 Raising of theensign of the Russian Navy onSvyatoy Georgy, 20 May 1917 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire andRepublic | |
| Name | Svyatoy Georgy |
| Namesake | Saint George |
| Builder | Laurenti–Ansaldo,La Spezia |
| Laid down | 1916 |
| Launched | January 1917 |
| Commissioned | 20 May 1917[a] |
| Fate | Left stranded on a sandbank in 1918, captured by the Red Army in February 1920 |
 Russian SFSR and theSoviet Union | |
| Name | Kommunar (from 7 May 1920) |
| Namesake | Communards |
| Decommissioned | January 1923 |
| Stricken | 24 July 1924 |
| Fate | Used as a training hulk until 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 45.2 m (148 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 3.02 m (9 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 45 m (148 ft) |
| Complement | 19 officers and sailors |
| Armament |
|
TheRussian submarineSvyatoy Georgy (Russian:Святой Георгий,lit. 'Saint George') was a uniquesubmarine built duringWorld War I for theImperial Russian Navy by the Italian firmAnsaldo and the engineerCesare Laurenti. The submarine had been ordered byRussia in 1912, but the original boat was completed shortly after the outbreak of the war and entered service with theRoyal Italian Navy. Russia ordered a replacement in 1915, which waslaid down in 1916 andlaunched in January 1917.Svyatoy Georgy was completed and commissioned into the Russian Navy on 20 May 1917. The submarine's armament consisted of onedeck gun and twotorpedo tubes.
Svyatoy Georgy left Italy and went on a five-thousand mile voyage on its own power from theMediterranean Sea to the port ofArkhangelsk on the coast ofnorthern Russia, where the submarine became part of theArctic Ocean Flotilla. The journey lasted from June to September 1917. Shortly after its arrival the submarine underwent repairs and did not see any combat against Germany. After the events of theOctober Revolution, during theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War the crew tookSvyatoy Georgy from Arkhangelsk along theNorthern Dvina river and left it stranded on asandbank. It was eventually recovered and entered service with theRed Navy in theWhite Sea, being renamedKommunar, before its decommissioning in 1923. The submarine may have been used as a stationary training hulk until theGerman invasion of the Soviet Union.
In 1912 theRussian Empire ordered asubmarine from the Italian firmFiat based on the design of the naval engineerCesare Laurenti. It was a development on the ItalianMedusa-class submarine. The boat ordered by Russia waslaid down on 11 March 1913 and waslaunched on 5 July 1914. TheImperial Russian Navy intended to name the submarineSvyatoy Georgy.[1] However, the outbreak ofWorld War I and the neutrality ofItaly complicated the situation.[2][3] The submarine was repurposed by the Italy and entered service with theRoyal Italian Navy on 18 February 1915 asArgonauta [it].[1] After theItalian entry into World War I on the side of theEntente later that year Russia ordered a replacement[2][3] as part of its 1915 emergency naval armament program.[4] The secondSvyatoy Georgy was laid down in 1916 and launched in January 1917 after being designed and built byLaurenti–Ansaldo inLa Spezia, Italy.[1]
Svyatoy Georgy had twoFiat 350 hp (260 kW)diesel engines for moving on the surface and two 250 hp (190 kW)electric motors for moving underwater, providing power to the submarine's twopropeller shafts. This gave it a top speed of 13.4 knots (24.8 km/h) surfaced and 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h) underwater, and a range of 1,600 nmi (3,000 km) while surfaced and 88 nmi (163 km) while submerged. It had adisplacement of 260 tons surfaced and 305 tons submerged, along with a length of 45.2 m (148 ft 4 in), abeam of 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in), and adraft of 3.02 m (9 ft 11 in). Its diving depth was 45 m (148 ft). The boat's armament consisted of one 75 mm (3 in)deck gun and two 457 mm (18 in) bowtorpedo tubes. The crew consisted of 19 officers and men.[1][5] Like all submarines designed by Laurenti,Svyatoy Georgy had adouble hull, andballast tanks were located between the two hulls.[2]
