The ''Iosif Stalin''-class passenger ship was a two-ship class of large turbo-electric powered

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

s, operated by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Baltic Sea Shipping Company (BGMP). The ships were taken over by the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and used as transport vessels. The class was named after

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. The two Soviet ships ''Iosif Stalin'' and ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' (after

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

) were constructed in 1939 by the Dutch company N.V. Nederlandsche Dok & Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM), in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The ships were ready and left Amsterdam on 1 May 1940, only nine days prior to the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

. The ships were intended for the Soviet Far East waters, but due to war, they were taken over by the BGMP.

Ships of the class

Iosif Stalin

She was used as a passenger ship before the war and mobilized and renamed VT-521 (

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: ВТ-521) during World War II. She participated in the evacuations of Tallinn and Hanko in 1941. The ''Iosif Stalin'' was heavily damaged and eventually scuttled in early December when she participated in the Soviet evacuation of the

Hanko Peninsula The Hanko Peninsula (; ) is the southernmost point of mainland Finland. The soil is a sandy moraine, the last tip of the Salpausselkä ridge, and vegetation consists mainly of pine and low shrubs. The peninsula is known for its beautiful archip ...

. On 3 December 1941 she departed Hanko with 5,589 men. However she ran into three

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s, despite being escorted by several minesweepers and being equipped with paravanes. The ship's stern was severely damaged, and her propulsion system was lost, and there were many casualties. While the crew tried to repair the ship, Finnish

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

spotted the convoy and opened fire. Soon the ''Iosif Stalin'' took a hit aft from a 12" (305 mm) shell. The shell hit an ammunition magazine, causing a large explosion and the ship began to sink. The dense minefield made it extremely dangerous to try to save the ship. Several Soviet minesweepers were damaged, and one exploded during the rescue operation. Minesweepers No. 205, 211, 215, and 217, and a further 5 patrol boats from the convoy defense managed to rescue 1,740 men. Panic struck the remaining passengers. The convoy continued its journey, and the ''Iosif Stalin'', which had settled deep in the water (water reaching the main deck) drifted towards the Estonian shore and ran aground. A planned Soviet rescue attempt was aborted because one minesweeper ran into a mine and exploded. German forces captured the survivors of the ''Iosif Stalin''. The ship was "forgotten" in Soviet history, since its commander ordered a capitulation of the nearly 3,000 strong survivors, although they had weapons and ammunition to put up a fairly good defense. The captain of the liner N. S. Stepanov, who left the ship last, was captured and worked in the

Port of Tallinn Port of Tallinn () is the biggest port authority in Estonia. Taking into account both cargo and passenger traffic, it is one of the largest port enterprises of the Baltic Sea. Port of Tallinn is a publicly listed company managing five constitue ...

- sawing wood there. Through messengers, he transmitted to the Soviet side data on the movement of German ships and cargo. He was shot by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

in 1944 after the arrival of Soviet troops in Tallinn. The ship was raised on 11 July 1945 and towed to Tallinn, where it was scrapped, though part of the ship's bow remains aground.

Vyacheslav Molotov

Launched on 17 August 1939. Mobilized as the military transport ship VT-509 «Военная Литература» Военная история ''Jossif Stalin''-Keskarhiiv -
ЦГАНХ, ф. 8045, оп. 3, д. 1110, л. 13; ЦВМА, ф. 9, Д. 6331, л. 33-60; Руге Ф. 8 с. 217; ЭГММ after the outbreak of the war. The ship participated in the evacuation from Tallinn in the summer of 1941. She was damaged by a mine (which sunk the minesweeper T-201 Zaryad) and aerial bombing and was towed back to Leningrad to be repaired. The ship was later used as a stationary hospital ship during the blockade of Leningrad. It also found other uses: its radio station transmitted news and it also functioned as an ammunition factory. The ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' was damaged by German artillery fire in early 1943. The ''Vyacheslav Molotov'' was repaired and returned as a passenger ship after the second world war. She was later used for the Leningrad-London route and also for trips to many European countries, Cuba and the United States. In 1957 she was renamed ''Baltika''. She was also used to transport many international delegations, including those for the 20th Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. In September 1971, as ''Baltika'', she repatriated many of the 105 Soviet officials, including 45 diplomats, expelled from the United Kingdom for "activities incompatible with their status". She was refitted in 1984 in Denmark, but broken up in 1987.

References

External links

Google Translation of Russian link

The Soviet Fleet - Iosif Stalin class

The Soviet Fleet -''Baltika''

Adolf Bocki maal 1942

"Möödus 70 aastat NSV Liidu kõige salastatumast laevaõnnetusest"
ERR, 4. December 2011 {{coord, 59, 54, N, 25, 09, E, type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Ships built in Amsterdam Passenger ships of the Soviet Union Ship classes Netherlands–Soviet Union relations