EML ''Kalev'' was one of two

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s of the

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

launched in 1936 at Vickers and Armstrongs Ltd. in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Her sister, , survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

''Kalev'' was a second pre-war

Estonian Navy The Estonian Navy () are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces. With only six commissioned ships and displacement well under 10,000 tonnes, the Estonian navy is one of the smallest navies in the world. Its ship prefix is EM ...

submarine. Estonia is a maritime nation and, like every country with a long

coastline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, had to defend its territorial waters. Based on the experiences of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the submarines found their proper application in the pre-Second World War Estonian Navy. The collection organised by the Submarine Fleet Foundation in May 1933 developed into one of the most successful undertakings among similar events nationwide. In the course of building and testing two submarines, the Estonian crews got a top-level naval training at the time in England in 1935–1937. In the period of 1937–1940 the submarines and ''Kalev'' were the most imposing naval vessels of the Estonian Navy. Their non-interference upon the annexation of Estonia by the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was a political decision made irrespective of the will of the navy.

''Kalev'' in World War II

The submarine ''Kalev'' joined the Estonian Navy in spring 1937, where she operated until the Soviet takeover in 1940. (On 24 February 1940,

The Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

had expressed its interest in obtaining the submarine, if Estonia would sell it, but this offer was turned down.)

Service in the Soviet Navy

The submarine was formally taken over by the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

on 18 September 1940, by which time only five men of the submarine crew remained in place to instruct the new Soviet crews. After the outbreak of the German-Russian war in June 1941, ''Kalev'' was re-complemented, having a totally Russian-speaking crew, although the original name ''Kalev'' was retained. During the Second World War ''Kalev'' participated in military operations as part of the

Soviet Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet was inherited ...

. ''Kalev'' did not return from her second patrol and was reported as missing since 29 October 1941.

Possible wreck

''Kalev''s ultimate fate or the location of the wreck was unknown for a long time. It was generally assumed that she hit a mine and sunk off

Keri ''Keri'' () is a Hebrew term which literally means "accident" or "mishap", and is used as a euphemism for seminal emission. The term is generally used in Jewish law to refer specifically to the regulations and rituals concerning the emission of ...

in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

between

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, but she could have been anywhere between

Kronstadt Kronstadt (, ) is a Russian administrative divisions of Saint Petersburg, port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Saint Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg, near the head ...

and

Hanko Hanko may refer to Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland * Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid 2299 Hanko Other uses * August Hanko (military personnel), German First World War flying a ...

; some sources suggested she was scuttled in the

Tallinn Bay Tallinn Bay () is a bay in Estonia on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The Estonian capital city Tallinn is located on the southern coast of the bay. Tallinn Bay itself is divided into several parts: Tallinn Roadstead (), Kopli Bay, K ...

during the Soviet evacuation on 28 August 1941. In June 2010, an Estonian Maritime Museum research team concentrated their efforts on finding ''Kalev''. It was assumed that ''Kalev'' hit a mine and sank in a minefield laid off Cape Juminda. On 30 June 2010 a wreck of what appeared to be a submarine was found five miles north of Cape Juminda, Northern Estonia by the

Estonian Maritime Museum The Estonian Maritime Museum () is located in the Fat Margaret tower in the old town of Tallinn. The museum presents the history of ships and navigation in Estonia and related to Estonia. Other parts of the Maritime Museum are the mine museum ...

research vessel ''Mare''. According to marine archeologist Vello Mäss, the specific shape of shafts for laying mines on the submarine-shaped object seen on the sonar screen gave rise to hopes indicating a probability of about 95% that the wreck found was the ''Kalev''. However, further research had to be done to conclusively confirm the finding.
/ref> Hopes were high that this sonar target suggested that ''Kalev'' had been found and that the presumption that she sank as a result of hitting a mine near Cape Juminda was correct. Later it was discovered that despite the wreck looking like a submarine, it turned out to be an old

aerostat An aerostat (, via French) or lighter-than-air aircraft is an aircraft that relies on buoyancy to maintain flight. Aerostats include unpowered balloons (free-flying or tethered) and powered airships. The relative density of an aerostat as a ...

. ''Kalev'' is still missing.

References

External links

Estonian Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalev Kalev-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1936 ships World War II submarines of Estonia Lost submarines of Estonia World War II submarines of the Soviet Union Foreign submarines of the Soviet Navy Lost submarines of the Soviet Union World War II shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland Missing submarines of World War II Warships lost in combat with all hands Maritime incidents in October 1941