It was a legendary project of a nuclear submarine, born in the course of a crazy military race between the USSR and the USA. Offensive failures and hard conclusions, adventurous orders and true heroism of sailors, espionage underwater surveillance and ambushes under the ice - the history of 671 series boats is full of drama and sharp stories, according to which you can shoot more than one world-class thriller.
As part of the project, forty-eight submarines with various military equipment and constant improvements were built and launched. This was the most important stage in the Soviet military shipbuilding: it was during the tough confrontation with the United States that the domestic shipyards learned how to make submarines of the highest class.
When it all started
It was after the Second World War. The first nuclear submarine in the world appeared only in 1954, it was the famous American Nautilus with a maximum submarine speed of 23 knots. He managed to swim under the ice to the North Pole, winning a place of honor in the history of the world submarine fleet.
The USSR was four years behind Nautilus: in 1958, the Lenin Komsomol, the Soviet first nuclear submarine capable of overtaking an American under water without any effort, was launched: its underwater maximum speed was already 30 knots.
The parties worked in unequal conditions. If the previous boat project number 627 was created based on experience with diesel ships and scant information from the Americans, then second-generation boats were made taking into account their own difficult experience. Already at that time, supplies of consumables and related equipment were carried out through completely different channels and principles. The Americans could choose the best models of electronics or, for example, guns for shooting around the world - even in Japan, even in Sweden. Our guys worked only with domestic manufacturers with understandable difficulties.
Historical push: embarrassment in the Sargasso Sea
In 1962, the world froze in anticipation of the outcome of the largest US-Soviet conflict over the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States imposed strict maritime quarantine to block Soviet naval vessels from accessing Cuba. The Soviet leadership immediately responded to such a demarche. The order was tough and urgent: to break the sea blockade with the help of Soviet submarines.
Four diesel boats, reinforced by nuclear torpedoes and equipped with the latest tactical Soviet developments allowing to evade the enemy under water, urgently went to the Cuban shores. So it seemed to the Soviet submariners.
It all ended catastrophically. In the Sargasso Sea, our boats were quickly detected using the hydrophones of the latest American Sosus tracking system. The Americans began to throw grenades on the boats, preventing them from rising to the surface of the water, which is vital for diesel engines. In the wild heat and lack of oxygen, submariners fainted.
The thing was that the B-130 was the first to be forced to rise to the surface of the water in front of everyone. It was a desperate and bold gesture of the captain of the submarine, who sent an encryption with a killer text about the forced ascent, a broken diesel engine and a discharged battery. And that the B-130 was surrounded by four American destroyers. Following this encryption, messages came from other crews with approximately the same content. Adventure, courage, complete failure - these are the most suitable words for a short resume, which in the end turned out to be a cruel and at the same time most effective lesson. After all, it was from this insulting failure that the path of the famous nuclear submarines 671 began.
Conclusions and new challenges for the second generation submarines
The level of awareness of the Soviet submariners who participated in the Caribbean crisis was zero: they were sure that an American spy was sitting in the headquarters of the USSR Navy. And that’s why American ships were able to find our diesel engines so quickly.
Soviet first-generation diesel submarines had catastrophically short-range missiles. For this reason, they had to go on a breakthrough in the US naval defense - they did not know how to shoot from afar. To protect them, they needed a new type of boat with a completely new task: to hunt not for surface ships, but for enemy submarines. New underwater hunters were needed - fighters to protect missile carriers.
The main criteria were underwater speed, immersion depth and maneuverability. Hence the special shape of the Project 671 boats - all for functions and tasks. Hence the "fishy" encryption of the series.
Project 671 Ruff: New Underwater Hunters
The famous Leningrad Malachite is not a jewelry company, as one might think. This is a serious design bureau, which was entrusted with the development of new submarines of project 671. The main task was to combat American strategic submarines, which were essentially submarine-launched missiles. Swimming under the ice, they were invulnerable. And the largest and strategic cities of the USSR, Moscow, Murmansk, Leningrad and Sevastopol, were under constant threat of a missile strike.
The situation was tense, the pressure from the leadership was huge, the speed of the project was fantastic. The matter was complicated by new troubles on the American side: they did not doze off there either.
Already in 1963, the Americans launched a new class of Lafayette submarines. In their functions, they were specialized missile carriers. Their main feature was fantastic noiselessness. Soviet locator equipment detected them at a distance of only a few kilometers. This situation could lead to nonsense: the 671 submarine could become obsolete even before it was born. The solution, of course, was found. I had to create a new torpedo loading process: it has now become fully automated. Much of this project was done in Soviet shipbuilding for the first time, this moment was truly a breakthrough.
The technical characteristics and dimensions of the project 671 submarine under the name Ruff were as follows:
- the length and width of the boat are 95 and 11.7 meters respectively;
- immersion depth 320 meters;
- nuclear power plant with a turbine capacity of 30,000 horsepower;
- underwater speed 32 knots;
- offline swimming ability - 50 days.
From armament, the "brushes" were equipped with 36 mines and two SS-N-15 missiles.
