02-2016 OKRĘTY PODWODNE TYPU "M" M-35 I M-104

Type M is the term for the Soviet type of coastal and sea submarines from the interwar period, World War II and the post-war period. The first units of this type entered service in the USSR Navy in 1932/1933. The total length of a single ship of this type - series XII - was 44.5 meters and a width of 3.3 meters. The surface displacement reached 206 tons, and the underwater displacement - 285 tons. The maximum speed in the draft did not exceed 7-8 knots. Units of this type (series XII) were armed with two 533 mm torpedo tubes and a single 45 mm gun. Type M units were designed and built as small submarines designed to operate in a relatively short distance from their own shores. Thus, their autonomy was strongly limited, as well as torpedo and artillery weapons. Their main production plant was the city of Gorky, from where elements and hull sections of the Type M units were sent to Leningrad for final assembly. In the course of long production, as many as four subtypes were created: series VI, series VI bis, series XII and series XV. The most numerous of them was the latter, which included as many as 57 ships, the lion's share of which was built after World War II. During this conflict, 33 Type M ships were lost.