The Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1944 was launched by the
Soviet Navy to harass enemy shipping and naval military assets of the Nazi Germany on the
Eastern Front during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Background
After the failed
offensive
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
of the previous year, Soviets restrained for a further campaign until Finland signed the
Moscow Armistice on 9 September 1944, ceasing war with Soviet Union and starting hostilities with Germany (
Lapland War). This move, enabled the Soviet Navy to avoid the mine field barrages in the Gulf of Finland that caused heavy losses in 1942 and prevented success in 1943. Submarines ShCh-310, ShCh-318 and ShCh-407 were the first to operate in open Baltic from Finnish harbors and navigating out of the dangerous zones with aid of Finnish naval officers, they were soon followed by other 12 submarines.
On 8 September (before the actual offensive), Soviet submarine M-96 sunk by mine in the Narva Bay. It was the only Soviet submarine loss in 1944.
Engagements
On 6 October, Soviet submarine ShCh-407 torpedoed and sunk German merchant ''Nordstern '' (1127 GRT) west of Klaipeda.
On 8 October, Soviet submarine ShCh-310 torpedoed and sunk the German dredger ''Bagger 3'' (400 GRT) and shortly later torpedoed and sunk the German transport ship ''Ro-24''(4499 GRT), west of Ventspils.
On 9 October,
Soviet submarine S-13
''S-13'' was a Soviet S class submarine, ''Stalinets''-class submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down by Krasnoye Sormovo in Nizhny Novgorod, Gorky on 19 October 1938. She was ship naming and launching, launched on 25 April 1939 and s ...
damaged with gunfire the German fishing vessel Siegfried (563 GRT) north of Danzig Bay.
On 12 October, Soviet submarine S-4 torpedoed and sunk German fishing vessel ''Taunus'' (218 GRT) off the Stolpebank.
On 13 October, Soviet submarine S-4 torpedoed and sunk German tanker ''Terra'' (1533 GRT) north-east of Leba. On the same day, Soviet submarine Lembit torpedoed and sunk the German merchant ''Hilma Lau'' (2414 GRT) north-east of Bornholm.
On 15 October,
Soviet submarine Lembit torpedoed and sunk the German auxiliary minesweeper M-3619 ''Crabeels''.
On 10 November, Soviet submarine ShCh-309 torpedoed and sunk German merchant ''Carl Cords'' (903 GRT) north-west of Ventspils.
On 21 November,
Soviet submarine L-21 after having laid a field of mines, attacked and sunk with torpedo the neutral Swedish passenger-ship
Hansa
Hansa may refer to:
Places
*Hanseatic League, a 13th–17th century alliance of European trading cities
*Hansa (shopping centre), in Turku, Finland
*Hansa-Park, a German attraction park
*480 Hansa, a main-belt asteroid, a minor planet orbiting th ...
(563 GRT) north-west of Halskuk.
On 28 November, Soviet submarine K-51 sunk with gunfire the German fishing boat ''Sollind'' (260 GRT).
On 1 December, Soviet submarine K-51 sunk with gunfire the German fishing boat ''Saar'' (235 GRT).
On 4 December, Soviet submarine ShCh-407 torpedoed and sunk German merchant ''Seeburg'' (12181 GRT) inside Danzig Bay
On 7 December, Soviet submarine ShCh-309 torpedoed and sunk German merchant ''Nordenham'' (4592 GRT)north-west of Uzava.
On 26 December, Soviet submarine K-56 torpedoed and sunk German merchant ''Baltenland'' (3038 GRT) off the Polish north coast.
On 29 December, Soviet submarine K-56 torpedoed and sunk Swedish merchant ''Venersborg'' (1046 GRT) off Bornholm.
Minelaying operations
Between October and December 1944, the Soviet Navy employed also the three left submarines (
L-3,
L-21 and
Lembit) capable of minelaying operations in offensive actions, laying 77 mines.
On 11 October,
Submarine L-3 laid a field of mines off Cape Arkona. These mines hit the following ships:
* On 14 November, German training ship
Albert Leo Schlageter
Albert Leo Schlageter (; 12 August 1894 – 26 May 1923) was a World War I veteran and German ''Freikorps'' member who became famous for acts of post-war sabotage against French occupation forces. Schlageter was arrested for sabotaging a secti ...
damaged
* On 20 November, German
fleet torpedo boat T-34 sunk.
On 11 October,
Submarine Lembit laid mines off Kolberg. These mines hit the following ships:
* On 23 October, German harbor tug ''Pioner-5'' went missing. Most likely hit a mine of the field.
* On 24 November, German auxiliary patrol vessel V-305 ''Halberstadt'' damaged
* On 24 November, German fishing vessel ''Spreeufer'' (216 GRT) sunk.
* On 13 February 1945, German minesweeper M-421 sunk.
Another field laid on 3 December is not known to have scored successes.
On 23 November,
Submarine L-21 laid a field of mines off Stolpebank.
[https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4890.html L-21 on uboat.net] These mines hit the following ships:
* On the same day, German merchant ''Eichberg'' (1923 GRT) sunk.
* On 24 November, German merchant ''Elie'' (1837 GRT) sunk
* On 22 December, German merchant ''Eberhard'' (749 GRT) sunk. Possible victory.
Outcome
Differently from the past offensives, no Soviet submarine was lost due mine or enemy action while a number of merchants and few German warships were sunk. While successful, the offensive begun too late to seriously interfere with the German naval evacuation of Revel between 18 and 23 September 1944.
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]
See also
* Baltic Sea campaigns (1939–45)
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
* Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1941
* Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1942
The Soviet Navy launched the Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1942 to harass the strategic iron-ore traffic from neutral Sweden to Nazi Germany during World War II. The Soviet Union and the German Reich fought each other on the Eastern ...
* Soviet submarine Baltic Sea campaign in 1943
* Soviet naval Baltic Sea campaign in 1945
References
{{reflist
Naval battles of World War II involving Germany
Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union