Lembite (1937)

Lembite
Kalev class
Lembit submarine in Tallinn
Overview
Type	Submarine
Namesake	Lembitu
Shipyard	Vickers-Armstrongs Limited , UK
Order	December 12, 1934
Keel laying	June 19, 1935
Launch	July 7, 1936 at 1:07 pm
Motto	"Vääri oma nime" ("Make yourself worthy of your name")
1. Period of service	Estonia
Commissioning	May 14, 1937
period of service	1937-1940
home port	Tallinn
Whereabouts	fell to the USSR with the Soviet occupation of Estonia
2. Period of service	Soviet Union
Surname	Lembite
period of service	1940-1979
Decommissioning	1979
home port	Tallinn , Leningrad
Nickname	"The immortal submarine"
Whereabouts	Museum ship since 1979 - Estonian Maritime Museum , but guarded by the Soviet Navy
3. Period of service	Estonia
Surname	Lembite
administration	Estonian Maritime Museum
delivery	by the Soviet Navy on April 27, 1992
Reinstatement	Honorary title "Estonian Military Ship No. 1" on August 2, 1994
period of service	1994-2011
Decommissioning	May 19, 2011
home port	Tallinn
Whereabouts	Museum ship, towed out of the water on May 21, 2011, in the museum building in the Tallinn seaplane port
Technical specifications
displacement	Overwater 665 t; Submerged 853 t
length	59.5 m
width	7.5 m
Draft	3.6 m
Diving depth, normal	90 m
Immersion depth, max. tested	120 m
crew	Estonian Navy: 4 officers, 28 crew Soviet Navy: 7 officers, 31 crew
drive	Above water: 2 × Vickers-Armstrongs Limited diesel engines with 600 HP each Submerged: 2 × Metropolitan Vickers electric motors with 395 hp each (205/220 V, 1600 A)
speed	13.5 knots above water , 8.5 knots submerged
Range	3700 nm
Armament	4 bow torpedo tubes (Ø 533 mm); 8 torpedoes 1 × 40mm Bofors gun 1 x 7.7mm MG Lewis Gun 24 mines
Armor	Thickness of the steel pressure body 12 mm
Awards	Order of the Red Banner (1945) Honorary title "Estonian Military Ship No. 1" (1994)

The Lembit is a 1937 built submarine that is now moored in Tallinn as a museum ship .

history

The Lembit submarine entered service in 1937 as the second Kalev-class unit for the Estonian Navy . The ship was named after Lembitu , an Estonian military leader of the 13th century fighting the German Brotherhood of the Sword . After the former Russian gunboat Bobr , she was the second ship of the Estonian armed forces to receive this name.

After the Soviet occupation of Estonia , it served as a submarine for the Soviet Navy from 1940 to 1979 . During the Second World War , the Lembit took part in the evacuation of Tallinn along with other ships in the Baltic Fleet . In 1994 the submarine was returned to the Estonian Navy. Until May 19, 2011, it carried the honorary title of "Estonian Military Ship No. 1".

The Lembit has been a museum ship of the Estonian Maritime Museum since 1979 and is located in the Tallinn seaplane port . The submarine was hoisted out of the water on May 21, 2011 and is now open to visitors in the museum building.

Preservation and Future

Unlike other submarines that serve as museum ships, no new entrances have been cut into the body of the boat. Visitors come on board and leave the ship exactly as it was originally intended - through the torpedo hatch. This hatch was also used accordingly during duty hours while remaining in port.

fire

At the end of 2002 there was a fire on the Lembit . There was a lot of combustible wood and rubber inside the submarine. Nobody knows why the lembit caught fire. A person died in the fire, but nothing of historical value was harmed. In 2003 the submarine was closed for renovation work. Since then it has been accessible to visitors again.

Technical Documentation

The original drawings of the Lembit were found in archives in Cumbria , England, in 2010 . They were copied and sent to Estonia. In total, Estonia received more than 200 drawings with the help of which the Lembit could be restored true to the original.

Restoration and relocation to the seaplane hangar

The Estonian Maritime Museum developed plans to place the ship in the hangar of the Tallinn Seaplane Port in 2008 . For this purpose, the submarine was lifted out of the water on May 21, 2011. The towing was carried out with the help of another museum exhibit, the BTS-4 armored recovery vehicle . The entire process took place on a ramp with a length of 100 meters.

At that time, the boat was missing the external cover plates of the torpedo tubes. During the external restoration in July 2011, an authentic cover plate was used and three replacement flaps were built according to the original plans. Most of the outer layer of paint was also removed to remove some of the rust and remove some small dents. For the restoration, costs of 360,000 euros were calculated in advance.

Until the night of 6/7. July 2011 the submarine was parked at the future museum building. The dragging into the building was the same as the pulling out of the water and lasted until July 10th.

The restoration of the seaplane hangars themselves lasted until May 11, 2012. The next day, May 12, 2012, at 10 a.m., the branch of the Estonian Maritime Museum opened with the Lembit as the main exhibit.