EML Lembit

EML "Lembit" is one of two submarines of the Republic of Estonia launched in 1936 at Vickers and Armstrongs Ltd. in England. Her twin sister "Kalev" was sunk in October 1941.

History

The "Lembit" is the only surviving warship of the pre-war Estonian Navy and in the Baltic countries. Estonia is a maritime nation and as every country with a long coastline has to defend and safeguard its territorial waters. With due regard to the experiences of World War I the submarines found their proper application in pre-World War II Estonian Navy. The collection organised by the Submarine Fleet Foundation in May 1933 developed into one of the most successful undertakings among the similar events demonstrating a nation-wide determination to defend one’s country.
In the course of building and testing two submarines the Estonian crews got a top level naval training of the time in England in 1935-1937. In the period of 1937-1940 the submarines "Lembit" and "Kalev" were the most imposing naval vessels of the Estonian Navy. Their non-interference upon the annexation of Estonia by the USSR was a political decision made irrespective of the will of the navy. [http://www.meremuuseum.ee/?op=body&id=45 Estonian Maritime Museum]

"Lembit" in World War II

The "Lembit" joined the Estonian Navy in spring 1937 where she operated until the Soviet take over in 1940. Submarine carried out one training torpedo attack in her 3 years of service in Estonian Navy and never tried minelaying [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/grinkevich/01.html Под советским флагом (Russian)] ] .On 24 February, 1940, The Third Reich had expressed an interest in obtaining the submarine, if Estonia would sell it, but this offer was turned downFact|date=March 2008. The submarine was formally taken over by the Soviet Navy on 18 September, 1940, by which time only five men of the submarine's Estonian crew remained onboard, to assists the new Soviet crew in learning unfamiliar machinery. After the German attack on USSR in June 1941, "Lembit" had been commissioned in the Soviet Baltic Fleet. The original name "Lembit" was retained. At least 3 of her original Estonian crew helped to operate submarine during the war [http://militera.lib.ru/tw/grinkevich/06.html Судьбы лембитовцев (Russian)] ] . During the Second World War the "Lembit" participated in military operations of the Soviet Baltic Fleet [http://users.tkk.fi/~andres/models_lembit.html Lembit] . "Lembit" made a total of seven war patrols during the German-Soviet war [http://town.ural.ru/ship/ship/lembit.php3 (Russian)] .

1941 year

* War patrol 10 - 21 Aug. Laid 20 mines near cape Arcona. Some ships which were damaged in Nov, 1941 at British and German mines in Soviet literature are described as Lembit successes.
* War patrol 19-26 Oct.
* 4-5 Nov, in battle conditions and through broken icefield transferred from Kronshtadt to Leningrad.

1942 year

* War patrol 17 Aug, - 22 Sep. 13 Sep, "Lembit" got an order to return to base. Commander decided to stay at position one more day to charge batteries. 14 Sep, "Lembit" attacked convoy and heavily damaged transport ship "Finnland" (5281 GRT), which sank 15 Sep, at position 59°36'8 N/21°14'5 E (later transport was raised and commissioned 1 Jul, 1943). During counterattack (50 deep charges) Lembit got serious damage, causing fire in 2nd group of batteries, 6 men wounded. After some repair "Lembit" returned to base. After this episode "Lembit" received nickname "Immortal submarine".

1944 year

* Awarded by Order of Red Banner. 6 Mar.
* War patrol 2-18 Oct. Laid 20 mines, some successes. 13 Oct, "Lembit" destroyed dutch merchant ship "Hilma Lou" (2414 GRT).
* War patrol 24 Nov, - 15 Dec.

1945 year

* War patrol 23 Mar, - 14 Apr.

"Lembit" after World War II

On 18 June, 1946, "Lembit" was renamed "U-1"; on 9 June, 1949 "S-85"; on 30 January, 1956 "STZh-24"; and on 27 December, 1956 "UTS-29". Some time (between 1949 and 1956) she possibly carried the designation of "PZM-1" ("PTsM-1?") for some time. The original name was probably restored when "Lembit" was decommissioned and returned to Tallinn as a museum ship (1979).

"Lembit" was awarded the Order of Red Banner on 6 March, 1945 for her victories earlier in the German-Soviet war. On 17 January, 1946 "Lembit" was withdrawn from active duty and become a training boat. On 12 January, 1949 "Lembit" was included among medium submarines. On 10 June, 1955 "Lembit" was stricken (disarmed). On 3 August, 1957 "Lembit" was transferred to the shipyard Krasnoe Sormovo and subsequently towed to Gorky (now Nizhni Novgorod). Here "Lembit" was preserved as an experimental boat and an example of British submarine design. Her hatch of the pressure-tight AA gun storage shaft was of particular interest, and was copied for the missile shaft hatches of new Soviet submarinesFact|date=March 2008.

On 28 August, 1979 exactly 38 years after she had left Tallinn, "Lembit" returned there – in tow – where after a lengthy overhaul the submarine was opened to the public as war memorial (more precisely, a branch of the Museum of the Soviet Baltic Fleet) on 5 May, 1985 (among other celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany). In 1987 "Lembit" was one of the three submarine war memorials in the USSR: "S-56" in the Far East, and "K-21" in the Far North. Similarly to those two, there had been plans for displaying "Lembit" out of the water, but unfortunately the floating crane (which had been towed from Kronstadt) had lost its boom during the tow.

After regaining independence

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and the following the dissolution of its navy Estonians feared that the leaving Soviet Baltic Navy would take "Lembit" with them and sell it for scrapFact|date=June 2008, so the submarine was overtaken by Estonian officials on 27 April, 1992 – a few Defence League men hoisted an Estonian flag on the vessel, meeting no resistance.

"Lembit" is one of the two surviving pre-war Estonian warships (the other is a small ex-gunboat on Lake Peipsi, Uku, surviving as a wreck). She received the honorary nomination as vessel No. 1 in the new Estonian Navy on 2 August, 1994. Today, after a long and expensive restoration, the submarine is open to the public, as a department of the Estonian Maritime Museum, with a collection of other naval weapons. "Lembit" is one of the few surviving pre-World War II 1930s submarines (among others are the Finnish "Vesikko", built 1933, and Soviet K-21, built 1937), and could be the oldest submarine in the world to be still afloat.

Preservation

Unlike most other submarine museums, no new entries have been cut into the hull of "Lembit". Visitors enter and leave the ship through one of the normal entries – the torpedo loading hatch which doubled as an entry whilst the submarine was in port.

References

ee also

* [http://www.online.ee/~peeprada http://www.online.ee/~peeprada (in Estonian)]
*Estonian Navy
*EML Kalev

External links

* [http://www.mil.ee/uusmil/index.php?menu=merevagi&sisu=mev Estonian Navy]