EML Lembit

Last updated

EWallveelaevLembit.jpg
Stern quarter view of EML Lembit, underway while in service.
History
Naval Jack of Estonia.svgEstonia
NameLembit
Namesake Lembitu
Ordered12 December 1934
Builder Vickers-Armstrongs
Laid down19 June 1935
Launched7 July 1936 13:07
Commissioned14 May 1937
In service1937 - 1940
Homeport Tallinn
Motto"Vääri oma nime" ("Be worthy of your name")
CapturedSoviet Union in 1940
Naval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1950-1991).svgSoviet Union
NameLembit
In service1940 - 1979
Out of service1979
Homeport Tallinn, Leningrad
Nickname(s)"Immortal submarine"
Honours and
awards		Order of Red Banner (1945)
CapturedFrom Estonia in 1940
FateMuseum ship from 1979 - Estonian Maritime Museum, but still guarded by the Soviet Navy
Naval Jack of Estonia.svgEstonia
NameLembit
Operator Estonian Maritime Museum
AcquiredFrom the Soviet Navy, on 27 April 1992
Recommissioned(Honorary) "Estonian Navy vessel nr.1" as of 2 August 1994
Decommissioned19 May 2011
Homeport Tallinn
Honours and
awards		Estonian Navy vessel nr.1 (1994)
FatePulled out of water on 21 May 2011, restored and now in a museum building.
General characteristics
Class and type Kalev-class submarine
Tonnage570 (in its current condition)
Displacement
  • 665 tons surfaced
  • 853 tons submerged
Length59.5 m (195 ft 3 in)
Beam7.5 m (25 ft) 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Draught3.6 m (12 ft) 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • surfaced - 13.5 kn (15.5 mph; 25.0 km/h)
  • submerged - 8.5 kn (9.8 mph; 15.7 km/h)
Test depth120 m (390 ft)
Complement
  • 4 officers + 28 sailors (Estonian Navy)
  • 7 officers + 31 sailors (Soviet Navy)
Armament

EML Lembit is one of two Kalev-class mine-laying submarines built for the Republic of Estonia before World War II, and is now a museum ship in Tallinn. She was launched in 1936 at Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness, and served in the Estonian Navy and the Soviet Navy. Until she was hauled out on 21 May 2011, Lembit was the oldest submarine still afloat in the world.[ citation needed ] Her sister ship, Kalev, was sunk in October 1941. Lembit is named for Lembitu, an Estonian ruler who resisted the Livonian Crusades.

Contents

History

Lembit is the only surviving warship of the pre-war Estonian Navy and in the Baltic countries. Estonia is a maritime nation, and like every country with a long coastline to defend, it has to safeguard its territorial waters. With regard to experience gained and observed during World War I, submarines found their proper application in the pre–World War II Estonian Navy. The collection organised by the Submarine Fleet Foundation in May 1933 developed into one of the most successful undertakings among similar fundraising events nationwide.

In the course of building and testing the two submarines, the Estonian crews received training in Great Britain between 1935-1937. Throughout 1937–1940, Lembit and her sister ship Kalev were the most imposing vessels in the Estonian Navy. Their inactivity in the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union was a political decision. [1]

World War II

In Spring 1937, Lembit joined the Estonian Navy, where she operated until the Soviet occupation in mid-1940. The submarine carried out one training torpedo attack in her three years of service in the Estonian Navy, but was never used in the minelaying role. [2]

The submarine was formally taken over by the Soviet Navy on 18 September 1940, by which time only five men of the submarine's Estonian crew remained on board. They were needed to assist the Soviet crew in learning unfamiliar machinery.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Lembit was commissioned into the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The original name Lembit was initially retained. At least three of her original Estonian crew helped to operate the submarine during the war. [3] Lembit participated with the Soviet Baltic Fleet in military operations. [4] Lembit carried out a total of seven patrols during the German-Soviet war. [5]

Patrols

1941

  • War patrol 10–21 August. She laid twenty mines near Cape Arcona. Some ships which were damaged in November 1941, due to British and German mines,[ citation needed ] were described in Soviet literature as Lembit 'successes'.
  • War patrol 19–26 October.
  • 4–5 November. In battle conditions and through a broken icefield, transferred from Kronstadt to Leningrad.

