View source for Russian submarine Orel (K-266)

{{Short description|Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Прибытие атомного подводного ракетного крейсера Северного флота «Орёл» в пункт постоянного базирования 07.jpg
|Ship caption= K-266 arriving to base after repair
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Soviet Union → Russia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} → {{shipboxflag|Russia|naval}}
|Ship name=Orel
|Ship namesake= City of [[Oryol|Orel]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= Sevmash (Shipyard 402), Severodvinsk
|Ship yard number=
|Ship laid down=19 January 1989
|Ship launched=22 May 1992
|Ship completed=
|Ship commissioned=30 December 1992 <ref>{{cite web | url=http://warfare.be/?linkid=1720&catid=243&type=ssgn | title=Warfare.be }}</ref> 
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service= 
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=active, modernized
|Ship homeport=Bolshaya Lopatka, [[Zaozyorsk]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Oscar class submarine|''Oscar'' II Modernized]] class Submarine
|Ship displacement=13,400 t, 16,400 t
|Ship length=154.0 m
|Ship beam=18.2 m
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=9.0 m
|Ship propulsion=2 nuclear reactors [[OK-650 reactor|OK-650V]] ([[highly enriched uranium|HEU]] <= 45%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lynceans.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Marine-Nuclear-Power-1939-2018_Part-3A_R1_Russia_submarines.pdf|title=Marine Nuclear Power:1939 – 2018|date=July 2018|accessdate=30 December 2022}}</ref>), 2 steam turbines, 2/7-bladed propellers
|Ship speed={{convert|32|kn}} submerged, {{convert|16|kn}} surfaced
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|300|to|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} (by various estimates)
|Ship complement=44 officers, 68 enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament= since 2017 72 x P-800 (formerly 24 x P-700), 4 x 533 mm and 2 x 650 mm bow torpedo tubes
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''K-266 Orel''' is a Project 949AM (Antey modernized) nuclear-powered [[cruise missile submarine]] (SSGN) (NATO codename [[Oscar class submarine|''Oscar'' II]]).  She is one of three Oscar II submarines still serving in the [[Russian Northern Fleet]], all assigned to the 11th Submarine Division, berthed at Guba Bolshaya Lopatka (part of [[Zapadnaya Litsa (naval base)|Zapadnaya Litsa]], also known as [[Zaozersk]]), on the Kola Peninsula northwest of [[Severomorsk]].

==History==
She was laid down at the [[Sevmash]] Shipyard in [[Severodvinsk]] on 19 January 1989. From 1991 to 1993 she was known as ''Severodvinsk'', but was renamed ''Orel'' on 20 March 1993 or 6 April 1993 and entered service with the [[Russian Navy]] that same year.<ref>A. S. Pavlov, Ударная сила флота. Проект 949А типа (Strike Force of the Fleet. The Project 949A type). (Yakutsk: Sakhapoligraphsats, 2001). http://www.tinlib.ru/tehnicheskie_nauki/udarnaja_sila_flota_podvodnye_lodki_tipa_kursk/p9.php.  Accessed 25 January 2013.</ref> Between May 2004 and September 2007 her commander was [[Valery Varfolomeyev]], an officer who had first joined the submarine as assistant commander in June 1998, and then became senior assistant to the commander from April 2000.<ref name="WH">{{cite web|first=Vitaly|last=Simonov|url=http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=26206|title=Варфоломеев Валерий Владимирович|publisher={{ill|Heroes of the Country|ru|Герои страны}}|language=Russian|accessdate=18 March 2020}}</ref>

The [[Media of Russia|Russian newspaper]] ''[[Izvestia]]'' reported that ''Orel'' is to be overhauled in 2013. She is to have her shaft-line changed to correct problems during construction that left her very easily tracked by sonar. Additionally, her P-700 Granit (NATO codename [[SS-N-19 Shipwreck]]) [[Anti-ship missile|anti-ship]] submarine launched cruise missiles (SLCM) will be replaced by more modern, supersonic, P-800 Oniks (NATO codename [[SS-N-26]]) antiship SLCMs.<ref>Подводный ракетный крейсер К-266 "Орел" пройдет модернизацию (Cruise Missile Submarine K-266 Orel Will Undergo Modernization).  http://www.i-mash.ru/news/nov_otrasl/27479-podvodnyjj-raketnyjj-krejjser-k-266-orel-projjdet.html. Accessed 25 January 2013)</ref> The overhaul was completed and the ship returned to service in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4623581|title=ОСК завершила испытания фрегата "Адмирал Макаров" и ремонт АПЛ "Орел"|website=ТАСС}}</ref>

===2015 fire===
Whilst in dock at the Zvezdochka shipyard on 7 April 2015, it was reported that a fire broke out "in the ninth section of the sub close to the stern".<ref>{{cite news|title=Nuclear submarine on fire|url=http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2015/04/nuclear-submarine-fire-07-04|accessdate=7 April 2015|agency=Barents Observer|date=7 April 2015}}</ref> The fire was caused by insulation materials catching fire during welding. It was reported the submarine did not have nuclear weapons or fuel on board at the time.<ref>{{cite news|title=Russian nuclear submarine 'on fire' in Arctic dock|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32202771|accessdate=7 April 2015|agency=BBC News|date=7 April 2015}}</ref>

===2017===
First modernized unit, ''Project 949AM''.

===2021===
In July 2021, while returning to Northern Fleet waters from ''Navy Day'' commemorations in St. Petersburg, ''Orel'' was reported to have "lost power" while transitting on the surface through the Danish straits. She was reported to have been assisted by other Russian vessels accompanying her through the straits. The submarine was later reported to have restored power and continued her transit north submerged.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2021/08/russian-nuclear-submarine-lost-propulsion-danish-waters-sails-outside-norway-now|title = Russian nuclear submarine lost propulsion in Danish waters, sails submerged outside Norway now}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
*[[List of Russian military accidents]]

{{Oscar-class submarine}}
{{2015 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orel (K-266)}}
[[Category:Oscar-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1992 ships]]
[[Category:2015 fires in Europe]]
[[Category:2015 disasters in Russia]]
[[Category:Fires in Russia]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 2015]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in Russia]]
[[Category:Ships built by Sevmash]]