A crew of submariners from theArctic Ocean Flotilla, led bySenior Lieutenant[6] Ivan I. Riznich, was sent by the Russian naval command to Italy. Riznich previously captained multiple submarines and was then serving as the commander of the flotilla's submarine division. They noted that the pipes ofSvyatoy Georgy would freeze if the boat submerged in the cold northern waters, but the government saw its purpose for joining the Arctic Ocean Flotilla as that its presence would intimidate German warships from operating outside the port ofArkhangelsk. So despite the problem with the pipes, the Russian government planned to acquire another two submarines of this class for service in the northern waters.[2]
The crew departed in February 1917 and reached Italy by ship either in March or April.[6] AfterSvyatoy Georgy was commissioned into the Imperial Russian Navy on 20 May [O.S. 7 May] 1917 in La Spezia, in a ceremony that was attended by Russian diplomatic officials and Italian officers,[6] the crew spent time in the rest of May and early June familiarizing themselves with the submarine, and also meeting with Italian officials.[2] After this was complete they began their journey to Russia and departed from La Spezia toGenoa on 26 June [O.S. 13 June] 1917.[1][2] It was the start of voyage that took the submarine over 5,000 miles.[3]
After a brief stop in Genoa the submarine left Italy forGibraltar, where they were met by the British and rested for several days before departing, and entered the Atlantic Ocean. During their time in the Atlantic the crew had to keep the hatch open for the diesel engines to receive air, which became a problem when during a storm water started getting into the submarine. They had to pump it out but had difficulty keeping up with the amount of water entering the submarine. They reached Lisbon in 19 July, and then continued before eventually reachingPlymouth in August. ThereSvyatoy Georgy underwent repairs before departing later that month with the British minesweeperIceland. After passing betweenIreland and Great Britain they stopped atScapa Flow on 6 September. The submarine and the minesweeper left on the 10th for the final section of the voyage.Svyatoy Georgy had problems with its diesel engines along the way but managed to keep going at a slow speed until it finally reachedArkhangelsk on 22 September [O.S. 9 September] 1917.[2][7]
The following day they were visited byRear Admiral Vikorst, commander of the Arctic Ocean Flotilla, who delivered a message fromDmitry Verderevsky, the Minister of the Navy of theRussian Republic, congratulating Riznich and the entire crew for completing the voyage in difficult conditions. Every member of the crew was awarded theCross of St. George and several officers received other orders. However, a commission of theNaval General Staff, after realizing thatSvyatoy Georgy could not dive in the cold waters due to pipes freezing inside, recommended that the boat be transferred to either theBaltic Fleet or theBlack Sea Fleet.[2]Svyatoy Georgy did not carry out any combat operations against the Germans.[7]
In late October 1917 the boat began preparations to be put in a dry dock for maintenance, which was done on 12 November, and in the spring of 1918 they were expecting thatSvyatoy Georgy would be transferred to the Baltic. Riznich remained in command. However, on 3 August 1918 theAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War reached Arkhangelsk as British troops entered the area.[2] When they arrived,Svyatoy Georgy was taken up theNorthern Dvina river and ran aground on asandbank, where it was left by its crew. There are contradictory reports as to whether the crew was loyal to the Soviet government and did this on their orders or if it was done to try to get the submarine to theWhite movement.[2][7] One source also says that the boat was strafed by a French aircraft.[7] In any case, the submarine remained stranded there until it was eventually recovered by the Soviets: either in the winter of 1918–19,[2] or in February 1920.[1]
TheRed Navy appointed Lieutenant P. I. Lazarevich as the new commander and it was renamedKommunar in May 1920.[1][2] The submarine became part of the Naval Forces of the Northern Seas within the Red Navy and remained in limited service in theWhite Sea until being decommissioned in January 1923.[2][7] After being struck from the navy list on 24 July 1924,[1] it was still used as part of equipment for the recovery of sunk ships by the Soviet agencyEPRON,[2] and it may have been turned into a training hulk that was in use until 1941,[8] before being scrapped.[2]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1918 | |
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| Other incidents |
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