British campaign, with boats departing from Polyarny to harass German shipping along the Norwegian coast.

Soviet destroyer <i>Minsk</i> Destroyer of the Soviet Navy

Minsk was one of six Leningrad-class destroyer leaders built for the Soviet Navy during the 1930s, one of the three Project 38 variants. Completed in 1939, the ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet and played a minor role in the Winter War against Finland in 1939–1940. After the start of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Minsk covered minelaying operations and provided naval gunfire support to Soviet units. She escorted ships during the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, Estonia, in late August. The ship was sunk by German dive bombers on 23 September, although her wreck was salvaged in 1942 and repaired. Minsk was recommissioned in 1943 but the repairs were not completed until the following year. The ship was reclassified as a training ship in 1951, then became a target ship in 1958 and was sunk that year.

Russian destroyer <i>Gavriil</i> (1915)

Gavriil was an Orfey-class destroyer of the Russian Imperial Navy. The destroyer was built by the Russo-Baltic Yard at Reval, launching on 5 January 1915 and completing in October 1916. She served with the Baltic Fleet during the remainder of the First World War, and after the October Revolution joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic, and was sunk by a mine on 21 October 1919.

Russian destroyer <i>Azard</i> (1916)

Azard was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Zinoviev in 1922 and Artem in 1928. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and was sunk by a mine on 28 August.

Izyaslav was the lead ship of her class of five destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during the 1910s. Completed during 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet during the remainder of the First World War, and after the October Revolution joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Karl Marx in 1922. She played a small role in the Winter War with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and was sunk by German aircraft on 8 August 1941.

Russian destroyer <i>Samson</i> Russian Imperial Navy warship

Samson was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Stalin in 1922. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and saw little to no combat. The ship was scrapped in 1953.

Russian destroyer <i>Desna</i>

Desna was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Engels in 1922. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and was sunk on 24 August.

Russian destroyer <i>Pobeditel</i> Russian Imperial Navy destroyer

Pobeditel was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1915, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Volodarski in 1922. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and was sunk on 28 August.

Russian destroyer <i>Zabiyaka</i>

Zabiyaka was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Uritski in 1922. She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, and survived the war to be scrapped in 1953.