First baptism of fire
The underwater confrontation of the new Project 671 underwater hunters and American strategic submarines turned into an interesting chronicle, according to which it would be possible to shoot an excellent action-packed series.
The Americans controlled almost half of Antarctica thanks to the excellent modified Sosus system. In their database were kept records of all the noise made by Soviet courts, up to civilian ships. And for each submarine, real detailed noise portraits were compiled. Detection tactics have also changed. The Americans did not report that they had discovered the Soviet submarine; instead, they continued to control the boat’s course secretly, literally hanging on their tail, as in a spy novel. They could do this because they were silent, like cats.
What about our new submarines in such a difficult situation? They proved to be excellent from the very beginning. With the breakthroughs of anti-submarine blockades (which was their main function), ruffs turned out to be quite effective. They made noise, of course, much in comparison with American boats, but in terms of speed and driving performance they overtook everyone and easily avoided the pursuit. In other words, the first combat mission in the launch series of Project 671 submarines was completed. Designers with sailors coped perfectly well.
Project 671 RT "Salmon"
In the early 70s, a new disaster came. Our underwater hunters of the 671 series were in the role of game - they themselves began hunting. It was the next modernization of weapons of the US Navy. On their boats, new missiles with a separating warhead appeared. But they did not become the main problem, but the so-called torpedo missile - anti-submarine weapons with increased range. This water torpedo rocket moved like a typical torpedo. Then she came out of the water and turned into a rocket, which flew to the intended point. At this point, a special warhead departed from it, which exploded at the right depth in the water.
The designers of the Malachite bureau again had the urgent task of “catching up and overtaking”. The Soviet answer came a year later: it was a modified boat 671 with the abbreviation RT under the code "Salmon". Its main advantage was the new Vyuga missile system with an increased missile range of up to 40 km, a powerful caliber and a nuclear warhead.
"Salmon" was able to destroy enemy boats a few kilometers from the epicenter. An additional weapon was the device for torpedoes of increased power with a caliber of 650 mm. Boats lengthened by a whole compartment, the crew stayed more comfortable. They did a good job with the notorious noise: they managed to reduce it by five times, which, however, was still insufficient. In the photo, submarine 671 of the project RT.
In 1975, a curious story happened. The defense department of the Central Committee of the CPSU urgently convened all the designers - submariners for an emergency meeting. They were met by the prosecutor with an official complaint in their hands. A navy officer working in the reception unit complained. He believed that the main problem of all boats of Project 671 in the form of high noise (and this was exactly so) is a consequence of the planned actions of the designers. The case ended with a detailed debriefing, after which the designers promised to sort out all possible options for reducing noise. The correct solution was finally found. The main sources of noise - the turbine and turbogenerators were placed on shock absorbers inside a special chamber. Subsequently, such a scheme was placed on all of the following boats. The very first exit of the silent boat 671 RT caused a stir among the Americans: they lost the Atlantic and Antarctic calm forever.
Salmon had excellent technical characteristics:
- length 102 m and width 10 m;
- the possibility of diving at 350 m;
- a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 30,000 horsepower;
- underwater speed of 30.5 knots;
- the possibility of autonomous swimming 60 days;
The armament was more than serious: 12 torpedo tubes of various calibers and two SS-N-16 nuclear missiles.
Project 671 RTM: and now "Pike"
This series is an extremely interesting project from all points of view; it would be useful to study it in universities as part of production management. First of all, it was an attempt (very successful in the end) to squeeze out everything that is possible from two projects 671 and 671 RT. The fact is that at the same time, third-generation submarines were being built at full speed - fundamentally new projects 945 and 971 with a dramatic reduction in noise levels and a powerful armament complex.
Project 671 RTM submarine was equipped with the latest powerful sonar and navigation systems. New communications were at the global level. Two nuclear reactors with a significant increase in power were also installed. Improvements affected all boat systems. Given these transformations, the RTM 671 submarine smoothly moved into the category of third-generation submarines.
The legendary Pike is the most advanced project option. The project 671 RTM submarine was a multipurpose nuclear submarine. In total, 26 models were produced under the RTM abbreviation - a whole series of boats with excellent technical characteristics, including:
- ultimate immersion depth of 600 m;
- maximum underwater speed 31 knots;
- two powerful reactors of 31,000 horsepower each.
In autonomous navigation, the boat could stay for 80 days. The crew team was already required a more solid size - about 100 people.
The main advantage of the RTM project 671 submarine was its armament: Granat cruise missiles, 24 torpedoes or 34 mines, depending on the modification of a particular boat. Such equipment in combination with speed and buoyancy made the RTM series unique. The nuclear submarine reactor met all safety requirements.
As a result, Project 671 came out very competent from a technical evolutionary point of view: its beginning was the creation of a new second-generation boat, and the end was the transformation of the 671 RTM submarines into submarines of the newest third generation.
Project 671 RTM nuclear submarines were built at two plants: the famous Admiralty Association in St. Petersburg and the Leninsky Komsomol Shipbuilding Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Final refinement was carried out at the Zvyozdochka plant and at the base in Bolshoi Kamen.