1942

  • War patrol 17 August - 22 September. On 13 September, Lembit was ordered to return to base. Her commander decided to stay in position for one more day to charge batteries. On 14 September, she attacked a convoy and badly damaged the transport ship Finnland (5,281  GRT), which sank on 15 September, at 59°36'8 N/21°14'5 E (the ship was subsequently raised and re-commissioned on 1 July 1943). During a counterattack which involved the dropping of some fifty depth charges, the submarine sustained serious damage, including a fire in the second group of batteries; six men were wounded. After some repairs Lembit returned to base. This episode earned her the nickname "Immortal submarine".

1944

  • Awarded the Order of the Red Banner, 6 March.
  • War patrol 2–18 October. Laid twenty mines. Destroyed the Dutch merchant ship Hilma Lau (2,414  GRT) on 13 October.
  • War patrol 24 November - 15 December.

1945

  • War patrol 23 March - 14 April.
Ships sunk by Lembit [6]
DateShipFlagTonnageNotes
14 September 1942Finnland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 5,281 GRTmerchant (torpedo, later salvaged)
13 October 1944Hilma Lau Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 2,414 GRTmerchant (torpedo)
15 October 1944M 3619 / Crabeels War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg 150 GRTauxiliary minesweeper (mine)
23 October 1944Pionier 5 Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  ?harbour tug (mine, most likely)
24 November 1944Spreeufer Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg 216 GRTfishing vessel (mine)
13 February 1945M 421 War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg 543 GRTminesweeper (mine)
25 April 1945Vs 343 War ensign of Germany (1938-1945).svg  ?auxiliary patrol vessel (mine)
Total:8,604 GRT

Also on Lembit's mines was damaged on 24 November 1944 the German auxiliary patrol vessel V 305 / Halbertstadt.

After World War II

On 18 June 1946, Lembit was renamed U-1; on 9 June 1949 S-85; on 30 January 1956; STZh-24 on 27 December 1956 UTS-29. Some time between 1949 and 1956 she possibly carried the designation PZM-1 (PTsM-1?) for some time. The original name was probably restored when she was decommissioned and returned to Tallinn as a museum ship in 1979.

Lembit was presented with the Order of The Red Banner on 6 March 1945 for her victories earlier in the German-Soviet war. She was withdrawn from active duty on 17 January 1946 and become a training boat. On 12 January 1949 Lembit was included among medium submarines. She was stricken (disarmed) on 10 June 1955. She was transferred to the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard on 3 August 1957 and subsequently towed to Gorky (now Nizhni Novgorod). Here Lembit was preserved as an experimental boat and an example of British submarine design. Her hatch for the pressure-tight anti-aircraft gun storage shaft was of particular interest. It was copied into designs for the missile hatches of new Soviet submarines.[ citation needed ]

The torpedo room of Lembit (2022) Lembit torpedo room.jpg
The torpedo room of Lembit (2022)

On 28 August 1979 exactly 38 years after she had left Tallinn, Lembit returned – under tow. After a lengthy overhaul, the submarine was opened to the public as a war memorial, (more precisely, as a branch of the Museum of the Soviet Baltic Fleet), on 5 May 1985. She, along with other artifacts, was used to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Lembit was one of three submarine war memorials in the USSR in 1987, along with S-56 in the Far East, and K-21 in the Far North. There had been plans for displaying all three vessels out of the water, but a floating crane which was to have been used, (which had been moved from Kronstadt), lost its boom during the tow.

After regaining independence

Lembit in Tallinn as part of a museum display (2008) Allveelaev Lembit.jpg
Lembit in Tallinn as part of a museum display (2008)

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the subsequent dissolution of its navy, the submarine was taken over by Estonian officials on 27 April 1992 – a few Defence League men hoisted an Estonian flag on the vessel, meeting no resistance.

Lembit is one of two surviving pre-war Estonian warships; the other is the small gunboat Uku on Lake Peipsi, which is a wreck. Lembit received the honorary nomination of 'vessel No. 1' in the new Estonian Navy on 2 August 1994. After a long and expensive restoration, the submarine was opened to the public, as a department of the Estonian Maritime Museum, with a collection of other naval weapons. Lembit is one of the few surviving pre–World War II submarines (among others are the Finnish Vesikko, built in 1933, and Soviet K-21, built in 1937).

