Soviet Destroyer Leader Baku

''Baku'' (russian: Баку) was one of six destroyer leaders built for the Soviet Navy during the 1930s, one of the three Project 38 variants. Completed in late 1939, the ship was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. About a year after the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, she was ordered to join the Northern Fleet, sailing through the Arctic Ocean. Together with several other destroyers, ''Baku'' left the Soviet Far East in July 1942 and arrived off Murmansk three months later where she began escorting convoys, mostly in the White and Barents Seas. The ship was badly damaged in a storm that sank another Soviet destroyer in November and was under repair for several months. ''Baku'' spent most of the rest of the war on convoy escort duties, although she did bombard several German-occupied towns during the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive of October 1944. The ship and her crew were awarded the Order of the Red Banner in early 1945 for their performance during the war.

After the war, she was refitted and rejoined the Northern Fleet in 1946. For the next several years she exercised during the warm months and was put in reserve during winter. The following year she starred in a movie about a fictional destroyer during the war. ''Baku'' began a lengthy overhaul in 1948 that lasted until 1954. Upon its completion she was used for experimental work and was formally reclassified as an experimental ship two years later. ''Baku'' was converted into a target ship in 1958, but was hulked as a depot ship a few weeks later. She became an accommodation ship in 1959 and was finally struck from the Navy List in 1963 and scrapped the following year.

Design and description

Impressed by the French large destroyer (''contre-torpilleur'') designs such as the of the early 1930s, the Soviets designed their own version. The ''Leningrad''s had an overall length of and were long at the waterline. The ships had a beam of , and a draft of at deep load. Built in two batches, the second batch (Project 38) displaced at standard load and at deep load. Their crew numbered 250 officers and sailors in peacetime and 311 in wartime. The ships had three geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller, designed to produce using steam from three three-drum boilers which was intended to give them a maximum speed of . The ''Leningrad''s carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at .Breyer, p. 220

As built, the ''Leningrad''-class ships mounted five B-13 guns in two pairs of superfiring single mounts fore and aft of the superstructure and another mount between the bridge and the forward funnel. The guns were protected by gun shields. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a pair of 34-K AA guns in single mounts on the aft superstructure and a pair of 21-K AA guns mounted on either side of the bridge as well as six DShK machine guns. They carried eight torpedo tubes in two rotating quadruple mounts fore and aft of the rear funnel; each tube was provided with a reload. The ships could also carry a maximum of either 68 or 115 mines and 52 depth charges. They were fitted with a set of Arktur hydrophones for anti-submarine detection.

Modifications

In 1944 ''Baku'' was fitted with four depth charge launchers. Before leaving the Pacific Fleet, she exchanged her two 21-K mounts for ten 70-K AA guns. She received a British Type 128 asdic system during the warBreyer, p. 217 and was initially fitted with a Type 286M surface-search radar, but this was replaced by a Type 284 gunnery radar and an American SF-1 radar by 1945. After the war, all of the 76- and 37-millimeter guns were replaced by a dozen water-cooled V-11M versions of the 70-K gun in twin mounts. During the 1950s, the radars were replaced by Top Bow, EWS Top, Plum Jar and Ball End radars and the pole foremast was replaced by a tripod mast to support them.

Construction and career

Construction and Pacific service

The ship that became ''Baku'' was originally named ''Kiev'', after the Ukrainian capital. Major components for ''Kiev'' were laid down at Shipyard No. 198 (Marti South) in Nikolayev on 5 January 1935 as yard number 267, railed to the station of Pokrovka near Khabarovsk, and shipped by barge down the Amur to the new Shipyard No. 199 at Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Siberia, for assembly under the supervision of experienced shipbuilder and shipyard chief engineer . The ship was again laid down on 10 March 1936, with its construction accelerated by Goynkis' usage of a horizontal slipway for construction and the installation of machinery. Launched and renamed ''Ordzhonikidze'' on 25 July 1938 in honor of the Soviet politician, the still-incomplete destroyer leader was ordered towed to Vladivostok for completion at Shipyard No. 202 (Dalzavod) to build her faster.

