The Pike III series submarines were the first medium-sized submarines built in the Soviet Union. The construction of submarines of six different series was carried out from 1930 to 1945, a total of 86 submarines of the "Sh" type were built, which made them the most numerous type of Soviet submarines during the Great Patriotic War. The distinctive features of these submarines were the relatively low cost of production, increased survivability and maneuverability.
The boats took an active part in hostilities during the Great Patriotic War. During the war years, these submarines sank 45 and damaged 8 enemy warships and commercial ships - more than a third of the total number of ships sunk by all Soviet submarines. At the same time, 31 of the 44 submarines that fought were killed. For military merits 6 submarines of the "Sh" type became guards, 11 more submarines were awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The design of the first submarines of the III series of the "Shchuka" type was carried out in parallel with the design of the submarines of the I series "Dekabrist". The Pike was a one-and-a-half-hull submarine, its sturdy hull was divided into 6 compartments. The project was developed in the design bureau, which was headed by B. M. Malinin. Initially, the boats were designed as small, they were intended for operations in the navigation-constrained areas of the Baltic. They were planned to be used in the water area of the Gulf of Finland with its shallow depths, skerries and narrow places. Subsequently, according to the pre-war classification adopted in the USSR, the boats were classified as medium.
Soviet submarine Shch-301 "Pike" (type "Pike", series III) goes along the coast, photo: waralbum.ru
The first series of submarines of the "Sh" type, series III, was created by Soviet engineers in an incredible hurry. The draft design of the boat was completed at the end of 1929. Without waiting for approval, the Baltic Shipyard began to create working drawings. At the same time, even at the design stage, numerous changes were made to their design. For example, the military demanded to place spare torpedoes on board the boat. Placing four more torpedoes on board demanded miracles of ingenuity from the Pike's designers.
It is curious that the project of the "Sh" type boats was influenced by the raising and inspection of the British submarine L-55, which from October 1929 was undergoing refurbishment in Kronstadt. From this boat, the "Shchuks" got the lines with a linear transformation and the general architectural type: one and a half hull, with boolean tanks of the main ballast. The British submarine L-55 sank in the southern part of the Gulf of Finland on June 4, 1919 during an attempt to attack the destroyers Azard and Gabriel. As a result of the demolition of the boat by an unaccounted current, it was blown up by an English minefield. In the summer of 1928, the boat was successfully raised to the surface, and then restored and introduced into the Soviet fleet. During the raising and examination of the boat, the remains of 38 British submariners were found, which were transferred to the British side for burial at home.
The performance characteristics of the "Shch" -type submarines varied slightly from series to series. A total of 86 boats were built in six different series. Mainly, there was a change in the characteristics of the boats in the direction of the power of the installed diesel engines, an increase in the surface and underwater speed, a certain decrease in the cruising range. The armament of the boats (four bow and two aft torpedo tubes and two 45-mm artillery guns) remained unchanged (except for four boats of the III series armed with one gun). Submarines of the "Pike" type had 6 compartments in a solid hull: the first and sixth compartments were torpedo; the second was a residential one (in it, under a collapsible flooring made of wooden panels, there were batteries, and fuel tanks under them); the third compartment is the central post of the boat; the fourth is the diesel compartment; in the fifth compartment there were two main electric motors and, separately, two electric motors for economic progress.
Since from the very beginning of work on the project, new submarines were considered massive, the main requirement for them was the maximum simplicity of the design. This requirement was aimed at the maximum possible reduction in the cost of production. At the same time, this did not reflect in the best way on the tactical and technical characteristics of the Shchuk. The submersion time of the boats was unacceptably long: from the cruising position - more than a minute, and the time for blowing the main ballast was more than 10 minutes. The surface speed of the boats of the III series was also significantly lower than that contained in the specification - about 12 knots. Placing four spare torpedoes in the living compartment significantly worsened the habitability of the submarine. The design of the torpedo loading device was also unsuccessful, as a result of which the total time for loading the ammunition onto the boat took more than a day. Submarine mechanisms made a lot of noise, which unmasked them and increased the chances of being detected by the enemy. Despite all the shortcomings, the project went into mass production. A total of four "Pike" III series were built, all four boats became part of the Baltic Fleet and carried numbers from Shch-301 to Shch-304. Three of them could not survive the Great Patriotic War, until the end of hostilities only the submarine Shch-303 "Ruff" survived.
