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Russian submarine Bars

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russian submarine Bars
History
Russian Empire
NameBars
NamesakeLeopard[1]
Launched2 June 1915
Commissioned12 July 1915
FateLost May 1917; cause undetermined *
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeBars class submarine
Displacement
  • 650 tons surfaced
  • 780 tons submerged
Length223 ft (68.0 m)
Beam15 ft (4.57 m)
Draft13 ft (3.96 m)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h) surfaced
  • 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h) submerged
Range3,065 nmi (5,676 km)[3]
Complement33
Armament

Russian submarine Bars ("Leopard"[1]) was a warship, the lead submarine of her class, built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the First World War. She was active in the Baltic and was lost there in 1917.

Design

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Bars was ordered under the 1913 Programme for the Baltic Fleet, and was laid down at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg. She was powered by diesel/electric propulsion, though a shortage of diesel engines meant the boats were equipped with a variety of machinery, as it became available. Armament, too, varied as to availability; Bars was armed with 1х75 mm and 1x 57 mm/50 gun,[3] Conway states about 2 x 63 mm guns.[2]

The design originally had external torpedoes as well as internal torpedo tubes; these were carried in drop-collars in recessed niches low in the hull. Trials with Bars showed these to be unsuitable and subsequent vessels had the niches and drop-collars moved to the upper deck; Bars was refitted to this pattern in 1916.

Bars was launched on 2 June 1915 and entered service the following month.[2]

Service history

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Bars entered service with the Baltic Fleet on 12 July 1915. She undertook 14 war patrols in the Baltic, targeting German warships during the 1915 ice-free season, but with little success.[4]

In 1916 she was employed attacking German iron-ore shipments along the Swedish coast, though again with little success, due to the restrictions imposed by Swedish neutrality.[5]

Fate

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In May 1917, Bars left port on her last patrol, and did not return. It is suggested by some that she was sunk in a depth-charge attack by German patrol boats on 28 May 1917,[2] though other sources suggest she was lost in a minefield off Norrköping.[6] The actual cause of her loss is unknown. In 1993, wreck of Bars was found and identified near Gotska Sandön at the depth 120 m.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Bars is a Russian word for the leopard (panthera pardus), derived from the Turkish Pars
  2. ^ a b c d Conway p316
  3. ^ a b www.deepstorm.ru // Тип «Барс». (russian)
  4. ^ Halpern p202
  5. ^ Halpern p205
  6. ^ www.deepstorm.ru //"Барс" Тип «Барс» (Russian)

References

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  • Gardiner R, Gray R (1985) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 ISBN 085177 245 5
  • Halpern, Paul (1994) A Naval History of World War I US Naval Institute ISBN 1-85728-498-4
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