Project 675

Project 675

A Project 675 boat

Ship data Shipyard Shipyard 199 Komsomolsk Shipyard 402 Severodvinsk Construction period 1961 to 1968 Decommissioning 1990s Units built 29

Ship dimensions and crew length 115.4 m ( Lüa ) width 9.3 m Draft Max. 7.9 m displacement surfaced: 4,450 t submerged: 5,760 t   crew 104 men

Machine system machine 2 World Cup-A - pressurized water reactors 140 MW 2 PG-116 electric motors with 460 HP each propeller 2 five- blade impellers

Mission data submarine Immersion depth, max. 300 m Top speed submerged 23 kn (43 km / h) Top speed surfaced 14 kn (26 km / h)

Armament 8 × P-6D-Progress start containers 4 × torpedo tubes (bow) ∅ 533 mm 2 × torpedo tubes (stern) ∅ 400 mm

Project 675 , from NATO as Echo-II class called, was a submarine class of the Soviet Navy with nuclear propulsion and cruise missiles ( SSGN ) that the Cold War was used.

planning

A drawing that explains how the fire control radar on Project 675 boats is brought into position after surfacing.

In June 1958, the Development Office 18 recommended the construction of a new type of submarine, which should be an adaptation of Project 659 to new threats. The aircraft carrier combat groups of the USA , perceived by the Soviet Union as an increasing threat, could not be fought effectively with the available means, so a new strategy had been developed in which air- and sea-based units with modern cruise missiles were to attack these fleets together. A key element in this strategy was a new generation of guided missiles that had been developed at great expense.

The P-6D-Progress missile had an improved guidance system and had a longer range than its predecessor. A major innovation was the ability to receive updates of the target data via radio in flight. In order to overcome the defense of an aircraft carrier formation, the largest possible number of these missiles had to be fired in quick succession. Therefore, the armament was expanded by two cruise missiles per boat, so that in contrast to the six weapons carried on Project 659, eight were on board.

The system for transporting and firing the missiles remained basically unchanged, so that the boats from Project 675 had to be lengthened by four meters in order to accommodate two additional launch containers on deck.

Sensor equipment

Drawing of the starboard view of Project 675. The bridge tower, which has been extended to the front and contains the fire control radar (retracted here), can be clearly seen.

The sonar system was converted to the modern MGK-100 "Kerch", which had a significantly higher performance than older models. Surface vessels could already be detected at a distance of 150 kilometers or more and the data provided by the sonar were precise enough within its range to be able to base fire control solutions for torpedoes and missiles on it. The final phase of the development of the system was completed under high pressure in parallel with the construction of the first units of Project 675. The increased space requirement meant that the two 400 mm torpedo tubes in the bow were omitted.

Each Projekt 675 boat also received a “Nakat-M” ESM system and a retractable RLK 101 “Albatros” radar sensor (NATO code name: “Snoop Tray”) for use on the surface Tape was working and was used to search for surface contacts. A transmitting antenna of the type "Argument" (NATO: "Front Door A") was installed in the front part of the tower and could maintain contact with the launched cruise missiles on the surface and update their target data if necessary. However, this system required the boats to remain on the surface even after the weapons were launched, which made them extremely vulnerable during this period.

Noise development

Called a “rattle box” by the teams themselves, Project 675 was a class of very noisy submarines that could still be heard clearly even when attempting to run quietly.

variants

17 submarines from Project 675 were modernized during their service life. The following modifications were made:

Project 675MU

Project 675MU (Russian: 675МУ) was a test carrier for a long-range communication system that could provide its own missiles with updated data during their flight. For this purpose, the “Argument” transmitting antenna (NATO: “Front Door A”) was removed and replaced by the “Argon” system. This conversion was only made on boat K-28.

Project 675K

Project 675K was the name given to the modernization of the boats K-47 and K-125 from 1972 and 1974 with the "Orca-B" system, which could receive target data from satellites . For this purpose, a large extendable satellite receiver was installed in the middle of the tower, to accommodate the tower in the middle had to be widened.

Project 675NK

Project 675NK (Russian: 675НК) was a conversion made to K-170 in 1977 to allow the boat to work with mini-submarines. The cruise missiles were removed for this, but further details are not known.

Project 675MK

Project 675MK was a modernization measure in which from 1975 the fire control systems of nine boats were replaced with more modern systems. K-23, K-56, K-57, K-94, K-104, K-128, K-175, K-184 and K-189 received the systems “Basalt”, “Orca-B” and “Argon” -K ". The water displacement changed to 5,090 tons on the surface and 6,360 tons in diving mode.

