The Ronis class submarines were built for the Latvian Navy in France in 1925. They were acquired by the Soviets in 1940 following the annexation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. They were scuttled in Liepāja

Liepaja

Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...

 in June 1941 as the Nazis were about to capture the port. The hulls were raised in 1942 and scrapped

Design

The boats were small coastal submarines built to a French design. Ronis means seal in the Latvian language, Spidola

Spidola

Spidola may refer to one of the following.*Spīdola, also spelled Spīdala, a witch from Latvian national epic poem Lāčplēsis*VEF Spidola, the first Soviet mass-produced transistor manufactured by VEF...

 is a character from the Latvian language poem Lāčplēsis

Lacplesis

Lāčplēsis is an epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs, a Latvian poet, who wrote it between 1872-1887 based on local legends. Lāčplēsis is regarded as the Latvian national epic.-Synopsis:...

Ships

Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Ronis	AC de la Loire, Nantes	1925	1 July 1926	1927	Scuttled 24 June 1941
Spidola	AC Augustin Normand, Le Harve		6 October 1926		Scuttled 24 June 1941