''Ordzhonikidze'' was towed from Shipyard No. 199 downriver to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur and then Sovetskaya Gavan beginning on 27 September, where some components were installed and the ship was prepared for towing by sea. She reached Vladivostok on 25 October and upon completion underwent a series of trials which concluded in 11 December, after which she entered service on 27 December 1939 and was simultaneously renamed ''Sergo Ordzhonikidze''; her construction cost 33.2 million  Rbls. Following additional tests and combat training, the destroyer leader, now the largest and fastest ship of the Pacific Fleet, was assigned to the latter's 1st Destroyer Division on 6 May 1940. In order to reuse the name for a , the vessel was renamed ''Baku'', after the Azeri capital, on 25 September.Kachur, pp. 24–26Hill, p. 29 After Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, ''Baku'', commanded by ''Kapitan 3 ranga'' (Captain 3rd Rank) from 1940, laid minefields and escorted transports, receiving a LFTI degaussing system in early October.Kachur, pp. 119–120

Voyage to the Northern Fleet

As a result of the weakness of the Northern Fleet and the importance of the Arctic convoys of World War II, Stavka decided to transfer several modern ships from the Pacific to the Northern Fleet in May 1942; this was ordered by People's Commissar of the Navy Nikolay Kuznetsov on 18 June. Along with ''Baku'', three ''Gnevny''-class destroyers – , , and – were planned to be transferred to the Northern Fleet as the Expedition of Special Purpose (EON)-18, the first time that Soviet warships would use the Northern Sea Route to steam from east to west. The expedition was accompanied by three icebreakers, three oil tankers, and two transports for material supplies, and was prepared in great secrecy, using the pretense of a relocation to Kamchatka. To strengthen her hull against ice, ''Baku'' was drydocked at Dalzavod in June, where wooden beams lined with sheet iron were attached to her sides; the sheet iron was thick where the beams were placed vertically and on the stern. Other changes included the movement of the degaussing coils to the interior of the hull, the installation of an additional fire extinguisher for the boiler rooms, the replacement of her regular propellers with special reinforced propellers for ice travel, and the replacement of the 45 mm 21-K anti-aircraft guns with 37 mm 70-K weapons.

Due to overloading and the changes made, the seaworthiness of ''Baku'' was found to have been reduced during a trial run in the Vostok Bay, but the ship was still considered ready for the voyage. ''Baku'' and three other destroyers departed Vladivostok on 15 July 1942, passing through the Strait of Tartary before stopping for replenishment at De-Kastri on 17 July. They continued towards the Sea of Okhotsk, but ''Revnostny'' collided with a transport in the Sakhalin Gulf on the next day, forcing the expedition to halt until the order from Kuznetsov to continue without the former was received on 19 July. While passing through the First Kuril Strait on 22 July, the expedition was spotted by Japanese warships, which tracked them to Avachinsky Bay. On the evening of the same day the destroyers put in at Tarya Bay in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky naval base for supplies. They steamed for Chukotka and entered Provideniya Bay on 30 July, where an icebreaker, tanker, and transport relieved the previous support ships. The expedition rested there for two weeks to check for malfunctions before departing on 14 August, encountering ice for the first time on the next day. The movement of the expedition became increasingly difficult as the ice increased, and it passed the Long Strait, stopping at Pevek in early September when ''Razumny'' suffered mechanical problems. ''Baku'' and the remaining destroyer left the latter behind and entered Ambarchik Bay on 14 September, where ice forced them to slow to an average of .Kachur, pp. 121–123

Under these conditions, the expedition passed through the East Siberian Sea to the Laptev Sea. They stopped at Tiksi on 17 September for a day to replenish supplies and conduct minor repairs, with ''Baku'' taking ''Razyaryonny'' in tow due to a bent propeller on the latter. Preceded by a fresh icebreaker, the ships left the port on the next day. In response to the ''Kriegsmarine''s Operation ''Wunderland'', they had their guns fully manned while passing through the Vilkitsky Strait. The ships anchored at Dikson on 24 September, where minor malfunctions were fixed aboard ''Baku'' although ''Razyaryonny''s propeller could not be repaired. The expedition resumed on 9 October, meeting a fierce storm in the Kara Sea. It met ships from the Northern Fleet in the Yugorsky Shar Strait on the next day, and the expedition, whose destroyer ''Razumny'' had by now caught up, with four icebreakers and 22 transports, entered Kola Bay at Vaenga on 14 October; Belyayev was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, for his leadership.

World War II service with the Northern Fleet

At Vaenga, ''Baku'' was docked for two weeks to remove the hull-strengthening beams and plating, replace the ice-strengthened propellers which had proven detrimental to travel, restore the degaussing coils, fit anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, and receive a camouflage paint scheme. Meanwhile, on 20 October she became the leader of the 1st Division of the newly created Northern Fleet destroyer brigade. In the last days of October, ''Baku'' escorted transports into the White Sea and on 29 October conducted a shore bombardment with ''Razumny'' in support of a Soviet attack. The following month, ''Baku'' and the destroyer escorted Convoy QP 15 from Arkhangelsk to the Barents Sea from 17 to 20 November when they encountered a severe storm. The high waves and strong winds caused ''Sokrushitelny'' to break in half, while ''Baku'' was severely damaged when multiple compartments were flooded and water put two boilers out of action, creating a list 40 degrees to port. The latter was ordered to assist ''Sokrushitelny'' but could not find her in the storm, and running low on fuel returned to the base for repairs on 22 November; these lasted until 15 January 1943.Kachur, p. 124

