It so happened that the most numerous type of submarines of the Soviet fleet during the Second World War were boats with a peaceful and very childish name "Baby". It is not by chance that these boats received their designation. At that time, these were the smallest Soviet submarines. Submarines of the "M" type took an active part in the Great Patriotic War. Despite the fact that they were originally intended for the close protection of naval bases and shores, they were able to conduct successful military operations even off the enemy's coast and in enemy harbors.
In the early 1930s, the USSR government set the task of creating and strengthening the Pacific Fleet. The Pike and Leninets submarines that were in service at that time and were built at factories and shipyards located in the European part of the country could be transported by rail only disassembled, but their reassembly at the shipyards of the Far East was difficult and was time consuming. In this regard, it was decided to develop small submarines that could be transported by rail without disassembling. The design of a small submarine series VI, named "Baby", was approved on March 20, 1932 by the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. The development of the project for a new submarine was carried out by the Technical Bureau No. 4, the head of which was Alexei Nikolayevich Asafov. The design was based on the submarine of the project "Lamprey" by IG Bubnov with a displacement of 120 tons.
Submarines of the new series were inexpensive, they could be built relatively quickly. The small size of the submarines made it possible to transport them by rail in assembled form, which opened up ample opportunities for maneuvering along the internal routes between the naval theaters of military operations remote from each other. Finally, for the first time in the world practice of building submarines, it was supposed to make the boat hull all-welded. The totality of all these considerations predetermined the adoption and practical implementation of the project of the VI series "Malyutka" submarine - the first small submarine sharpened in the USSR, which was fortunate enough to become the ancestor of several series of similar warships of the Soviet fleet. A total of 153 M-type submarines were built in the Soviet Union, of which 78 were before the war, 22 during the war and 53 were submarines of the improved series XV after the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Submarine "Baby" Series VI
The first boats of the "M" type built were the VI and VI bis series. Construction of the first of these series began in the fall of 1932. In a fairly short period of time - by 1935, the Soviet fleet was able to receive 30 submarines of this type, built in Nikolaev (20 were built at the A. Marty Plant, 10 at the 61 Communards Plant). As the submarines were delivered, they were sent to the Far East by rail. In total, 28 series VI submarines were added to the reconstituted Pacific Fleet. Two more boats became part of the Black Sea Fleet, where they were used to train submariners.
Small submarines of the "Malyutka" type were single-hull (the diameter of the sturdy hull was 3110 mm). The internal volume of the submarine was divided by three light bulkheads that could withstand a pressure of only one atmosphere. The submarine battery consisted of one group (56 cells), which was located in the central post. The battery pit was closed with collapsible wooden shields. The submarine's power plant was single-shaft. The main propeller electric motor "Malyutka" was used for both full and economic progress of the submarine. The steering device had manual and electric (except for the bow horizontal rudders) drives.
The role of the main ballast tanks, which were necessary to extinguish the buoyancy reserve of M-type submarines during submersion and to restore it upon ascent, was assigned to two end tanks located outside the strong hull of the boat and one side tank inside the hull. The Kingston tanks were opened outward by means of manual drives. It took the submarine 11 minutes to surface. The working depth of the boats was 50 meters, the maximum depth was 60 meters.
45-mm cannon 21-K on the Malyutka boat
The armament of M-type submarines included two bow 533-mm single-tube torpedo tubes placed horizontally in the bow compartment (without spare torpedoes) and one 45-mm universal semi-automatic cannon 21-K; the boat had 195 rounds for the gun. The cannon was installed in a fence in front of the solid wheelhouse. The loading of torpedoes on board the submarine was carried out through the open front covers of the torpedo tubes (with the rear covers closed). They were "sucked in" together with the water using a bilge pump - the so-called "wet" loading of torpedoes on board the boat.
The boats "Malyutka" of the first series had a number of serious drawbacks that reduced their combat value. In general, in the surface position, the boats of the VI series developed a speed of no more than 11 knots (at 13 knots according to the technical specifications), and the underwater speed was also lower. With a torpedo salvo, the submarine floated to the surface, showing the upper part of the cabin. The diving time from the cruising position was about two minutes, which was significantly longer than that of the larger boats of the earlier Decembrist project. The seaworthiness of the boats was also found to be insufficient.
