“Forelj” – the Russian submarine

During the Russo-Japanese War it became clear, that Russia urgently needed to strengthen the Russian fleet in the Far East. Russia ordered 18 submarines in Germany. In 1904 May 24 a contract was signed with Krupp for the construction of 3 submarines and the purchase of 75 Schwarzkopf torpedoes. August 21 by secret order No. 173 the submarine was included in the payroll of the Russian Imperial Navy as a “Forelj” (“Trout”) destroyer. “Forelj” turned out to be a valuable acquisition at the time: it was the only combat-ready submarine, ready for immediate transport to the Far East - the small size of the ship made it possible not to disassemble the “Forelj”, but to transport it whole on a regular cargo platform. Since Port Arthur was already blocked at that time, the "German gift" and all other submarines had be sent to Vladivostok. On August 25 the submarine was loaded onto a railway platform (along with batteries and torpedo tubes, but for some reason without a single torpedo) and attached to a military echelon (the crew was traveling on the same train). There were no special incidents on the way and the cargo arrived in Vladivostok on September 25. On October 2 she embarked on her first voyage - so far only along the Vladivostok Bay. From that day “Forelj”, the first submarine in the Far East, was on constant alert in case the Japanese fleet blockaded Vladivostok. The voyage to Golden Horn Bay continued until the beginning of November, when the ship was put ashore. The spring of 1905 appeared early, the bay was cleared of ice and the submarine began to travel around the bay, and at the end of March the torpedoes were finally brought to Vladivostok. From that moment on, the submarine was no longer just a virtual threat. In 1911 May 23 the “Forelj” was conserved and deposited in the harbor, and on May 31 it was deleted from the lists of the Siberian flotilla.

The model of the “Forelj” submarine is simple and can be assembled even by an advanced beginner and by an inexperienced modeler, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. But the model is well designed and detailed to the maximum - the scale allows it.