Parity arms race under water
Historically, the project of the 671 RTM nuclear submarine coincided in terms with the start of the American program for the construction of third-generation nuclear submarines of the SSN-688 type. As a result, they became the most massive series of submarines in the world history of the submarine fleet (a total of 62 units were released). In the photo, the Los Angeles nuclear submarine is the lead ship with a speed of 31 knots and weapons of 26 torpedoes. He was launched in 1976.
The coincidence of dates, of course, was not accidental. The fact is that American nuclear submarines at that time were significantly better than Soviet boats in terms of stealth and acoustic capabilities. The gap gradually narrowed, but did not disappear completely.
The Americans also had something to work on: they were inferior to their Soviet counterparts in the maximum speed of underwater running, and the combat survivability with maneuverability of the "pikes" was higher. In terms of armament, both series could argue, but the Soviet 671 RTMs determined a relative advantage.
It was also important that less people were required to serve boats of the 671 RTM series. Thus, due to the compact crew, the living conditions on board were much higher. It may seem that this criterion does not apply to the key. But if we take into account the many months of autonomous raids of the submarines, for example, under the ice, habitability conditions come to the fore in their importance: this is the state and mood of the crew.
In general, according to independent experts, the submarines 671 and SSN-688 were approximately equivalent. We can say that the race of two conditional opponents for improvement and defense power was parallel, both participants were approximately equal.
US-Soviet Sea Hunt
Much has been written about the American nuclear submarines in the world press. Even among the townsfolk, it was a well-known and discussed project. Almost nobody knew about Soviet submarines of Project 671 due to the traditional extreme stealth of Soviet submariners. Even now, information about them is limited by narrow professional resources. It is difficult to find, for example, high-quality photos of the Pike class nuclear submarine.
Therefore, the long-standing history of the underwater "catch-up" of the two rival countries also remains behind secret curtains. But in vain, there were many interesting cases. One of the most striking is the large-scale operation "Aport" in the Atlantic Ocean in 1985, when Soviet submariners "washed" their conditional adversary - the US Navy. Everything resembled a real ambush hunt, which is quite natural: the entire project 671 was created specifically for hunting enemy submarines.
At the end of May, three beauties of the RTM class with two adjacent boats of 671 other modifications sailed into the ocean from the Western Faces base on the Kola Peninsula. Of course, such a nuclear submarine command, American naval intelligence could not help but notice. Noticed, but ... lost. Searched by all intelligence in the most intense way. The only American success was the discovery of the K-488 boat, only when she was already returning home to the base. And our beauties, meanwhile, were engaged in their permanent combat missions: they were monitoring missile submarines and anti-submarine aircraft of the US Navy during their patrol. As a result, the Americans were unsuccessfully chasing a crew of 671 RTM boats for a whole month. Aport ended July 1, 1985.
Operation Atrina was for the Soviet submariners fundamental and most important in the political sense. This time it was attended by the "magnificent five" of the famous submarines K-244, K-255, K-298, K-299 and K-524. The five boats had support in the form of naval aviation and a pair of reconnaissance ships equipped with special sonar systems with antennas. Like last time, the Americans knew about the release of the boats, but immediately lost them in the Atlantic Ocean. The hunt began again, pulled up all the forces of detection in the form of three search groups with the involvement of British ships. The boats went unnoticed and reached that very ill-fated Sargasso Sea.
The Americans managed to find contact with the boats only eight days after the start of the operation. They took the "pike" for missile submarines, about which they were seriously worried. All these actions were carried out during the peak of the Cold War.
The results of the Aport and Atrina operations showed that the US Navy will not be able to provide effective counteraction to the new-generation nuclear submarines of Project 671 RTM with their massive use.
This was a major victory for the Soviet navy. This is what it means to make the right entries. Submariners have always been able to do this.
Another famous heroic page was ice-swimming of the famous incredible complexity of the K-524 boat. The task was to sail from the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic, bypassing the island of Greenland from the north-east. This transition has become a legend, and captain Protopopov V.V. received the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Noisiness. Sheathing. Acoustics. Write off…
Unfortunately, yes. Everything comes to an end, and the legendary hunters of the Project 671 submarines Ruff, Salmon and Pike were no exception. The issue of their modernization was considered by the command of the Russian Navy in the most serious manner several years ago. It was a competition for pike modernization projects, where all possible options were explored.
It's all about the high noise of the boats - the criteria by which the 671 series lost to the American Los Angeles during the frenzied race of improvements.
The cost of upgrading the boat would be approximately equal to the cost of the new boat. It would be necessary to change the entire filling, including the latest sonar systems and, of course, the reactors themselves. Sheathing would also need a serious refinement.
Thus, modernization was recognized as unpromising. By 2015, boats were decommissioned. The famous 671 submarine project is over. The submariners remember and appreciate him, it was a glorious time for the flight of engineering, technical discoveries and exploits of the submariners, which are still not widely known.