Russian destroyer Pobeditel

History
Russian Empire
NamePobeditel
BuilderMetal Works, Saint Petersburg
Laid downNovember 1913
Launched23 October 1914
Commissioned25 October 1915
FateJoined the Bolsheviks, November 1917
Soviet Union
AcquiredNovember 1917
RenamedVolodarski, 31 December 1922
FateSunk, 24 August 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class & typeOrfey-class destroyer
Displacement1,260 long tons (1,280 t)
Length98 m (321 ft 6 in)
Beam9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Draught3 m (9 ft 10 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts, 2 steam turbines
Speed35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range1,250 nmi (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement167
Armament

Pobeditel (Russian: Победитель) was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1915, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Volodarski (Russian: Володарский) in 1922. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), and was sunk on 28 August.

Design and description

The Orfey-class ships were designed as an improved version of the Derzky class.[1] Pobeditel normally displaced 1,260 long tons (1,280 t) and 1,550 long tons (1,570 t) at full load. She measured 98 meters (321 ft 6 in) long overall with a beam of 9.3 meters (30 ft 6 in), and a draft of 2.98 meters (9 ft 9 in). The Orfeys were propelled by two Curtiss-AEG-Vulcan steam turbines, each driving one propeller using steam from four Normand-Vulcan boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW) for an intended maximum speed of 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) using forced draft.[2] On Pobeditel's sea trials, she only reached 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph). The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 1,680 nautical miles (3,110 km; 1,930 mi) at 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). Their crew numbered 150.[3]

The Orfey-class ships were originally intended to have an armament of two single four-inch (102 mm) Pattern 1911 Obukhov guns, one gun each on the forecastle and stern, and a dozen 450-millimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes in six double mounts. The Naval General Staff changed this to four triple mounts once they became available in 1914.[1] Pobeditel was completed to this configuration with one triple torpedo mount between the forward funnels and three mounts aft of the rear funnel. The ships could carry 80 M1912 naval mines or 50 larger ones. They were also fitted with a Barr and Stroud rangefinder and two 60-centimeter (24 in) searchlights.[4]

Construction and career

Pobeditel was laid down at the Metal Works in Petrograd in November 1913 and launched on 23 October 1914. The ship was towed to Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, for fitting out. Her sea trials began on 29 August and she was commissioned on 25 October 1915. Pobeditel made two sorties into the Baltic Sea that year to interdict the German supply of high-quality Swedish iron ore before the Gulf of Finland was iced over late in the year by either combat or by laying minefields.[5] During the second of these, Pobeditel, together with the destroyer Novik and her sister ship Zabiyaka, laid 150 mines off the Latvian coast between Ventspils and Lyserort on 16 December. The following day, the German torpedo boat SMS V191 struck one of the mines and began to sink. The light cruiser SMS Bremen attempted to rescue the torpedo boat's survivors, but struck two mines herself and sank. The minefield also claimed the torpedo boat SMS S177 on 23 December.[6]

Based on a battle between the destroyer Novik and two German destroyers in August 1915, the Naval General Staff decided to exchange the rearmost torpedo mount for two more four-inch guns, although the modification was not made until Pobeditel was refitting in early 1916. Both of these guns were mounted on the stern, aft of the torpedo tubes. The final configuration of the Orfeys' torpedo suite was one mount between the forward funnels and two mounts aft of the rear funnel. A 40-millimeter (1.6 in) anti-aircraft (AA) gun was ordered to be fitted on a platform between the rear torpedo mount and the stern guns on 8 March.[7]

[8] During one of these missions on the night of 13 May 1916, she led her sister Grom and her half-sister Novik in search of German iron ore convoys sailing along the Swedish coast. They found a convoy of ten freighters escorted by four auxiliary patrol boats near Häfringe Island. The freighters fled for Swedish waters while the escorts turned to engage the Russians. The Russians sank the auxiliary cruiser Hermann, even though they refused to close the escorts believing them to be far stronger than they actually were, but the freighters escaped and no other damage was inflicted.[9][10]

While undergoing a refit in early 1917, her armament was augmented by the addition of a 63-millimeter (2.5 in) AA gun aft of the stern guns.[2]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Budzbon, p. 310
  2. ^ a b Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 37
  3. ^ Apalkov, p. 52
  4. ^ Verstyuk & Gordeyev, pp. 21, 24, 37
  5. ^ Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 22
  6. ^ Greger, p. 21
  7. ^ Verstyuk & Gordeyev, pp. 21–22
  8. ^ Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 24
  9. ^ Halpern, p. 209
  10. ^ Greger, p. 23

Bibliography

  • Apalkov, Yu. V. (1996). Боевые корабли русского флота: 8.1914-10.1917г [Combat Ships of the Russian Fleet: 8.1914-10.1917] (in Russian). ИНТЕК. ISBN 5-7559-0018-3.
  • Breyer, Siegfried (1992). Soviet Warship Development: Volume 1: 1917–1937. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-604-3.
  • Budzbon, Przemysław (1985). "Russia". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Naval Institute Press. pp. 291–325. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. I: Major Combatants. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-877-6.
  • Greger, René (1972). The Russian Fleet, 1914-1917. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0255-X.
  • Halpern, Paul G. (1994). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-266-4.
  • Hill, Alexander (2018). Soviet Destroyers of World War II. New Vanguard. Vol. 256. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-2256-7.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Verstyuk, Anatoly & Gordeyev, Stanislav (2006). Корабли Минных дивизий. От "Новика" до "Гогланда" [Torpedo Division Ships: From Novik to Gogland] (in Russian). Moscow: Voennaya Kniga. ISBN 5-902863-10-4.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.