In addition to the indicated shortcomings, the boats of the "Sh" type also had obvious advantages, which were confirmed by the acceptance tests. The strengths and simplicity of their design, good seaworthiness and reliability of the installed mechanisms were attributed to the advantages of series III submarines. In terms of their tactical and technical characteristics, the new Soviet submarines did not yield to foreign submarines of the same class, for example, the French Orion-class submarines, which were built simultaneously with the Soviet Pike-class submarines.
The first boats of the III series were laid down in Leningrad at the Baltic Shipyard No. 189 in 1930 (boats Shch-301, 302 and 303), the submarine Shch-304 was built at the Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard No. 112 in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod). The first boats entered the fleet in 1933, and by the end of 1941, 84 submarines had been built, which were built and commissioned in the following series: Series III - 4 boats (1933), Series V - 12 boats (1933-1934)), V-bis series - 13 boats (1935-1936), V-bis-2 series - 14 boats (1935-1936), X-series - 32 boats (1936-1939), X-bis series - 9 boats entered service already in 1941, including after the start of the war, two more were transferred to the fleet in July 1945.
Submarines Sch-201 (V-bis), Sch-209 (X series) and Sch-202 (V-bis) of the Black Sea Fleet, 1943.
Pikes of the second modification belonged to the V series and were built in larger numbers. 12 such submarines joined the Pacific Fleet. The boats were transported to the place by rail in disassembled form, their final assembly was carried out already in the Far East. They did not have significant changes in comparison with the boats of the III series, with the exception of some changes in the hull structures, in particular, the ship's stem was given an "oceanic" slope. A notable difference was the installation of a second 45-mm gun, which was then present on the Shchuks of all subsequent series. At the same time, artillery weapons were the weak point of all "Pike". For example, the German medium submarine type VII (the largest batch type of submarine in history) carried an 88-mm artillery gun and a 20-mm anti-aircraft machine gun on board. And Soviet submarines of the "C" type were armed with 100-mm and 45-mm guns. In many respects, the numerous upgrades of the "Sh" type boats were due to the fact that the commissioning of medium-sized boats of the new "C" type was delayed. In total, 41 submarines of the "C" type entered service, but by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were only 17 of them.
In addition to the urgent need of the fleet for new submarines, the "Sh" -type submarines, despite all the flaws of the first series, were tactically considered quite successful ships, primarily in terms of the combination of combat qualities and cost. For this reason, it was decided to develop this type of submarine, gradually eliminating the shortcomings identified during the operation of the boats of the first series. Moreover, the smaller size allowed such boats to feel better in the waters of the Gulf of Finland and the Black Sea, in comparison with the larger “C” type boats. It is no coincidence that the latter showed themselves best of all in the Northern Fleet, and not in the Baltic.
Submarines of the V-bis and V-bis-2 series became the result of further improvement of the Shchuk. The power of the boats' main diesel engines was increased by about 35 percent, while their weight and dimensions remained almost unchanged. In addition, the shape of the rudders was improved, which made it possible to increase the surface speed of the boats by 1.5 knots. Also, based on the experience of the previous operation of series V boats, improvements were made to individual mechanisms and parts of submarines. There were 13 built V-bis series boats. Eight of them went to serve in the Pacific Fleet, three in the Black Sea and two in the Baltic. During the war, "Pike" V-bis series were actively involved in solving transport problems in the Black Sea. The boats could take on board instead of spare torpedoes up to 35 tons of fuel, or 30 tons of cargo, or up to 45 people with personal weapons.
Submarine Sch-201 in Tuapse
On the ships of the V-bis-2 series, the designers once again reworked the theoretical drawing and the shape of the submarine's cabin. This made it possible to increase the surface speed by another 0.5 knots, improving seaworthiness. The aft bulkhead of the second compartment received a stepped shape. This solution made it possible to store the torpedoes assembled. In addition, the torpedo loading device was redesigned. This was a very important step, since at the same time the clutter of the boat's compartments decreased and the time for loading torpedoes on board decreased - from 25-30 hours to 12 hours. Also, the designers changed the transmission of the economic drive electric motor from gear to belt, which made its operation noiseless. The electric motors of the stern and bow horizontal rudders were placed in the end compartments, leaving only manual control in the central post. An important achievement of the boats of this series was a significant reduction in the noise of the mechanisms on board the boat, which increased the combat capabilities of the ships. Thanks to all the changes made to the design, the V-bis-2 series submarines earned high marks from the Soviet submariners. A total of 14 boats of the V-bis-2 series were built. The Baltic and Pacific Fleets received five of them each and the Black Sea Fleet received four.