Some of the shortcomings were easily eliminated. For example, the hulls of the first boats were made riveted, despite the fact that the project manager Asafov insisted on using electric welding. As a result, a specially created commission made changes to the project already in the course of construction, including the decision to use electric welding when creating the hull was recognized as the only correct one. Also, changes were made to the system for filling ballast tanks, the outlines of the stern of the submarine were changed. The last submarines of the VI series were built taking into account the proposals of the commission, which made it possible to increase the speed of the boat to design values, as well as to improve other characteristics of the boats.
Submarine "Baby" series VI-bis
Almost simultaneously with the beginning of the construction of M-type boats of the VI series, work began on the modernization of the submarine. This is how the VI-bis series project was born, these boats were distinguished by improved hull contours, an additional rapid diving tank, a new propeller, electric control of bow horizontal rudders and a number of other improvements. All changes made it possible to significantly increase the combat capabilities of the submarines. Submerged speed increased to 7, 16 knots, surface speed - up to 13 knots. The sailing endurance reached 10 days. The boat's crew consisted of 17 people, including three officers. The transition time from cruising to underwater was reduced to 80 seconds. In a submerged position with an economic course (2, 5 knots), the boats could cover no more than 55 miles, that is, they could operate for less than 10 hours, which significantly reduced their combat capabilities. At the same time, the rather limited displacement for the VI-bis series - 161/201 tons (surface / underwater) did not allow the designers to significantly improve the combat qualities of the boats.
Despite this, the VI-bis series also became quite numerous, 20 submarines were built. Six of them went to the Pacific Ocean, 12 became part of the Baltic Fleet, two ended up in the Black Sea. Pacific and Black Sea boats of this series survived the war, but the Baltic "Malyutki" suffered serious losses. Two boats were killed, three were blown up by personnel. By the end of World War II, only two such "Babies" remained in the Baltic Fleet - five submarines of this series were mothballed at the beginning of the war, and after its completion they were dismantled for metal.
During the war years, not a single "Baby" of the first two series was successful. Of all, only the Black Sea M-55 managed to use the weapon twice, but both times to no avail. 50 built boats of series VI and VI-bis could not prove themselves, sinking enemy ships. Obviously, their performance characteristics, in the conditions in which the Soviet submarine fleet found itself almost immediately, did not allow successfully solving the assigned combat missions. It is also important to note that 34 of them were in the Pacific Ocean and did not take any part in hostilities until 1945. It turned out that the main advantage of the Malyutka submarines of the VI and VI-bis series was not their combat capabilities in the fight against enemy surface ships, but the possibility of their transportation by rail. At the same time, the boats during the war years also solved other tasks: they conducted reconnaissance, delivered small landings and cargo, and the M-51 submarine of the Black Sea Fleet in December 1941 took part in the Kerch-Feodosiya operation. The boat carried out navigation and hydrographic support of the landing area in Feodosia, captured by the enemy, and also served as a floating beacon, being 50 cables from Feodosia.
Submarine "Baby" series VI-bis
Taking into account the obvious limited combat value of the Malyutka submarines of the first series, it was decided to thoroughly revise the project, primarily in the direction of increasing their displacement. By increasing the displacement by only 50 tons and the length of the boats by 4.5 meters, it was possible to significantly improve the submarine and, as a result, radically increase the combat capabilities of the new series of "Babies". The "plump" boats were laid down as submarines of the "M" type of the XII series. Their surface displacement was 210 tons, underwater up to 260 tons. The immersion depth remains unchanged. Maximum surface speed increased to 14 knots, underwater speed - up to 8 knots. The surface cruising range increased to 1000 miles at maximum speed and up to 3000 miles at economic speed. In a submerged position, the new boat could go at a maximum speed of 9 miles (that is, it could go at that speed for only an hour), and in economic progress - up to 110 miles. This was already quite serious value, in the submerged position "Malyutka" of the XII series could conduct combat operations for more than a day.
