The ''Karp'' class were a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of submarines built by Krupp Germaniawerft for the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

. The class, composed of three boats (, , ) were ordered in the 1904 emergency programme as a result of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. The design was a twin hull type powered by a

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

-electric power plant with a diving limit. The boats were delivered late for the war and transferred to the Black Sea Fleet by rail in 1908. In 1909, ''Kambala'' was lost. The other two submarines remained in service until their withdrawal in March 1917. They were taken over in April 1918 by the

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...

before being captured by the German Empire in May and transferred to the British following the German surrender in November. The British

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

''Karp'' and ''Karas'' in 1919 to prevent their capture by the Soviets.

Description

The ''Karp'' class was of a twin-hulled design produced by that had a surface displacement of and were submerged. They were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . They had a complement of 28 officers and ratings. The submarines were designed to be deconstructed for rail transport. The submarines were powered by a

-electric power plant driving two shafts. The shafts were of the fixed-revolution type and turned

variable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

s. The two kerosene-powered engines were rated at and the two electric motors, . Kerosene was chosen over

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organi ...

as the fuel choice due to its better safety record. The submarines had a maximum speed of on the surface and submerged. They had a range of on the surface and submerged. They were armed with one

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

and two external Drzewiecki drop collars for

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es. The submarines had seven ballast and trimming tanks, and could dive to . The ballast and fuel tanks were located between the two hulls. The design served as the prototype for the first German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

, , which was commissioned into the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

on 14 December 1906. ''U-1'' has been preserved, and is currently on display at the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Boats in class

Service history

Three submarines were ordered as part of the 1904 emergency building programme as part of the naval buildup of the

on 30 April 1904. A German design build and constructed in the German Empire, delivery of the engines led to construction delays, with the first submarine of the class only able to perform

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s with her electric motors. The ''Karp'' class was only delivered to Russia in 1907, with the commissioning ceremony held at Kiel attended by Prince

Dolgorukov The House of Dolgorukov () is a princely Russian family of Rurikid stock. They are a cadet branch of the Obolenskiy family (until 1494 the rulers of Obolensk, one of the Upper Oka Principalities) and as such claiming patrilineal descent from ...

. The submarines were transferred by rail to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

in 1908 and joined the Black Sea Fleet in anticipation of conflict with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. Further issues arose for the class when it was found that the rail deconstruction feature led to corrosion. The flanges, nuts and bolts that held the sections of the hull together corroded quickly in salt water which led to weakened hulls. By 1914, the submarines were instructed not to dive below . After joining the Black Sea Fleet, all three submarines of the ''Karp'' class were made part of a training

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

based at

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. The squadron would remain relatively unchanged until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. ''Kambala'' sank in 1909. The reason and location of this sinking is unclear. Some reports have the submarine sinking near

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

due to an erroneously opened valve while others have her sinking in an accidental collision with the near Sevastopol on 11 June. In the Sevastopol sinking, 20 crew perished with only the commanding officer, who had been topside saved. It has even been suggested that she sank twice first near Kronstadt then after being salvaged was sunk again near Sevastopol. Parts of the wreck were raised later in 1909 and

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

for scrap. ''Karp'' and ''Karas'' remained in service throughout World War I until March 1917 when they were withdrawn from service and hulked at Sevastopol. After Romania's entry into the war on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, the submarines were based at Constanța in August 1916. They were withdrawn before the fall of the city to the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

in October 1916. In April 1918, they were briefly taken over by the

before being captured by the German Empire in May. With the German surrender in November 1918, the submarines were turned over to the British. The submarines remained at Sevastopol during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

until 26 April 1919, when they were

to prevent their capture by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * *

External links

* *
КОРАБЛІ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ФЛОТИ (1917 - 1918 рр.) - Ukrainian Navy (1917-1918)

{{WWI Russian ships Submarine classes Submarines of the Imperial Russian Navy Russian and Soviet navy submarine classes