The most numerous series of "Pike" were boats of the X series, of which 32 jokes were built at once. 9 boats were received by the Pacific Fleet, 8 - by the Black Sea and Northern Fleets, 7 - by the Baltic Fleet. These submarines looked the most exotic due to the introduction into the design of the streamlined fencing of the wheelhouse, the so-called "limousine" type. In general, these submarines were almost indistinguishable from the V-bis-2 series ships. Diesel engines 38-K-8 of the Kolomna plant with a capacity of 800 hp were used as the main power plant. at 600 rpm. Their surface speed increased to 14, 1-14, 3 knots.
The low profile of the new cabin of the X series boats had a negative impact on the increase in its flooding even with relatively slight sea waves, which was especially critical for the submarines that served in the Northern Fleet. As a result, another series of "Sh" -type submarines appeared - the X-bis series. By that time, the modernization potential of Shchuk was almost completely exhausted, so the renovations were mainly reduced to a return to the traditional cabin fencing, as well as minor changes in the water pipeline and high-pressure air system. This did not significantly affect the performance characteristics of the submarines. In total, 13 submarines of the X-bis series were laid down. Of these, 11 boats were completed: two before the war, the rest during the Second World War. Four submarines took part in the battles in the Baltic, one in the Black Sea. The rest of the submarines operated as part of the Pacific Fleet. Of the "European" "Pikes" of this series, only one Baltic boat survived. On the Pacific Ocean, one "Pike" of the X-bis series was killed in an explosion at the base. Only one submarine of this type participated in the hostilities against Japan.
Loading a torpedo onto a Pike-class submarine of the Pacific Fleet (V-bis). Instead of a stern gun, a DShK machine gun is installed on the boat. A Pike-class submarine (Series X) is visible in the background, photo: waralbum.ru
The external appearance of "Pike" during the war years changed in the course of various modernizations. For example, the folding parts of the gun platforms were eventually replaced by permanent ones and equipped with rails. Based on the accumulated experience of sailing in broken ice, the outer covers of the torpedo tubes were dismantled on parts of the submarines. Instead of the second 45-mm cannon, a large-caliber 12, 7-mm DShK machine gun was installed on parts of the submarines, while in the Pacific Fleet, along with the standard column mount, there were also homemade ones. During the Great Patriotic War, some submarines managed to receive Asdik (Dragon-129) sonars, as well as a special demagnetizing device with windings outside the hull at the level of the superstructure deck.
In total, 86 medium submarines of the "Pike" type of various series were built in the USSR. Of these, 31 submarines died during the Great Patriotic War, which is 36 percent of their total number or 69 percent of the number of submarines that fought in the European theater of operations. The losses were very significant. To some extent, this was due to the active use of these submarines in battles, as well as the most difficult conditions for submariners in the water area of the Gulf of Finland, where many Soviet boats fell victim to enemy minefields.
At the same time, despite not the highest tactical and technical characteristics, submarines of the "Sh" type proved to be a formidable and effective weapon. In the North, they managed to sink 6 enemy warships and transports with torpedo weapons, and also damage one transport (the torpedo did not explode). On the Baltic Sea, "Shchuks" torpedoes were able to sink one enemy submarine, as well as 17 transport and warships. Five more ships were seriously damaged. On the Black Sea, "Sh" -type boats recorded 12 enemy transports and warships on their torpedo count, two more ships were seriously damaged. At the same time, they managed to sink 9 transports with their artillery weapons.
The performance characteristics of the "Pike" type boats of the X series (the most numerous):
Displacement: surface - 584 tons, underwater - 707, 8 tons.
Overall dimensions: length - 58, 8 m, width - 6, 2 m, draft - 4 m.
The power plant is two 38-K-8 diesel engines with a capacity of 2x800 hp. and two main propeller motors with a capacity of 2x400 hp.
Travel speed: surface - 14, 3 knots, underwater - 8, 1-8, 3 knots.
Economic speed: surface - 7, 9 knots, underwater - 2, 6 knots.
Cruising range (normal fuel capacity) - up to 2580 miles (surface course), up to 105 miles (underwater course).
Immersion depth: working - 75 m, maximum - 90 m.
Artillery armament: 2x45-mm cannons 21-K and 2x7, 62-mm machine guns.
Torpedo armament: 4x533-mm bow torpedo tubes and 2x533-mm aft torpedo tubes, the total stock of torpedoes is 10 pieces.
Swimming autonomy - 20 days.
The crew is 37-38 people.