In response to a radio intelligence report of a German convoy of two transports with a destroyer and two smaller escorts steaming east from Tromsø, ''Baku'' and ''Razumny'' made a night sortie on 20 January. They engaged the German minelayer with the minesweepers ''M303'' and ''M322,'' and subchasers ''UJ1104'' and ''UJ1105'' off Cape Makkaur. After closing the range, ''Baku'' fired four torpedoes at what the Soviets believed was the lead transport, all of which missed. As her lookouts reported explosions, the latter was believed sunk, and both Soviet warships turned their guns against what was believed to be the second transport, without result. The German vessels returned fire without damaging ''Baku'', and the engagement ended after seven minutes when visibility deteriorated, allowing the Soviet ships to retreat behind a smokescreen laid by ''Razumny''. The engagement was claimed as a victory in Soviet propaganda, though Northern Fleet commander-in-chief '' Vitse-admiral'' (Vice Admiral) Arseny Golovko concluded that the "destroyers should have been more aggressive."

After the engagement, both ships escorted four transports into Kola Bay on 2–3 February. On 27–28 March, ''Baku'' and the destroyers and sortied off the Arctic coast of Norway in unsuccessful searches for German shipping under Golovko's command. With ''Grozny'' and five smaller vessels, she escorted three Allied merchants from Kola Bay to Arkhangelsk on 15 May. ''Baku'', ''Grozny'', ''Gromky'' and the destroyer escorted icebreakers through the White Sea into the Barents Sea between 8 and 20 June; she returned to Vaenga and was sent to Arkhangelsk on 22 June. From July through mid-November, ''Baku'' helped to escort local convoys between Arkhangelsk and the Kola Peninsula. She spent at least part of the winter under repair to reinforce her hull.

The ship remained on local convoy duty in June–November 1944, interrupted by a brief time escorting Convoy JW 59 shortly before it reached Murmansk on 24–25 August and a bombardment of the Norwegian towns of Vardø and Vadsø on 26 October, during the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive. From 6 to 8 December she participated in an anti-submarine operation under the flag of squadron commander '' Kontr-admiral'' (Rear Admiral) Vitaly Fokin together with the destroyers ''Gremyashchiy'', ''Razumny'', '' Derzky'', '' Zhivuchny'', and '' Doblestny'' to prevent German submarines from attacking westbound Convoy RA 62 along with other Allied escorts.Kachur, p. 127 ''Baku'' resumed escorting local convoys in January 1945. On 6 March she and her crew were awarded the Order of the Red Banner for their "exemplary performance of combat missions" and the "courage and heroism" of the crew. As the war wound down, she was no longer needed for escort duty and was put into Rosta for a refit on 29 April; due to the lack of facilities there the shipyard could only conduct a medium-level refit.Hill, p. 28; Kachur, pp. 119–127; Rohwer, pp. 181, 213, 239, 257, 263–264, 266, 277, 279, 281–283, 338–339, 350–351, 358–359, 364, 368, 373–375, 384–385, 387

Postwar

Following the completion of her refit, ''Baku'' reentered service on 17 April 1946. For the next several years, she participated in training with the rest of the fleet during the two summer months, which included shallow-water torpedo firing. The ship was laid up during the winter months, and portrayed the title Northern Fleet destroyer in the 1947 war film ''Story of the "Furious"'' (''Povest o 'Neistovom). She participated in exercises in August of that year. On 29 October 1948 the ship began a major refit at Shipyard No. 402 in Molotovsk, which was lengthened by the technical modernization conducted by the then-inexperienced shipyard workers. While refitting, ''Baku'' was reclassified as a destroyer on 12 January 1949 and was assigned to the 178th Destroyer Brigade.Upon completion of her more-than-five-year refit and testing, ''Baku'' was accepted for transfer to the Baltic Fleet in July 1954, but instead was transferred to the White Sea Flotilla to test new ships in the White and Barents Seas. She was reclassified as an experimental vessel on 17 February 1956, then disarmed and converted into the target ship ''TsL-31'' on 18 April 1958. The latter period was brief, however, as she was again converted into the unpowered depot ship ''PB-32'' on 31 May. After being converted into a barracks ship, ''PKZ-171'', on 2 June 1959, ''Baku'' was struck on 30 July 1963 and subsequently scrapped in mid-1964.Kachur, pp. 135–137

References

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Further reading

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External links

Detailed history of the ''Baku''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baku
Leningrad-class destroyer leaders
Ships built in the Soviet Union
1936 ships
Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner