Shchuka-class submarine

This article is about the Soviet submarine class in World War II. For Russian/Soviet nuclear submarine class with native Russian name "Schuka-B", see Akula class submarine.
Shch-311 was a Series V-bis-2 Shchuka of the Baltic Fleet
Class overview
Operators:  Soviet Navy
Preceded by: Leninets class
Succeeded by: Pravda class
In service: 1932
In commission: - 1956
Completed: 88
Lost: 35
General characteristics
Type: Submarine
Displacement:
  • 577 tons surfaced
  • 704 tons submerged
Length: 57 m (187 ft 0 in)
Beam: 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Draught: 3.78 m (12 ft 5 in)
Propulsion: 2 shaft diesel electric, 1,020 kW (1,370 hp) diesel, 600 kW (800 hp) electric
Speed:
  • surface - 12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
  • submerged - 6.3 kn (11.7 km/h; 7.2 mph)
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Test depth: 91 m (300 ft)
Complement: 38
Armament:
  • 4 × bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × stern torpedo tubes
  • (10 torpedoes)
  • 2 × 45 mm (1.8 in) semi-automatic guns

The Shchuka-class submarines (Russian: Щука), also referred to as Shch or SC-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 (411 and 412) entered service after 1945, although they were launched before the war.

Development

On 23 January 1930, the USSR Revolutionary Military Council (Revvoensoviet) adapted a proposed submarine concept that were to "execute positioning service on closed theatres". Plans were made to construct up to 200 submarines in three main versions, the later ones would be larger and with longer range than the previous versions. However, due to the outbreak of World War II, only 88 submarines were commissioned. It was still to be the second most numerous submarine class of the Soviet Navy (only the M class were more numerous with 111 built). Seven ship construction yards were involved in the program - No. 189, 190, 194 in Leningrad, No. 112 in Gorky, No. 200 in Nikolaev and No. 202 in Vladivostok.

The name of the class was taken from the individual name of the first submarine Shch-301 Shchuka. Their numbering depended on which Soviet fleet they belonged to: the 100-series belonged to the Pacific Fleet, the 200-series to the Black Sea Fleet, the 300-series to the Baltic Fleet, and the 400-series to the Northern Fleet. There were however some special cases, i.e. the Northern Fleet submarine Shch-424 was renamed Shch-321 when she was transferred to the Baltic Fleet via the Stalin Canal (and later renamed back to Shch-424 when returning). The conning tower had brass symbols as identifiers (Щ-XXX, where the XXX is the number).

Operational service

The Shchukas saw great losses during the war. The Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleet lost 60-70% of their submarines. However, the submarines of the Soviet Pacific fleet did not suffer any losses to the Japanese due to the tranquil nature of the theatre (war operations commenced first in the autumn of 1945 when the Japanese fleet largely was defeated). 3 submarines were however lost here to other reasons (non-battle damages and incidents).

In all, 35 Shchuka-class submarines were lost, the vast majority during World War II.

The last surviving submarines of the class in the Soviet navy were decommissioned in the mid-1950s and scrapped during the following years, but two submarines of this class (S-121 and S-123), along with two Soviet M-class submarines were supplied to People's Liberation Army Navy in June, 1954, thus becoming the foundation of the submarine force of the People's Republic of China. However, the two Shchuka-class submarines were not sold, but instead, loaned to China for training Chinese crews and were thus not given new names like the M-class submarines.

Ships of the class

Pacific Fleet

Series V formed the first 12 Schukas of the Pacific Fleet
Pacific Fleet Shchukas Shch-121, Shch-122, Shch-123, Shch-124 and Shch-125 were in Series V-bis-2
The pacific fleet had 10 Series X Shchukas: Shch-126, Shch-127, Shch-128, Shch-129, Shch-130, Shch-131, Shch-132, Shch-133, Shch-134 and Shch-139

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea fleet's first Shchukas, Shch-201, Shch-202 and Shch-203, were in Series V-bis
Shch-209 alongside the Soviet cruiser Komintern

Baltic Fleet

Shch-310, Shch-302, Shch-303 and Shch-304 of the Baltic Fleet constituted the original Series III Shchukas
The preserved conning tower of Shch-307, a member of Series V-bis-2, at Poklonnaya Gora, Moscow

Northern Fleet

The Northern Fleet's Shch-405, Shch-406, Shch-407, Shch-408, Shch-411 and Shch-412 were in Series X-bis
Shch-401, a Series X Shchuka of the Northern Fleet, before the USSR's entry into World War II

See also

"Shchuka" is a traditional Russian/Soviet submarine name, often given to the first submarine of a new class of a new generation submarines. For instance, the first submarine of the early 20th century Som class carried the name. Also at least two other, newer Soviet/Russian submarine classes carries the name, however, the NATO reporting names differ. These are the Project 671 Shchuka (NATO: Victor III) and Project 971 Shchuka-B (Akula).

References

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