The ''AG-16'' was an AG-class

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 ...

, designed by the American Holland Torpedo Boat Company/ Electric Boat Company, built for the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

during

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 submarine was fabricated in Canada, shipped to Russia and reassembled for service with the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, 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 w ...

. The boat was originally named ''AG-13'', but was redesignated ''AG-16'' after '' AG-15'' sank and later repaired in 1917. She was

scuttled Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vesse ...

by the Russians at Hanko in April 1918. Attempts were made by the Finns to salvage the vessel: the boat was raised in 1918 and transferred to

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 ...

for repair, but this proved too costly and she was scrapped in 1929.

Description

''AG-13'' was a single-hulled submarine, with a pressure hull divided into five watertight compartments. The submarine had a length of overall, a beam of and a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . She displaced on the surface and submerged. The AG-class submarines had a diving depth of and a crew of 30 officers and enlisted men. The submarine had two 3-bladed propellers, each of which was driven by a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

as well as a

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

s. This arrangement gave ''AG-22'' a maximum speed of while surfaced and submerged. She had a range of at while on the surface and at while submerged.Polmar & Noot, p. 240 Her fuel capacity was of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

. The AG-class submarines were equipped with four

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow and carried eight torpedoes. For surface combat they had one

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

Construction and service

In Russian service

The Holland 602 design was widely exported during World War I and the Imperial Russian Navy ordered a total of 17, in three batches, of a version known as the ''American Holland''-class (in Russian ''Amerikansky Golland'', AG). The submarines were to be built in Canada as

knock-down kit A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, and then exported to another country or r ...

s for assembly in Russia. Components for the first batch of five submarines were assembled in Barnet, near

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. They were prefabricated by British Pacific Engineering and Construction. and shipped to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. There they were loaded onto the Trans-Siberian Railroad and transported to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

where they were assembled by the Baltic Works by June 1916. ''AG-13'' was redesignated ''AG-16'' in 1917. During World War I Russian and British submarines operated from bases in Finland. The Russian submarines ''AG-11'', ''AG-12'', ''AG-15'' and ''AG-16'' were scuttled in the harbor of Hanko on 3 April 1918 just prior to the German landing there.Polmar & Noot, pp. 239

In Finnish hands

''AG-12'' and ''AG-16'' seemed to be in relatively good shape and the Finns decided to salvage them. ''AG-16'' was transferred to Helsinki and the Finns asked both Germany and Electric Boat for estimates on the cost of repairs. The latter was so costly so only the German alternative remained. German experts evaluated ''AG-16'', but the Finnish government never provided funds for the repairing of the submarine. The repairs would be costly and no shipyard were prepared to guarantee the results. The submarine was stored on dry land until 1929 when the Finnish government finally agreed on the new Fleet program, which also included new submarines. ''AG-16'' was then scrapped.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:AG-16 American Holland-class submarines Ships built in Vancouver Ships built in Russia 1916 ships World War I submarines of Russia Submarines of the Finnish Navy Maritime incidents in 1918 Scuttled vessels Shipwrecks of Finland Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea