Soviet submarine K-222
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | K-162 |
| Yard number | 501[1] |
| Laid down | 28 December 1963[1] |
| Launched | 21 December 1968[1] |
| Commissioned | 31 December 1969[1] |
| Decommissioned | 1984 in reserve, deleted from Navy list in 1989, Russian Navy flag was lowered 1999. |
| Fate | scrapped at 2010 at "Zvezdochka" plant (c. Severodvinsk), 3-section reactor block stand near berth №27. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 5,197 long tons (5,280 t) surfaced 7,000 long tons (7,100 t) submerged |
| Length | 106.9 m (350 ft 9 in) |
| Beam | 11.6 m (38 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion | list error: <br /> list (help) 2 × VM-5m type pressurised water reactors, 177.4 MW (237,897 hp) 2 × steam turbines, 2 shafts 80,000 shp (60 MW) |
| Speed | 44.7 knots (51.4 mph; 82.8 km/h) |
| Endurance | 70 days |
| Test depth | 400 m (1,312 ft 4 in) (estimated) |
| Complement | 82 (25 officers) |
| Sensors and processing systems | Sonar system MGK-300 "Rubin", torpedo fire control system "Ladoga-P-661", Navigation system "Sygma-661", Sonar system for mines detection "Radian-1", Radar systems RLK-101 and MTP-10, Friend or Foe detection system "Nichrom", Radio intellegence station.[2] |
| Armament | 10 × SS-N-7 cruise missiles in individual tubes, 4 × 533-mm torpedo-tubes (12 torpedos). |
Soviet submarine K-162 was the world's fastest submarine.[3] The first submarine constructed with a titanium hull, she was the only vessel of the Soviet Union's Project 661 Anchar nuclear-powered attack submarine design. The boat is best known in the West by its NATO reporting name Papa class. K-162 was renamed K-222 in 1978.[1]
Design
This project was intentionally forced to be highly innovative, as it was forbidden to reuse the past technical solutions.[2] While enforcing innovation, this also slowed the development.
K-222 was designed as an extremely fast attack submarine, and was the first submarine built with a titanium hull. She was armed with 10 SS-N-7 Starbright (П-70 «Аметист») missiles in individual tubes forward of the sail, between the inner and outer hulls, which were both of titanium alloy. Similar in design to the Charlie class submarine, K-222 was designed to intercept and attack aircraft carrier groups. Like the Charlie class and the later Oscar class submarines, her cruise missiles could only be reloaded in port, making her one of the Soviet Navy's "one shot" boats.
K-222 had two water-water reactors, designed to be as compact as possible. Unusually, there were no diesel generators, using the powerful battery as the emergency power source.
She is regarded as a predecessor to the Alfa and Sierra classes, and may have tested technologies which were later used in those classes.
History
K-222 was laid down on December 28, 1963 and commissioned on December 31, 1969, at Severodvinsk. She was assigned to the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet for the duration of her career. She was the world's fastest submarine, reaching a record submerged speed of 44.7 kn (51.4 mph; 82.8 km/h) on trials. Her unofficial maximum speed, reached 30 March 1971, is 44.85 kn (51.61 mph; 83.06 km/h).[3] However, K-222's high speed came at the price of high costs during construction, and both excessive noise and significant damage to external hull features when used.
Though never given a name, within the Soviet Navy the boat was commonly referred to as the "Golden Fish", in reference to her cost of development and construction.[4]
On September 30, 1980, one of K-222's nuclear reactors was damaged during maintenance in the shipyard. By 1988, she was placed in reserve at the Belomorsk Naval Base in Severodvinsk. Beginning on 5 March 2010 [5] the boat was dismantled at Sevmash, the only facility capable of handling the titanium hull. In an unusual move, the scrapping was performed with the reactors and nuclear fuel still on board, as no provisions had been made in the design for the reactor's removal.[4] The scrapping also began before the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) chose an international consultant for the fuel's unloading.[4]
In fiction
The Papa class submarine appears in the Tom Clancy novel Red Storm Rising where she engages in a cat and mouse chase with the USN frigate Reuben James and the British frigate Battleaxe before ultimately being sunk.
See also
Media related to Papa class submarines at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ^ a b c d e
|register={{{register}}}is not a valid registry name (help) - ^ a b "Проект 661" (in Russian). Deepstorm.ru. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ a b "К-18, К-162, К-222 Проект 661" (in Russian). Deepstorm.ru. 2005-01-25. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ a b c "Papa class submarine K-222 scrapped". Russia & CIS Defense Policy Blog. Russiandefenseblog.org. 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ 05.03.2010. "Zvezdochka dismantles unique titanium nuc sub". Rusnavy.com. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
{{cite web}}:|author=has numeric name (help)
External links
- Project 661 (Anchar) at Bellona.no
- Papa class submarine K-222 scrapped March 4th, 2010 (2010-03-04). "Russia & CIS Defense Policy Blog " Papa class submarine K-222 scrapped". Russiandefenseblog.org. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Cold War submarines of the Soviet Union include submarines and other submersibles designed, built, or operated in or by the Soviet Union during the Cold War era (approximately 1945 to 1990).