Russian destroyer Letun
{{Short description|World War I-era Russian destroyer}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Letun1916.jpg |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Russian Empire |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Russian Empire|naval}} |Ship name=Letun |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Metal Works, Petrograd |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=November 1914 |Ship launched=5 October 1915 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=11 July 1916 |Ship commissioned= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Soviet Union |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} |Ship acquired=November 1917 |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned=21 April 1921 |Ship struck=31 May 1922 |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Scrapped after 25 September 1927 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as built) |Ship class={{sclass|Orfey|destroyer}} |Ship displacement={{convert|1260|LT|t|lk=on}} |Ship length= {{convert|98|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|9.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draught=*{{convert|2.98|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 steam turbines |Ship power=*4 Vulcan-Thornycroft boilers
|Ship speed= {{convert|32|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{cvt|1680|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|21|kn}} |Ship complement=167 |Ship armament=*4 × single 102mm 60 caliber Pattern 1911
|Ship notes= }} |
Letun ({{lang|ru|Летун}}) was one of eight {{sclass|Orfey|destroyer}}s built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and made six raids into the Baltic Sea to attack German shipping or lay minefields. The ship struck a naval mine in October that crippled her. Letun{{'}}s crew joined the Bolsheviks while she was being repaired during 1917. The ship was towed from Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, in April 1918 in what became known as the "Ice Cruise" as the harbor was still iced over. She was placed in reserve later that month and was briefly reactivated in 1921. Letun was stricken from the navy list in 1922 and sold for scrap five years later.
Design and description
The Orfey-class ships were designed as an improved version of the {{sclass|Derzky|destroyer|4}}.Budzbon, p. 310 Letun normally displaced {{convert|1260|LT|t|lk=on}} and {{convert|1563|LT|t}} at full load. She measured {{convert|98|m|ftin|sp=us}} long overall with a beam of {{convert|9.3|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a draft of {{convert|2.98|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The Orfeys were propelled by two Curtiss-AEG-Vulcan steam turbines, each driving one propeller using steam from four Normand-Vulcan boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of {{convert|30000|shp|lk=on}} for an intended maximum speed of {{convert|35|kn||lk=on}} using forced draft.Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 37 On Letun{{'}}s sea trials, she only reached {{convert|32|kn}}. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of {{convert|1680|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|21|kn|}}. Their crew numbered 150.Apalkov, p. 52
The Orfey-class ships were originally intended to have an armament of two single four-inch (102 mm) Pattern 1911 Obukhov guns and a dozen {{convert|450|mm|1|sp=us|adj=on}} torpedo tubes in six double mounts. The Naval General Staff changed this to four triple mounts once they became available and then decided to exchange a torpedo mount for two more four-inch guns in August 1915 while the ships were still under construction. One of these guns was mounted on the forecastle and three on the stern, aft of the torpedo tubes. The Orfeys were completed with one triple torpedo mount between the forward funnels and two mounts aft of the rear funnel and could carry 80 M1912 naval mines. They were also fitted with a Barr and Stroud rangefinder and two {{Convert|60|cm|in|sp=us|adj=on}} searchlights.
Construction and career
Letun was laid down at the Metal Works in Petrograd in November 1914 and launched on 5 October 1915. The ship was towed to Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, for fitting out. Her sea trials began on 16 May 1916Verstyuk & Gordeyev, p. 39 and she was completed on 11 July. That year, Letun made six sorties into the Baltic Sea in attempts to interdict Swedish iron ore headed to Germany before the Gulf of Finland froze. Her goal was to either to sink vessels carrying iron ore or to lay minefields across their usual routes. During the last of these sorties on 25 October, the ship's stern struck a mine near the island of Aegna in the Bay of Tallinn. Its detonation severely damaged the stern, tore off the rudder, broke both propeller shafts and flooded every compartment from the engine room all the way aft. She was towed to Tallinn, Estonia, for emergency repairs and then to Helsinki for complete repairs.
Her crew joined the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution. She was stationed in Helsinki, Finland, in late 1917 and early 1918 and was icebound in Helsinki harbor when Vladimir Lenin ordered the Baltic Fleet to evacuate Helsinki to Kronstadt. Letun was part of the last echelon to depart before the Germans gained control of the city and had to be towed to Kronstadt from 10 to 17 April 1918 in the "Ice Cruise". She was placed in reserve upon her arrival. The ship was briefly recommissioned on 21 April 1921 before she was disarmed and stricken on 31 May 1922. Letun was sold for scrap on 25 September 1927.
Citations
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Apalkov |first=Yu. V. |title=Боевые корабли русского флота: 8.1914-10.1917г |trans-title=Combat Ships of the Russian Fleet: 8.1914-10.1917|year=1996 |location=Saint Petersburg, Russia |language=Russian |publisher=ИНТЕК |isbn=5-7559-0018-3}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Gray|editor1-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 |year=1985 |location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |last=Budzbon|first=Przemysław |pages=291–325|chapter=Russia}}
- {{cite book|last1=Verstyuk|first1=Anatoly|last2=Gordeyev|first2=Stanislav|title=Корабли Минных дивизий. От "Новика" до "Гогланда"|year=2006|publisher=Voennaya Kniga|location=Moscow|isbn=5-902863-10-4 |language=ru|trans-title=Torpedo Division Ships: From Novik to Gogland|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|last=Watts|first=Anthony J.|title=The Imperial Russian Navy|publisher=Arms and Armour|location=London |year=1990|isbn=0-85368-912-1}}
{{Orfey-class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letun}}
Category:Orfey-class destroyers
Category:Destroyers of the Imperial Russian Navy