Soviet gunboat Krasnoye Znamya

The Imperial Russian gunboat Khrabryy.
History
Russian Empire
Name	Krasnoye Znamya
Laid down	27 December 1894
Launched	21 November 1895
Acquired	by the Soviet Union on 30 December 1922
Commissioned	1897
History
Soviet Union
Commissioned	September 17, 1944
Decommissioned	1960
Fate	Sunk on November 18, 1942, raised on November 13, 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Krasnoye Znamya class gunboat
Displacement	1,735 tons
Length	72.26 m (237.1 ft)
Beam	13.1 m (43 ft)
Draft	3.35 m (11.0 ft)
Propulsion	two VTE, eight boilers, two shafts, 2,100 hp
Speed	14.5 knots (26.9 km/h)
Range	600 nautical miles (1,100 km) at 14 knots 1,050 nautical miles (1,940 km) at 7 knots
Complement	165–201
Armament	5× 130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913 1× 40 mm 2× 75 mm 50 mines

Krasnoye Znamya (Красное Знамя, Red Banner, ex-Khrabryy) was a Soviet gunboat. The ship had been built in the late 19th century as the Khrabryy (Храбрый, Brave) by the Russian Empire. The ship was the only craft of its class. The Krasnoye Znamya was sunk in the harbour of Lavansaari in the Gulf of Finland on November 18, 1942, after an attack by Finnish MTBs.

The sinking of Krasnoye Znamya

During World War I Khrabryy participated in the battles in the Baltic Sea. It was lightly damaged during the Battle of Moon Sound in 1917. On December 31, 1922, the ship was renamed to Krasnoye Znamya.

After the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940 between Finland and the Soviet Union, the island of Lavansaari had been handed over to the Soviets. During the Continuation War the island was a Soviet naval base and housed a radar station. On November 18, 1942, the three Finnish motor torpedo boats Syöksy, Vinha and Vihuri, as well as a minelaying KM-boat made an assault on the harbour of Lavansaari. Syöksy managed to hit the Krasnoye Znamya with one torpedo. She was sunk in her moorings.^[1] Commanding officer of Syöksy, lieutenant commander Jouko Pirhonen was awarded the Mannerheim Cross for the successful attack.

The Krasnoye Znamya was salvaged on November 13, 1943, and recommissioned on September 17, 1944. She was finally decommissioned in 1960.

References

This page was last edited on 21 May 2024, at 19:04