Project 675MKW

In project 675MKW (Russian: 675МКВ), the "Orca-B" fire control system and other components were installed on boats K-1, K-22, K-34 and K-35 from 1981. The modernization was similar to that of Project 675MK, but here the “Argon KW” was installed instead of the “K” model and the P-6 cruise missiles were exchanged for the P-1000 “Wulkan” model . The weapon could carry a 500 kg conventional or a 500 kt nuclear warhead with 2.5 times the speed of sound up to 700 km. The somewhat larger dimensions of the weapon made it necessary to modify the starting container and electronic systems. On K-1, a pressure-resistant container was also installed in the bridge tower, which contained shoulder-supported Strela-3 anti-aircraft missiles that could be used from the tower against air targets. The displacement of project 675MKW changed to 5,375 tons on the surface and 6,810 tons in diving operation. Eight additional crew members had to be taken on board to operate and maintain the new systems.

units

A 1989 K-Series Project 675 boat on the surface. A part of the boom on which the fire control radar sensor “Argument” or “Argon” can be extended can be seen on the top of the tower on the front half in front of the bridge.

Between 1961 and 1968, 29 boats of the class were built. None are in active service anymore, but some boats have not yet been scrapped.

A selection:

K-31

K-31 was on 11 January 1964 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur to put Kiel and ran on 8 September 1964 by the stack. In 1978 the boat received the tactical number K-431 . On August 10, 1985, the boat was anchored in a naval facility in Chasma Bay, 55 km from the city of Vladivostok , in order to receive new fuel rods for its reactors. A spontaneous chain reaction occurred due to a mistake in loosening and lifting the top closure of a reactor. The reactor cover was blown off and tore open the pressure hull of the boat, so that water penetrated the boat hull and K-431 sank to the bottom next to the pier . Ten crew members were killed. In the accident and the subsequent rescue work, seven people were heavily irradiated, and 39 others were found to have had physical reactions to the radiation released. The reactor compartment was then filled with cement and K-431 towed to a long-term storage facility. In 2010 the boat was moved to the “Stern” shipyard in Bolshoi Kamen and scrapping began.

K-56

The boat was laid down on May 30, 1964 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and launched on August 10, 1965. She subsequently carried out several patrols and exercises in the Pacific. On June 14, 1973, K-56 was rammed by the Soviet research ship Akademik Berg (Russian: Академик Берг ) near Department II . The ram shock destroyed the outer shell and tore open the pressure hull. 27 crew members died. The commander decided to put the boat on the nearby beach to prevent it from sinking. The boat could only be kept afloat and towed free with the help of pontoons . It was brought to Bolshoi Kamen and repaired there. In 1977 it was back in service. In 1986 it was modernized to the 675MK project. In 1997 the K-56 was decommissioned and in 2007 it was towed to the "Stern" shipyard for scrapping.

K-108

K-108 was laid down on July 24, 1965 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and launched on August 26, 1966. On the morning of June 24, 1970, after a patrol with several training sections under combat conditions, the K-108 went to periscope depth and a short 360 ° panning of the periscope was made, but no contact could be made on the surface of the water. The sonar also reported no contacts and the captain allowed to dive to 40 meters and initiate a 90 ° turn of the boat. The sonar operator now received the noise emissions from a small object that was interpreted as a torpedo-sized decoys running at 12 knots and that left the sonar detection area aft after four minutes of running time. A few seconds later, K-108 rammed an unknown object and began to descend uncontrollably, bow first. The boat had about 2,000 meters of water below the keel and reached a 30 ° incline. The reactors were shut down and the sonar reported noise from blowing out the diving cells of another boat. The commander ordered the same action and K-108 shot to the surface. Since K-108 was floating alone on the surface, the crew was initially convinced that the other submarine had sunk; after a few minutes, however, turbine noise was received moving south towards Japan . K-108 had lost its starboard propeller and the shaft was damaged. The American boat USS Tautog had sustained damage to the tower and reported in turn that the Soviet submarine had sunk. The matter was only cleared up in 1991 after the end of the Cold War . In 1989 the boat was transferred to the reserve and in 1992 towed to a permanent storage facility of the Navy.