Preservation

In late 2002 Lembit caught fire. One person was killed in the blaze, but nothing of historic value was lost. The inside was filled with flammable wood and rubber. Nobody knew how or why it caught fire but through 2003 it was not viewable by the public. [7] The original design drawings were discovered in a Cumbrian archive in 2010. They were scanned and sent to Estonia. [8] A total of over 200 drawings were sent, so that they could be used for restoration. The Estonian Maritime Museum developed plans to place the vessel into the museum building (Lennusadam) in 2008. [9] Lembit was pulled out of the water on 21 May 2011, using another exhibit at the same museum - BTS-4 (an armoured recovery vehicle, based on the T-54 tank). The winching was done on a 100 m (330 ft) ramp. [10]

The submarine was missing its external torpedo tube covers. They used one original, that was stored somewhere else and the drawings (obtained from England), to construct three replicas. Most of the external paint was also removed, for minor de-rusting and the removal of some small dents. It was anticipated that the total restoration, would cost over 360,000 Euros. [11] The submarine was "parked" next to the Lennusadam building, until the night of 6/7 July 2011, when they began to tow it into the Lennusadam. The towing was done the same way as when it was pulled out of water and it took until 10 July. [12] The Lennusadam opened to visitors in May 2012, with Lembit now undercover for visitors to explore, both inside and out. [13]

Related Research Articles

ORP <i>Orzeł</i> (1938) Polish WWII submarine

ORP Orzeł was an Orzeł class submarine of the Polish Navy that served during WWII.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic Fleet</span> Military unit

The Baltic Fleet is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltic Sea campaigns (1939–1945)</span>

The Baltic Sea campaigns were conducted by Axis and Allied naval forces in the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the connected lakes Ladoga and Onega on the Eastern Front of World War II. After early fighting between Polish and German forces, the main combatants were the Kriegsmarine and the Soviet Navy, with Finland supporting the Germans until 1944 and the Soviets thereafter. The Swedish Navy and merchant fleet played important roles, and the British Royal Navy planned Operation Catherine for control of the Baltic Sea and its exit choke point into the North Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Navy</span> Maritime warfare branch of Estonias military

The Estonian Navy are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces.

HMS <i>E18</i> Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS E18 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Navy, launched in 1915 and lost in the Baltic Sea in May 1916 while operating out of Reval. The exact circumstances surrounding the sinking remain a mystery. The wreck of the submarine was discovered in October 2009.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British submarine flotilla in the Baltic</span> British naval unit in service during WWI

A British submarine flotilla operated in the Baltic Sea for three years during the First World War. The squadron of nine submarines was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet. The main task of the flotilla was to prevent the import of iron ore from Sweden to Imperial Germany. The success of the flotilla also forced the German Navy in the Baltic to keep to their bases and denied the German High Seas Fleet a training ground. The flotilla was based in Reval (Tallinn), and for most of its career commanded by Captain Francis Cromie.

<i>Kalev</i>-class submarine Submarine class

The Kalev class consisted of two mine laying submarines built for the Estonian Navy.

The Iosif Stalin-class passenger ship was a two-ship class of large turbo-electric powered passenger ships, operated by the Soviet Baltic Sea Shipping Company (BGMP). The ships were taken over by the Soviet Navy during World War II and used as transport vessels. The class was named after Joseph Stalin.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet evacuation of Tallinn</span> Evacuation of the Baltic Fleet and pro-Soviet citizens from Tallinn

The Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, also called Juminda mine battle, Tallinn disaster or Russian Dunkirk, was a Soviet operation to evacuate the 190 ships of the Baltic Fleet, units of the Red Army, and pro-Soviet civilians from the fleet's encircled main base of Tallinn in Soviet-occupied Estonia during August 1941. Near Juminda peninsula Soviet fleet ran into minefield that had been laid by the Finnish and German navies, and were repeatedly attacked by aircraft and torpedo boats, incurring major losses.

<i>EML Kalev</i> (1936) 1936 Estonian ship

EML Kalev was one of two submarines of the Republic of Estonia launched in 1936 at Vickers and Armstrongs Ltd. in England. Her sister, Lembit, survived the Second World War.

Russian submarine <i>Akula</i> (1907) Russian submarine

Akula was a submarine built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Akula saw service during World War I and sank in November 1915 after hitting a naval mine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Estonian Maritime Museum</span> Museum in Tallinn, Estonia

The Estonian Maritime Museum is located in the Fat Margaret tower in the old town of Tallinn. The museum presents the history of ships and navigation in Estonia and related to Estonia. Other parts of the Maritime Museum are the mine museum and the Seaplane Harbour museum where ships are presented. The museum claims to be one of the largest museums in Estonia and the most popular.

