Soviet destroyer Smetlivy (1937)

Coordinates: 59°41′N 24°10′E / 59.683°N 24.167°E / 59.683; 24.167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see Russian destroyer Smetlivy.
Aerial view of sister ship Razumny, March 1944
History
Soviet Union
NameSmetlivy (Сметливый (Sly))
Ordered
2nd Five-Year Plan
Builder
Leningrad
Laid down17 September 1936
Launched16 July 1937
Completed6 November 1938
Commissioned29 November 1938
Stricken17 February 1956
FateSunk by mines, 4 November 1941
General characteristics (Gnevny as completed, 1938)
Class and typeGnevny-class destroyer
Displacement1,612 t (1,587 long tons) (standard)
Length112.8 m (370 ft 1 in) (
o/a
)
Beam10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
Draft4.8 m (15 ft 9 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range2,720 nmi (5,040 km; 3,130 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement197 (236 wartime)
Sensors and
processing systems		Mars hydrophone
Armament

Smetlivy (

Leningrad. The ship provided naval gunfire support to the defenders of Leningrad over the next several months before she was assigned to evacuate Soviet troops from their enclave in Hanko, Finland, in November. Smetlivy struck several mines
returning from Hanko and sank with heavy loss of life.

Design and description

Having decided to build the large and expensive 40-knot (74 km/h; 46 mph) Leningrad-class destroyer leaders, the Soviet Navy sought Italian assistance in designing smaller and cheaper destroyers. They licensed the plans for the Folgore class and, in modifying it for their purposes, overloaded a design that was already somewhat marginally stable.[1]

The Gnevnys had an

kW) using steam from three water-tube boilers which was intended to give them a maximum speed of 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph).[3] The designers had been conservative in rating the turbines and many, but not all, of the ships handily exceeded their designed speed during their sea trials. Others fell considerably short of it, although specific figures for most individual ships have not survived. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between 1,670 to 3,145 nautical miles (3,093 to 5,825 km; 1,922 to 3,619 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[4]

As built, the Gnevny-class ships mounted four

paravanes intended to destroy mines and a pair of depth-charge throwers.[7]

Construction and service

Built in

laid down on 17 September 1936, launched on 16 July 1937, and was completed on 6 November 1938.[8] Assigned to the Baltic Fleet, she served on patrol and escort duty during the Winter War,[9] aside from bombarding the coastal artillery positions on the Finnish island of Russarö on 1 December 1939 with her sister ship Stremitelny and the light cruiser Kirov.[10]

When

Moonsund archipelago to Tallinn, Estonia, three days later as the Soviets evacuated their forces from the Gulf of Riga. Smetlivy steamed to Leningrad for repairs on 15 July which were completed on the 27th.[11]

The ship bombarded German positions during the defense of Tallinn between 24 and 28 August, firing 456 shells from her main guns.

River Neva and moved to the Ust-Izhora area to provide gunfire support. Smetlivy supported a local counter-attack near Sinyavino between 20 and 25 October. During 1941 the ship fired a total of 700 shells from her 130 mm guns.[12]

On 4 November she was assigned to the second convoy helping to evacuate the garrison of Hanko to Kronstadt,[9] together with the destroyer Surovy. While loading 560 evacuees,[14] Smetlivy was struck by a Finnish artillery shell.[15] On the return voyage, a mine exploded in her paravanes at 23:10 and knocked out her engines. Twenty minutes later, another mine explosion detonated her forward magazine and blew off her bow all the way back to her bridge. At 23:50 she struck yet another mine that broke her in half, killing over half of her crew and passenger. The ship's stern section sank at 00:30 in the area of Naissaar at 59°41′N 24°10′E / 59.683°N 24.167°E / 59.683; 24.167. 80 crewmen and 274 evacuees were rescued by the minesweeper T-205 and several patrol boats.[16] Smetlivy was officially struck from the Navy List on 19 November.[9]

Citations

  1. ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 99, 102–103
  2. ^ Yakubov & Worth, p. 101
  3. ^ Budzbon, p. 330
  4. ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 106–107
  5. ^ Hill, p. 40
  6. ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 105–106
  7. ^ Berezhnoy, p. 335
  8. ^ Rohwer & Monakov, p. 233
  9. ^ a b c Berezhnoy, pp. 332–333
  10. ^ Rohwer, p. 10
  11. ^ Platonov, p. 188; Rohwer, pp. 82, 84
  12. ^ a b Platonov, p. 188
  13. ^ Rohwer, p. 95
  14. ^ Yakubov & Worth, p. 108
  15. ^ Rohwer, p. 112
  16. ^ Platonov, pp. 188–189

Sources

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_destroyer_Smetlivy_(1937)&oldid=1181517801"