EML Kalev (1936)
EML Kalev
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Estonia | |
| Name | Kalev |
| Operator | Estonian Navy |
| Ordered | 12 December 1934 |
| Builder | Vickers and Armstrongs Ltd., United Kingdom |
| Laid down | May 1935 |
| Launched | 7 July 1936 13:20 |
| Commissioned | 12 March 1937 |
| In service | 1937–1940 |
| Out of service | 1940 |
| Homeport | Tallinn |
| Nickname(s) | Kalev |
| Captured | by USSR in 1940 |
| Soviet Union | |
| Name | Kalev |
| Operator | Soviet Navy |
| In service | 1940 - 1941 |
| Out of service | 1941 |
| Homeport | Tallinn, Leningrad |
| Captured | from Estonia in 1940 |
| Fate | missing after 29 October 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Kalev-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 59.5 m (195 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 7.5 m (25 ft) 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) |
| Draught | 3.6 m (12 ft) 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Test depth | 120 m (390 ft) |
| Complement | 4 officers + 28 sailors |
| Armament |
|
EML Kalev was one of two submarines of Estonia prior to World War II. Both Kalev and her sister, Lembit, were launched and completed at the Vickers-Armstrongs shipyards in England, and joined the Estonian Navy in March 1937. As the USSR invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, the submarine was taken over by the Soviet Navy. After the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941, it saw action in the Baltic Sea before disappearing in October 1941. Kalev has been missing to this date.
History
Kalev was one of the two submarines of the pre-World War II Estonian Navy. Based on the experiences of World War I, the submarines found their proper application in Estonia. The collection of public donations for building Estonian submarines was organised by the Estonian Submarine Fleet Foundation in 1933, was one of the most successful public fundraising events in Estonian history.
In the course of building and testing two submarines, the Estonian crews got the naval training at the time in Great Britain in 1935–1937. Their non-interference upon the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia in June 1940 was a political decision made irrespective of the will of the navy.[1]
Kalev in World War II
The submarine Kalev joined the Estonian Navy in March 1937, where she operated until the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia in June 1940. In February 1940, the German government expressed its interest in obtaining the submarine, if Estonia would sell it, but this offer was turned down.
The submarine was formally taken over by the Soviet Navy on 18 September 1940, by which time only five men of the submarine crew remained in place to instruct the new Soviet crews. After the outbreak of the German-Russian war in June 1941, Kalev was re-complemented, having an entirely Russian-speaking Soviet crew, although the original name Kalev was retained. During the German invasion of the USSR in 1941 Kalev participated in military operations as part of the Soviet Baltic Fleet. Kalev did not return from her second patrol and was reported as missing since 29 October 1941.[2]
Possible wreck
Kalev's ultimate fate or the location of the wreck was unknown for a long time. It was generally assumed that she hit a mine and sunk off somewhere in the Gulf of Finland.
In June 2010, an Estonian Maritime Museum research team made a concentrated effort to find Kalev. Their working hypothesis was that the submarine had hit a mine and sunk in a minefield laid off the Juminda Peninsula in northern Estonia.[3] On 30 June 2010 a wreck of what appeared to be a wrecked submarine was found around five miles north of Juminda Peninsula by the Maritime Museum research vessel Mare. However, further research was needed to conclusively confirm the finding,[4][4] and the wreck was later identified as not that of a submarine, but an aerostat.
References
- ^ http://www.meremuuseum.ee/?op=body&id=45 Estonian Maritime Museum
- ^ "Kalev/Lembit". Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
- ^ "Juminda poolsaare lähedalt leiti vist allveelaeva Kalev vrakk - Eesti Päevaleht". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
- ^ a b [1]
External links