Soviet submarine K-1

Despite the unsuccessful {{sclass|Pravda|submarine|4}} built in the early 1930s, the Soviet Navy still dreamed of cruiser submarines capable of attacking enemy ships far from Soviet territory. In 1936 it received approval to build them with the addition of minelaying capability (Project 41). The boats displaced {{convert|1490|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} surfaced and {{cvt|2104|t|LT}} submerged. They had an overall length of {{convert|97.7|m|ft|sp=us|0}}, a beam of {{convert|7.4|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a draft of {{convert|4.5|m|ft|0|sp=us}} at full load. The boats had a maximum operating depth of {{cvt|80|m}}. Their crew numbered 66 officers and crewmen.Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski, p. 142

For surface running, the K-class boats were powered by a pair of 9DKR diesel engines, one per propeller shaft. The engines produced a total of {{convert|8400|PS|kW|lk=on|0|sp=us}}, enough to give them a speed of {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}. When submerged each shaft was driven by a PG11 {{convert|1200|PS|kW|0|adj=on|sp=us}} electric motor for {{convert|10.3|kn}}. The boats had a surface endurance of {{convert|7500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10.3|kn}} and {{cvt|176|nmi}} at {{convert|3.1|kn}} submerged.

They were armed with six {{convert|533|mm|in|0|adj=on|sp=us}} torpedo tubes in the bow and four were in the stern, two internal and two external. They carried a dozen reloads. A dual-purpose minelaying/ballast tank was located under the conning tower that housed 20 chutes for EP-36 mines which also served as outlets for the ballast tank's Kingston valves. This arrangement proved problematic as this was the location of the greatest structural loads in the hull and the mines were sometimes pinched in the chutes as the hull flexed. Another issue was that the chutes would sometimes jam when debris was drawn in with ballast water. The boats were also equipped with a pair of {{convert|100|mm|adj=on|sp=us}} B-24PL deck guns fore and aft on the conning tower and a pair of 45 mm anti-aircraft gun (21-K) guns above them.Polmar & Noot, p. 265

K-1 was commissioned into the Baltic Fleet on 26 May 1940 and departed Leningrad for Polyarny via the White Sea–Baltic Canal on 23 June. She was commissioned into the Northern Fleet on 6 August. During the Great Patriotic War, the boat made 16 patrols, half of which were minelaying missions. K-1 was damaged by a mine on 11 August 1942, but managed to make port three days later. The submarine departed base on 5 September 1943 and was never heard or seen again, probably sunk by a mine laid by the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Hipper||2}}.Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski, p. 144{{cite web|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5123.html|title=K-1|work=uboat.net|access-date=30 April 2025}}Polmar & Noot, p. 264

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Budzbon |first1=Przemysław |last2=Radziemski |first2=Jan |last3=Twardowski |first3=Marek |title=Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945 |date=2022 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-68247-877-6|volume=I: Major Combatants|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last1=Polmar|first1=Norman|last2=Noot|first2=Jurrien|title=Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718–1990 |year=1991 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-570-1 |name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005 |edition=Third Revised |isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}

{{Soviet K class submarine}}

{{September 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:K001}}

Category:1938 ships

Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union

Category:Soviet K-class submarines

Category:World War II submarines of the Soviet Union

Category:Maritime incidents in September 1943

Category:Missing submarines of World War II