But the main armament of the submarines remained unchanged - two 533-mm torpedo tubes with two torpedoes (only one full-fledged salvo) and a 45-mm semi-automatic cannon 21-K. But the immersion time was significantly reduced: from the cruising position - up to 35-40 seconds (more than two times faster than the Decembrist), and from the positional position - up to 15 seconds. The main means of detecting the enemy at the initial stage of the war at the "Malyutok" was an ordinary periscope, but, starting in 1942, the boats began to receive quite modern sound-directional stations "Mars-8" at that time.
In total, 46 submarines of the "M" type, series XII, were laid down in the USSR: 28 entered service before the start of the Great Patriotic War and 18 - during the war. 16 boats of this project ended up in the Black Sea, 14 in the North, 9 in the Baltic and 6 in the Far East. During the war, the submarines of this series performed fairly large-scale regroupings between theaters of operations. So in 1944, four "Babies" from the Pacific Ocean went to the Black Sea, the boats arrived at their destination after the end of the war. Four submarines that survived in the North were also sent here. During the Great Patriotic War, 26 submarines of the "M" type of the XII series were lost - 60 percent of their original strength. In the North, 9 boats perished, on the Black Sea - 8, in the Baltic - 7, two more "Babies" perished in the Pacific Ocean.
Submarine "Baby" XII series
Unlike their predecessors, the XII series submarines have shown themselves to be quite successful and competitive even in comparison with the older warships. Northern "Malyutki" were guaranteed to sink 4 transports and 3 enemy warships, another transport ship was damaged. Black Sea "Malyutki" chalked up 7 enemy transports, three more transports and one warship were damaged. Another transport was sunk by 45 mm cannon fire. In the Baltic, the "Malyutki" did not manage to sink a single vessel (with confirmation of losses from the German side). Obviously, the performance characteristics of the boats did not allow them to successfully overcome the in-depth anti-submarine defense created by the Germans in this theater of operations. In total, the "Malyutok" has 61 sunk ships with a total displacement of 135,512 brt. In addition, the "Malyutki" damaged 8 vessels with a total displacement of 20,131 brt. However, according to reliable data, which would be confirmed by both sides, on the account of the "Malyutoks" of the XII series there were 15 sunk and five damaged transports and warships of the enemy. This is quite a worthy result, if we take into account the fact in what conditions and circumstances the Soviet submariners had to act.
Separately, we can highlight the fact that the submarines "Malyutka" took part in the transportation of goods to the besieged Sevastopol. The boat could take on board a little - 7 tons of fuel or 9 tons of cargo, as well as up to 10 people with weapons. But even such crossings were of great importance for the city besieged by the enemy. In total, the "Malyutki" from the Black Sea Fleet carried out 12 transport campaigns to the besieged Sevastopol.
Submarine "Baby" XV series
In addition to submarines "Malyutka" of the XII series, two submarines of the "M" type of the XV series took part in the hostilities. Both are already at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War. These submarines were a deep modernization of the ships of the XII series. The displacement of the XV series boats was increased to 300 tons (surface) and 350 tons (underwater). This made it possible to increase the armament of the boats to four torpedo tubes, the ammunition load of the torpedoes, respectively, doubled. Other tactical and technical data of submarines have changed slightly. Both boats put into operation during the war years fought in the North. The result of their combat activities was the reliable sinking of one warship. This series of submarines is marked by one interesting fact. The M-200 boat, which had its own name "Revenge" (very rare for all ships of this type), was built with funds collected by the wives of the fallen Soviet submariners.
The performance characteristics of the submarine Type "M" VI series:
Displacement: 157 tons (surface), 197 tons (underwater).
Dimensions: length - 36, 9 m, width - 3, 13 m, draft - 2, 58 m.
Immersion depth - 50 m (working), 60 m (maximum).
The power plant is diesel-electric.
Power plant power: diesel - 685 hp, electric motor - 235 hp.
Travel speed, design - 6, 4 knots (underwater), 11, 1 knots (surface).
Cruising range - 690 miles (surface position), up to 48 miles (underwater).
Autonomy - 7 days.
Crew - 17 people.
Armament: two bow 533-mm torpedo tubes without spare torpedoes, 45-mm cannon 21-K (195 rounds of ammunition).
