A Rarity of the Russian Fleet-超级军网

The Streletskaya Bay in Sevastopol is the home base of a unique ship which in 2000 has turned 85. The ship is a salvage catamaran, Volkhov-Kommuna, which is still in service with the Russian Navy.

The ship was designed in 1911 at the Putilovsky Plant in St. Petersburg on order from of the Naval General Headquarters for lifting and repairing submarines.

On November 12, 1912, the ship was laid down at the Putilovsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg, and a year later its hull was transferred to a floating dock. On July 27, 1915, Russia's naval ensign was hoisted on the ship, named Volkhov, and the vessel was placed in service with the Baltic Fleet.

Originally, Volkhov had a displacement of over 3,100 tons, the maximum hull length of 96 meters, midship beam of 18.6 meters, and the hull height of 8.4 meters.

The ship consists of two separate hulls made from Siemens-Martin steel and joined by a common forecastle and aftercastle. Each hull had three decks and seven watertight bulkheads. On the bow and stern, 36m-high signal masts were installed.

Both hulls served as the foundation for inverted U-shaped 18m derricks, each having main lifting blocks with a total lcapacity of at least 1,000 tons. The main winch consisted of two vertical drums and four auxiliary winches. Submarines were lifted by an eight-strand non-spliced steel-core cable.

Each hull of the catamaran housed a Felser 600hp six-cylinder reversible diesel engine, which ensured the ship's cruising range of 4,000 nautical miles and a speed of 10 knots. The main power plant enabled lifing a 800t submarine from a depth of 30 meters within two hours. Apart from lifting submarines, the salvage ship was intended also for their repair, convoying and support. To this end, provision was made for a repair workshop with machine-tools and a haulage gear for towing and convoying an 800-ton sub.

Volkhov had premises and equipment for providing submarines with fresh and distilled water, oil, sulfuric acid, compressed air, and spare parts, and torpedo rooms for 20 torpedoes. The ship had a complement of 95, including 11 officers and 24 divers. Provision was also made for the accommodation of an additional 60 men from a repaired submarine.

The walls in the cabins and wardroom were finished with walnut panels, and the armchairs and couches were upholstered with leather. In the wardroom there stood a Diederichs Freres piano with ivory keys. The piano has survived to this day. Volkhov began its service as a depot ship in a submarine division of the Baltic Fleet in Revel (now Tallinn), not far from the theater of naval operations, where it was once visited by Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Volkhov was first used as a salvage ship in June 1917 for lifting the sunken AG-15 submarine. Volkhov towed the sub to Revel where it repaired it using its own repair facilities. In September 1917, Volkhov recovered another sub, Yedinorog.

Kommuna salvage ship flying the Red Fleet ensign, the Baltic Sea, 1930s

B-3 submarine raised by Kommuna

After 1918 when Volkhov was transferred to the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St. Petersburg, it repaired six submarines. In the 1920s-30s, the vessel, renamed Kommuna in 1922, was used as a depot base and salvage ship. It raised four sunken surface ships and five submarines, including Britain's L-55 which sunk in the Koporsky Bay in 1919 after striking a mine. The L-55 was raised in 1928.

During the Soviet-Finnish war and World War II, Kommuna was used as a depot ship for the Baltic Fleet submarines and torpedo boats. Once, during a shell attack, when Kommuna was moored on the Neva River, a heavy HE/fragmentation shell hit its derrick #3. The explosion damaged the ship's load-bearing units and cut the main vessel-lifting cable and air ducts. Nevertheless, in 1942-1943, Kommuna carried out 32 salvage operations.

After the war, Kommuna lifted several sunken submarines in the Baltic Sea. In 1967, the ship made a voyage from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and has since been based at the Streletskaya Bay. As the ship's lifting capabilities were not enough for recovery of modern submarines which steadily grew in size and weight, in 1973, at the Sevastopol Shipyard it was converted to a carrier of midget submarines and deep-sea research vehicles (DSRV). Its lifting gear was remade into a launch/lift gear. Apart from some of its old winches and reels, the ship was fitted with new cross bars with automatic grips for launching DSRVs, and a shock absorption system for lessening the load on the cables of the main launch/lift gear. In addition, the ship has now a research laboratory, a more powerful electric power plant, and modern communications facilities. The ship's appearance has changed somewhat too.

In December 1974, the modernized Kommuna launched the AGA-6 (Poisk-2) autonomous DSRV to a record depth for the Black Sea - 2,026 meters. After that, Kommuna became a base for testing new DSRVs and training their crews. In 1977, Kommuna cruised to the Caucasian coast to lift a newly developed Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft which fell into the sea during a test flight.

Currently, the ship is stored afloat in excellent state. An ultrasound study of its hull revealed that its metal and rivets have almost remained in their original state - their wear does not exceed 0.1-0.2 mm. All the mechanisms function reliably. Experts say Kommuna can remain in service for another 10 to 15 years, which will make it worthy of being mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records. Veteran seamen suggest making the ship into a floating memorial museum devoted to vessel-lifting and rescue equipment, and hope that their proposal will gain support.

AGA-6 deep-sea research vehicle on board Kommuna