Desna (Russian: Десна) was one of eight Orfey-class destroyers built for the Russian Imperial Navy during World War I. Completed in 1916, she served with the Baltic Fleet and joined the Bolshevik Red Fleet after the October Revolution of 1918. She was active during the Russian Civil War, taking part in several engagements against British ships during the British campaign in the Baltic. The destroyer was renamed Engels (Russian: Энгельс) in 1922. She remained in service with the Soviet Baltic Fleet when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), and was sunk on 24 August.
 Sister ship Artem
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russian Empire | |
| Name | Desna |
| Builder | Metal Works, Saint Petersburg |
| Fate | Joined the Bolsheviks, November 1917 |
 Soviet Union | |
| Acquired | November 1917 |
| Renamed | Engels, 31 December 1922 |
| Fate | Sunk, 24 August 1941 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Orfey-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,260 long tons (1,280 t) |
| Length | 98 m (321 ft 6 in) |
| Beam | 9.3 m (30 ft 6 in) |
| Draught | 3 m (9 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 steam turbines |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 1,250 nmi (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement | 167 |
| Armament |
|
Bibliography
edit- Breyer, Siegfried (1992). Soviet Warship Development: Volume 1: 1917–1937. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-604-3.
- Budzbon, Przemysław (1985). "Russia". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 291–325. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Budzbon, Przemysław (1980). "Soviet Union". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 318–346. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. I: Major Combatants. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-877-6.
- Hill, Alexander (2018). Soviet Destroyers of World War II. New Vanguard. Vol. 256. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-2256-7.
- 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.
- Watts, Anthony J. (1990). The Imperial Russian Navy. London: Arms and Armour. ISBN 0-85368-912-1.