Russian submarine Nerpa (1913)

Nerpa in 1915
History
Russian Empire and the Provisional Government
Name	Nerpa
Builder	Nikolayev branch of the Baltic Yard[1]
Laid down	15 August 1913[2]
Launched	15 August 1913[2]
Completed	30 December 1914[2]
Fate	Captured by the Bolsheviks in 1920 while under repair[1]
Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union
Name	Politruk (renamed in January 1923)[1]
Commissioned	3 June 1922[1]
Fate	Stricken on 3 November 1929, scrapped in 1931.[2]
General characteristics [1][3]
Class and type	Morzh-class submarine
Displacement	630 long tons (640 t) surfaced 760 long tons (770 t) submerged
Length	67 m (219 ft 10 in)
Beam	4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
Draft	3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric 500 hp (370 kW) diesel engine 800 hp (600 kW) electric motor 2 shafts
Speed	10.8 knots (20.0 km/h) surfaced 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged
Range	2,500 nmi (4,600 km)
Complement	47
Armament	1 × 57 mm (2 in) or 47 mm (2 in) gun 4 × 457 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes 8 × torpedoes in Dzhevetskiy drop collars (later removed)

The Russian submarine Nerpa (Russian: Нерпа, lit. 'Baikal seal') was the second boat of the Morzh class of submarines of the Imperial Russian Navy. It was laid down and launched on the same day in August 1913, and completed its sea trials in December 1914. Built for the Black Sea Fleet, the submarine saw action during World War I, and spent much of the war raiding Ottoman merchant shipping that transported coal from Zonguldak to Constantinople. Nerpa was credited with sinking 24 ships during the conflict for a total of 2,443 gross register tons (GRT), making it the fourth most successful Russian submarine in the Black Sea.

Nerpa was undergoing major repairs at the shipyard in Nikolayev when the October Revolution occurred. During the Russian Civil War the city was occupied over time by several forces, including Germany, the Western Allies, and the White Army, before being taken by the Bolsheviks and becoming part of the Soviet Union. Nerpa was the only prewar Russian submarine in the Black Sea captured by the Bolsheviks, and it was commissioned into the Soviet Navy in June 1922, before being renamed Politruk (Russian: Политрук, lit. 'political leader') in January 1923. The boat became part of the Detached Submarine Division of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, along with four AG-class submarines. Politruk remained on active service until November 1929, when it was removed from the fleet, and it was scrapped in 1931.