Finnish minelayer <i>Riilahti</i>

Riilahti was a Ruotsinsalmi class minelayer of the Finnish Navy. Riilahti was commissioned in 1940 and sunk in 1943. The vessel was named after the battle of Riilahti, which was fought between Sweden and Russia in 1714.

<i>Suur Tõll</i> (icebreaker) 1914 Estonian ship

Suur Tõll is an Estonian steam-powered icebreaker preserved in the Estonian Maritime Museum in Tallinn. She was originally built for the Russian Empire in 1914 by AG Vulcan in Stettin, Germany, as Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich. In 1917, she was taken over by the Bolsheviks and renamed Volynets. However, in 1918 she was captured by Finland and served as Wäinämöinen until 1922, when she was handed over to Estonia according to the Treaty of Tartu and renamed Suur Tõll. When Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, the icebreaker rejoined the Soviet fleet and was again named Volynets. She remained in service until 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seaplane Harbour</span> Port and museum in Tallinn, Estonia

The Seaplane Harbour is a maritime museum in Tallinn, Estonia, which opened in spring 2012. The museum is part of the Estonian Maritime Museum.

<i>Eestirand</i> 1910 Estonian ship

SS Eestirand, built in 1910, was an Estonian steel-hulled cargo steamship. She was one of the largest ships in her class at the time and served as the mother-ship of the first Estonian herring expeditions in the 1930s. After Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, she was used as a Soviet Navy transport vessel in World War II until beached in 1941 on Prangli Island during the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet Baltic Sea submarine campaign in 1941</span>

The Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1941 was launched by the Soviet Navy at the early stage of Operation Barbarossa. The offensive was hampered by the quick German ground advance and the retreat of Soviet naval vessels from the main Baltic harbors.

Soviet destroyer <i>Gordy</i> (1937) Soviet Navys Gnevny-class destroyer

Gordy was one of 29 Gnevny-class destroyers built for the Soviet Navy during the late 1930s. Completed in 1938, she was assigned to the Baltic Fleet. The ship was covering a minelaying operation after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 when she entered a German minefield. One of her sister ships had her bow blown off and Gordy rescued the survivors. The ship provided naval gunfire support for Soviet ground forces over the next several months, although she was badly damaged by a mine during the evacuation of Tallinn, Estonia, in August. After repairs, Gordy was assigned to evacuate Soviet troops from their enclave in Hanko, Finland, in November, but struck several mines en route and sank with heavy loss of life.

References

  1. ↑ "Meremuuseum". Meremuuseum.ee. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Гринкевич (Grinkevich), Владимир Иванович (Vladimir Ivanovich) (1986). Под советским флагом [Under the soviet flag](KOI8-R / Windows-1251) (in Russian). Russia: ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА [Техника и вооружение] / militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 26 April 2016.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ Гринкевич (Grinkevich), Владимир Иванович (Vladimir Ivanovich) (1986). Судьбы лембитовцев [The fates of the Lembit crew](KOI8-R / Windows-1251) (in Russian). Russia: ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА [Техника и вооружение] / militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 26 April 2016.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ↑ Archived 13 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Orlov Alex; Dmitriy Metelev; Evgeniy Chirva. "Великая Отечественная - под водой" (in Russian). Russia: Town.ural.ru. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Lembit of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the Kalev class - Allied Warships of WWII". Uboat.net. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Allveelaeva Lembit tulekahjus hukkus inimene" [Person killed in 'Lembit' fire]. Ärileht (in Estonian). Estonia: Ekspress Grupp. 8 December 2002. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2009.
  8. ↑ "Inglismaalt leiti allveelaeva "Kalev" kadunud joonised" [The lost drawings of the submarine "Kalev" were found in England] (in Estonian).
  9. ↑ "Meremuuseum". Meremuuseum.ee. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Allveelaev Lembit jõudis lõpuks kaldale" [The submarine Lembit finally made it to the shore] (in Estonian).
  11. ↑ The news, on Eesti Televisioon, on 28 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Allveelaeva Lembit angaaridesse toimetamine on graafikus" [Transporting the Lembit into the hangars is on schedule] (in Estonian).
  13. ↑ The news show "Reporter", on Kanal 2, on 6 May 2011.

[https://www.sankeyphotoarchive.uk/collection/search/?searchText=Lembit%2520 Pictures of ‘’Lembit’’ being launched at Barrow in Furness; from the Sankey photo archive].

59°27′06″N24°44′19″E / 59.4517°N 24.7387°E / 59.4517; 24.7387

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.