K-172

The boat was laid down in Severodvinsk on August 8, 1962 and launched on December 25, 1963. In March 1968 there was an incident when a container with 18 kg of mercury , which should not have been unsecured on board, leaked in a crew cabin. In order to avoid being punished for violating the safety regulations when handling hazardous substances, the remnants of the mercury were poured into a hand wash basin and the spilled amounts were wiped up with a cloth and mop. The mercury then outgassed and got into the ventilation shafts. Of the 132 crew members who were on board for this mission, 126 suffered mercury poisoning from the fumes. In 1978 the boat was renamed the K-192 . After several uneventful patrols in the North Atlantic, another incident occurred in the summer of 1989. On June 25, 1989, a leak was discovered in the primary cooling circuit of the reactor 350 km south of Bear Island . The leak could not be closed at first and the crew compensated for the falling water level in the cooling circuit by topping up fresh water from the boat's tanks. The contaminated cooling water that continued to leak was pumped into the sea. A freighter called by radio supplied more water through a hose after the water supplies of K-192 were depleted. On June 26th, the special ship Armur reached the submarine and began to pump the contaminated water from the cooling circuit directly into its storage tanks and, in turn, to deliver fresh water. The cooling circuit was briefly interrupted in order to seal the leak, but the seaman responsible failed to switch the cooling back on when he left his post at the end of his watch. The heating up reactor triggered the alarm and the cooling was reactivated. However, the temperature difference between the cooling water and the housings of the fuel rods was already too great, so that these tore open and the water now washed directly around the rods. The highly irradiated cooling water could not be processed by the Armur, so the hose was cut off and it was directed into the sea. The damage to the reactor could not be repaired with simple means, so the boat was taken out of service. In 1994 the reactor was removed and the boat was scrapped around 2000.

More accidents and losses

• September 26, 1976 - On the Northern Fleet submarine K-47, a fire broke out in a compartment while sailing in the Barents Sea . Eight soldiers died in the process.
• Aug. 28, 1976 - K-22 ( Echo II ) collided with USS Voge in the Mediterranean . Both ships were badly damaged. K-22 entered a port on the Aegean Sea. The American frigate was towed to Crete, unable to maneuver.
• June 18, 1984 - On the Echo II-class submarine K-131, fire broke out in the eighth compartment while sailing in the Barents Sea. An electrician had disregarded safety guidelines. 13 soldiers died.

See also

• Project 659

Evidence and references

Remarks

1. ↑ as described in JW Apalkow: U-Boats of the Soviet Navy 1945–1991, Part 1. P. 72. deepstorm.ru, on the other hand, states 6.6 meters
2. ↑ ( Russian name подводная лодка атомная с ракетами крылатыми , transcribed Podwodnaja lodka atomnaja s raketami krylatymi , ПЛАРК for short)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Oleg A. Godin, David R. Palmer: History of Russian underwater acoustics. P. 473 and following.
2. ^ Oleg A. Godin, David R. Palmer: History of Russian underwater acoustics. P. 480 and following.
3. ^ Edward Offley: Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion. P. 285.
4. ^ JW Apalkow: Submarines of the Soviet Navy 1945–1991, Part 1. P. 85.
5. ↑ Cold War submarines: the design and construction of US and Soviet submarines, 1945-2001. Pp. 98 and 99.
6. ^ JW Apalkow: Submarines of the Soviet Navy 1945–1991, part 1. p. 144.
7. ↑ Н.В. Усенко, П.Г. Котов, В.Г. Реданский, В.К. Куличков: Как создавался атомный подводный флот Советского Союза. P. 364 and following.
8. ↑ K172 at deepstorm.ru, viewed on August 2, 2011
9. ↑ K-172 at bellona at apb.org.ru, viewed on August 2, 2011
10. ^ FF 1047 - The Photos. (No longer available online.) Destroyersonline.com, archived from the original on March 28, 2010 ; Retrieved March 29, 2010 . 

literature

• Ю.В. Апальков: Подводные лодки советского флота 1945–1991, том I. (for example: JW Apalkow: U-Boats of the Soviet Navy 1945–1991, part 1. ) 2009, ISBN 978-5-903080-55-7 (Russian).
• Ю.В. Апальков: Корабли ВМФ СССР Том I - Подводные лодки. Часть 1 - Ракетные подводные крейсера стратегического назначения и многоцелевые подводные лодки. (For example: JW Apalkow: Ships of the USSR - Strategic Missile Submarines and Multipurpose Submarines. ) Saint Petersburg 2002, ISBN 5-8172-0069-4 (Russian).
• Oleg A. Godin, David R. Palmer: History of Russian underwater acoustics. World Scientific Publishing Company, 2008, ISBN 978-9812568250 (English).
• Norman Polmar, Kenneth J. Moore: Cold War submarines: the design and construction of US and Soviet submarines, 1945-2001. Free Press, 2003, ISBN 978-1-57488-594-1 (English).
• Н.В. Усенко, П.Г. Котов, В.Г. Реданский, В.К. Куличков: Как создавался атомный подводный флот Советского Союза (NW Usenko, PG Kotow, WG Redanski, WK Kulitschkow, WK Kulitschkow: When the Soviet Union was founded in 2004 ( Saint Petersburg) -23-74. .
• Edward Offley: Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion. Basic Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-465-05185-4 .

Web links

• Project 675 at deepstorm.ru (Russian)