The K class were the largest submarines built for the Soviet Navy

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 World War II era.

Design

The design was approved in 1936 as a long range "cruiser submarine" with a heavy torpedo and gun armament. The boats could operate as "fleet submarine" working with the battle fleet or as long range commerce raiders

They were a significantly improved version of the Pravda class

Pravda class submarine

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...

 and overcame most of their shortcomings (Conway's Fighting Ships). The double hull was divided into seven compartments. It was originally planned to carry a small floatplane for scouting but this concept was abandoned when the planned aircraft proved too flimsy.

Yakubov and Worth state that these were the most successful Soviet submarines of the World War II era, with high speed and good seakeeping. The hull provided spacious accommodation and diving time was 60 seconds. American naval constructors inspected K-21 in 1944 and thought the design to be workmanlike but technically inferior to contemporary American boats such as the Gato class submarine

Gato class submarine

The United States Navy Gato class submarine formed the core of the submarine service that was largely responsible for the destruction of the Japanese merchant marine and a large portion of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II...

s

An improved design the KU class which was to be of welded construction was in planning in 1941. A total of 24 KU boats were planned but none were started.

Ships

All ships were built by Marti Yard / Ordzhinikidze Yard, Leningrad

A total of twelve boats were built in the Baltic for the Soviet Northern Fleet. K1 to K23 were transferred prior to the German Invasion. K51 to K56 were trapped in Leningrad during the Blockade

Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...

 and were completed after the war and transferred to the Arctic

• K 1 -

Laid down 27 December 1936

Launched 4 May 1938,

Commissioned 26 May 1940

Lost October 1943 , Mined in the Kara Sea

• K 2

Laid down 27 December 1936

Launched 4 May 1938,

Commissioned 26 May 1940

Lost August/September 1942

• K 3

Laid down 27 December 1936

Launched 1938,

Commissioned 19 December 1940

Sunk 21 March 1943 by German anti-submarine vessels near Batsfjord, Norway

• K 21

Laid down 10 December 1937

Launched 16 August 1939

Commissioned 3 February 1941

made an unsuccessful attack on the Tirpitz

German battleship Tirpitz

Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...

, during the PQ-17 convoy when she was commanded by Nikolai Lunin

Nikolai Lunin

Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin was a Admiral in the Soviet Navy and a Hero of the Soviet Union.Lunin was born in Mariupol the son of a soldier. He studied at the Rostov-on-Don maritime college and joined the merchant marine serving aboard the tanker Azneft...

, stationary training ship 1959, saved as memorial

• K 22

Laid down 5 January 1938

Launched 3 November 1938,

Commissioned 7 August 1940

Sunk 7 February 1943 by mines

• K 23

Laid down 5 February 1938

Launched 28 April 1939

Commissioned 25 October 1940

Sunk 12 May 1942 by German anti-submarine vessels commanded by Wolfgang Kaden

Wolfgang Kaden

Korvettenkapitän of the Reserves Wolfgang Kaden was a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipient during World War II...

 near Olesa Fjord, Norway, the boat was commanded by Magomet Gadzhiyev

Magomet Gadzhiyev

Magomet Imadutinovich Gadzhiyev was a Soviet Navy submarine commander and Hero of the Soviet Union. He fought and died during World War II.-Biography:...

• K 51

Launched 1939,

decommissioned in 1955, scrapped

• K 52

Launched 1939,

decommissioned in 1955, scrapped

• K 53

Launched 1939,

decommissioned in 1954, scrapped

• K 54

Launched 1941,

not commissioned, scrapped

• K 55

Launched 1941,

decommissioned in 1954, scrapped

• K 56

Launched 1940,

sunk in 1957 at nuclear trials