Class overview
OperatorsBlack Sea State Shipping Company
SubclassesAbkhazia
In service1928–1966
Completed6
Lost4
Scrapped2
General characteristics as per MS Krim
TypeOcean liner
Tonnage
Length115.9 m (380 ft 2 in)
Beam15.6 m (51 ft 1 in)
Draught5.8 m (19 ft)
Depth7.7 m (25.3 ft)
Decks2
Installed power1,163 nhp
Propulsion2 screw propellers; 2 diesel engines
Speed13 or 15 knots (24 or 28 km/h; 15 or 17 mph)
Capacity450 passengers

The Krim-class ocean liners consisted of six ships built during the late 1920s for service in the Black Sea. The first two ships were built in Germany, but the rest were built in the Soviet Union. Four ships were sunk during the Second World War, while the other two survived the war.

Background

In 1928 the Sovtorgflot (Soviet Commercial Fleet) ordered two ships from the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, Germany and procured a license to build four more at the Baltic Works in Leningrad. The latter ships were virtually identical with their half-sisters, but differed slightly in some respects. The Krim-class ships were intended for service in the Black Sea with the Black Sea State Shipping Company.

Description

The German-built ships, MS Krim and MS Gruziya, had an overall length of 115.9 metres (380 ft 2 in), with a beam of 15.6 metres (51 ft 1 in) and a draught of 5.8 metres (19 ft).[1] They had two decks and a depth of hold of 7.7 metres (25.3 ft). The ships were assessed at 4,867 gross register tons (GRT), 2,683 net register tons (NRT),[2] and 1,520 tons deadweight (DWT).[1] Krim and Gruziya had a pair of six-cylinder, two-stroke diesel engines, each driving a screw propeller, and the engines were rated at a total of 1,163 nominal horsepower.[2][3] Sources differ about their maximum speed, quoting speeds of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)[1] or 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[4] The ship had a designed capacity of 450 passengers.[4]

Ships

Construction and service data
Name Builder[1] Construction[4] Fate
MS Abkhazia Baltic Works, Leningrad 1928 Sunk by German aircraft, 10 June 1942[5]
MS Adzharistan Sunk by German aircraft, 23 July 1941
MS Armenia Sunk by a German torpedo bomber, 7 November 1941
MS Gruziya Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany Sunk by German aircraft, 13 June 1942[5]
MS Krim Converted into a training ship, 1966[4]
MS Ukraina Baltic Works, Leningrad Sunk by German aircraft, 2 July 1942[6]

Service

After completion, they were assigned to the Black Sea State Shipping Company with their port of registry at Odessa.[2][1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jordan, p. 376
  2. 1 2 3 Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II: Steamers and Motorships of 300 Tons Gross and over (1937–1938 ed.). London: Lloyd's of London. 1937. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  3. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). Vol. II: Steamers and Motorships of 300 Tons Gross and over (1937–1938 ed.). London: Lloyd's of London. 1937. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, p. 20
  5. 1 2 Jordan, p. 573
  6. Jordan, p. 574

Bibliography

  • Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. III: Naval Auxiliaries. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3990-2281-1.
  • Jordan, Roger W. (1999). The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 ships. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-023-X.
  • Forczyk, Robert (2014). Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44. Oxford, UK. ISBN 978-1-78200-625-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
  • Wilson, Edward A. (1978). Soviet Passenger Ships, 1917–1977. Kendal, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-04-5.
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