Pravda class submarine
Encyclopedia
The Pravda Class or P class submarines were built for the Soviet Navy
in the mid 1930s.
They originally served as training ships, then later served in World War II
for mainly transport duties. They were intended to operate with the surface fleet but failed to meet specifications, particularly for surface speed. The initial design envisaged 130mm guns for surface action. These boats had a long building time, being laid down in 1931 and completed in 1936.
They were double hull boats with 8 compartments. Their main shortcomings were underpowered machinery, a long diving time and poor seakeeping. Weakness in hull strength had to be remedied by stiffening and weight cutting. Yakubov and Worth state that these were the least successful Soviet submarines of this era and were relegated to secondary duties on completion. The two surviving boats had their conning towers re-built to resemble the later K class
.
A fourth boat was planned but not laid down
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
in the mid 1930s.
They originally served as training ships, then later served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for mainly transport duties. They were intended to operate with the surface fleet but failed to meet specifications, particularly for surface speed. The initial design envisaged 130mm guns for surface action. These boats had a long building time, being laid down in 1931 and completed in 1936.
They were double hull boats with 8 compartments. Their main shortcomings were underpowered machinery, a long diving time and poor seakeeping. Weakness in hull strength had to be remedied by stiffening and weight cutting. Yakubov and Worth state that these were the least successful Soviet submarines of this era and were relegated to secondary duties on completion. The two surviving boats had their conning towers re-built to resemble the later K class
K class submarine (Soviet)
The K class were the largest submarines built for the Soviet Navy in the World War II era.-Design:The design was approved in 1936 as a long range "cruiser submarine" with a heavy torpedo and gun armament...
.
Ships
3 boats were built by Ordzhinikidze Yard Leningrad. All served with the Baltic Fleet.- P1 Pravda (Truth) - Launched 3 January 1934 - sunk off Hango, Finland, 17 September 1941
- P2 Zvezda (Star) - Launched 1935 - Broken up 1956
- P3 Iskra (Spark) - Launched 1934 - Broken up 1952
A fourth boat was planned but not laid down