The Leninets or L class were the second class of submarines to be built for the Soviet Navy. Twenty-five were built in four groups between 1931 and 1941. They were minelaying submarines and were based on the British L-class submarine,, which was sunk during the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. Some experience from the previous s was also utilised. The boats were of the saddle tank type and mines were carried in two stern galleries as pioneered on the pre-war Russian submarine Krab (1912). These boats were considered successful by the Soviets. Groups 3 and 4 had more powerful engines and a higher top speed.
Six ships were built (L-1 to L-6), all launched in 1931. Three were assigned to the Baltic Fleet and three to the Black Sea Fleet, including Soviet submarine L-3.
| Number | Name | Meaning | Fleet | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-1 | Leninets (Ленинец) | Follower of Lenin | Baltic | 28 February 1931 | Sunk by German artillery October 1941, salvaged 1944, scrapped 1949 | |
| L-2 | Stalinets (Сталинец) | Follower of Stalin | Baltic | 21 May 1931 | Sunk 14 November 1941 by mine off Keri Island | |
| Frunzenets (Фрунзенец) | Follower of Frunze | Baltic | 8 August 1931 | Renamed B-3 in 1949; decommissioned 15 February 1971, conning tower preserved as a memorial | ||
| Garibaldets (Гарибальдиец) | Follower of Garibaldi | Black Sea | 31 August 1931 | Renamed B-34 in 1949; decommissioned 2 November 1954 and scrapped on 17 February 1956 | ||
| L-5 | Chartist (Чартист) | An adherent of Chartism | Black Sea | 5 June 1932 | Decommissioned 25 December 1955 and scrapped in 1956 | |
| L-6 | Carbonari (Карбонарий) | Carbonari | Black Sea | 3 November 1932 | Sunk with depth charges near Sevastopol on 18 April 1944 by the German submarine chaser UJ-104[1] [2] [3] |
Six ships were built (L-7 to L-12) and launched between 1935 and 1936. All were built for the Pacific Fleet by plant 202 "Dalzavod" Vladivostok and plant 199 Komsomolsk-na-Amure.
| Number | Name | Meaning | Fleet | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-7 | Voroshilovets | Follower of Kliment Voroshilov | Pacific | 15 May 1935 | Stricken 1958 and later scrapped | |
| L-8 | Dzerzhinets | Follower of Dzerzhinsky | Pacific | 10 September 1935 | Decommissioned 1959, served as a training vessel until 1970; dismantled in 1973; conning tower preserved as a memorial to L-19 | |
| L-9 | Kirovets | Follower of Kirov | Pacific | 25 August 1935 | Renamed L-19 in 1945 in honor of the sunken L-19, renamed B-19 in 1949; stricken in 1958 and later scrapped | |
| L-10 | Menzhinets | Follower of Menzhinski | Pacific | 18 December 1936 | Renamed B-10 in 1949, decommissioned in 1959; served as floating charging station ZAS-18 (later PZS-20), stricken in 1967 and scrapped | |
| L-11 | Sverdlovets | Follower of Sverdlov | Pacific | 4 December 1936 | Renamed B-11 in 1949; decommissioned and stricken in 1959 and later scrapped; conning tower preserved as a memorial to L-16 | |
| L-12 | Molotovets | Follower of Molotov | Pacific | 7 November 1936 | Renamed B-12 in 1949, decommissioned in 1959; stricken in 1983; hull entombed in a stone pier in Magadan in 1986 |
Seven ships were built (L-13 to L-19) and launched from 1937 to 1938. All were assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Considered a new project, the hull was based on the Srednyaya class. They carried 18 mines.
| Ship | Fleet | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-13 | Pacific | 2 August 1936 | Renamed B-13 in 1949, decommissioned 1956; stricken in 1958 | |
| L-14 | Pacific | 20 December 1936 | Renamed B-14 in 1949, decommissioned 1956, stricken in 1984 and scrapped | |
| L-15 | Pacific | 26 December 1936 | Transferred to the Northern Fleet via the Panama Canal in late 1942; stricken in 1958 and scrapped | |
| L-16 | Pacific | 9 July 1937 | Torpedoed by Japanese submarine on 11 October 1942 near the coast of Oregon while being transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet[4] [5] | |
| L-17 | Pacific | 5 November 1937 | Renamed B-17 in 1949, decommissioned 1959; served as training ship UTS-84 into the 2000s | |
| L-18 | Pacific | 12 May 1938 | Renamed B-18 in 1949, decommissioned 1958; served as training ship UTS-85 into the 2000s | |
| L-19 | Pacific | 25 May 1938 | Lost on or after 24 August 1945 to unknown cause; probably mined in or off the Le Pérouse Strait |
6 ships were built (L-20 to L-25) and launched from 1940 to 1941. 3 were assigned to the Baltic Fleet and 3 to the Black Sea Fleet. This group added stern torpedo tubes and new, more powerful diesel engines.
| Ship | Fleet | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L-20 | Baltic | 14 April 1940 | Renamed B-20 in 1949, decommissioned 1956; sank on 10 October 1957 in Chernaya Bay during nuclear testing | |
| Baltic | 17 July 1940 | Renamed B-21 in 1949, stricken 1955 and scrapped in 1958 | ||
| Baltic | 23 September 1939 | Transferred to Northern Fleet 1941; renamed B-22 in 1949, decommissioned 1955; participated in nuclear testing in 1957–1958; stricken in 1959 and scrapped | ||
| L-23 | Black Sea | 29 April 1940 | Missing after 1 January 1944; likely sunk 17 January 1944 off Cape Tarchakut by German sub-chaser UJ106 | |
| L-24 | Black Sea | 17 December 1940 | Sunk between 15 and 29 December 1942 off Cape Shabla by a mine of the Romanian flanking barrage S-15,[6] laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia;[7] wreck found in 1991 | |
| L-25 | Black Sea | 26 February 1941 | Never finished; sunk while being towed from Tuapse to Sevastopol on 18 December 1944 |