Construction began on July 18, 1958 in Leningrad, and it was launched on November 5, 1958. On January 3, 1960, it entered service with the Northern Fleet .
On January 11, 1962, the submarine was anchored at the pier in the home port Polyarny . All watertight bulkheads were open while testing and maintenance work was being carried out on the torpedoes . Presumably due to escaping hydrogen gas, which ignited when electrical systems were switched on, a fire broke out in the torpedo room, which led to a cook-off of twelve torpedoes. The explosion immediately killed 59 crew members and 73 other people in the vicinity. 19 of these people were on the adjoining and also badly damaged Project 633 submarine S-350, other victims belonged to other ships and to the staff of the submarine base. The ship anchor of the B-37 was thrown 2 km. Of the B-37 crew, only the commander, Captain Begeba , who was standing on the pier at the time of the explosion, and Captain Jakubenko , who was in another part of the submarine base, survived .
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