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.
Six ships were built (L-7 to L-12) and launched between 1935 and 1936. All were built for the Pacific Fleet by plant 202 "Dalzavod" Vladivostok and plant 199 Komsomolsk-na-Amure.
Group 3
Series XIII. (Group 3)
Seven ships were built (L-13 to L-19) and launched from 1937 to 1938. All were assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Considered a new project, the hull was based on the Srednyaya class. They carried 18 mines.
Group 4
Series XIII-38. (Group 4)
6 ships were built (L-20 to L-25) and launched from 1940 to 1941. 3 were assigned to the Baltic Fleet and 3 to the Black Sea Fleet. This group added stern torpedo tubes and new, more powerful diesel engines.
References
^L-6 (Карбонарий) (+1944) on wrecksite
^"L-6 of the Soviet Navy - Soviet Submarine of the L (Leninec) class - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
^"Великая Отечественная - под водой". www.sovboat.ru. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
^"Researcher @ Large - Soviet submarine L16 and its loss". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
^"Researcher@Large - The Death of Chief Photographer Sergei Mihailoff, USNR and the Soviet submarine L16". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
^Mikhail Monakov, Jurgen Rohwer, Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935-1953, p. 266
^Donald A Bertke, Gordon Smith, Don Kindell, World War II Sea War, Volume 4: Germany Sends Russia to the Allies, p. 323
Sources
Budzbon, Przemysław & Radziemski, Jan (2020). "The Beginnings of Soviet Naval Power". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford, UK: Osprey. pp. 82–101. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger, eds. (1980). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
Yakubov, Vladimir and Worth, Richard. (2008) Raising the Red Banner: The Pictorial History of Stalin's Fleet 1920-1945. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-450-1
