Submarine U-475 Black Widow
51°23′43.7″N 0°30′12.9″E / 51.395472°N 0.503583°E
 Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine in 2005 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Soviet Union | |
| Laid down | 12 October 1966 |
| Launched | 24 December 1966 |
| Commissioned | 30 June 1967 |
| Decommissioned | 30 June 1993 |
| Status | Dilapidated state; moored on the River Medway near the city of Rochester[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Foxtrot-class submarine |
| Displacement | 1950 t |
| Length | 92 m (302 ft) |
| Beam | 7.5 m (25 ft) |
| Draft | 5.1 m (17 ft) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16.8 kn (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) surfaced |
| Range |
|
| Endurance | 3–5 days submerged |
| Test depth | 250–280 m (820–920 ft) |
| Complement | 77 |
| Armament |
|
Submarine U-475 Black Widow was a Soviet Navy submarine of the Cold War period, which is now in private hands. It is currently moored at Strood, on the River Medway, in South-East England.
Background
[edit]The Soviet Project 641 class submarines (known to the West by their NATO reporting name of Foxtrot) was a class of conventionally powered patrol/attack submarines. Some 74 were built by the Soviet Navy between 1957 and 1983 as well as 17 others for the Libyan, Cuban and Indian navies.
Service history
[edit]Black Widow was built at Sudomekh shipyard in Leningrad and commissioned in 1967. It was based at Riga and served with the Soviet Baltic Fleet before being used as a training vessel for crews from overseas who would be operating Foxtrot-class subs in their own navies. It was decommissioned in 1993 and sold.
Museum ship
[edit]
After passing into private hands, and under the name U-475 Black Widow it was moored at Long's Wharf near the Thames Barrier in England where it was open to the public as a museum ship. In 1998 it was moved to Folkestone, where it was again opened to the public. In 2004 it was moved to her present location, in a state of disrepair, and is currently awaiting restoration.[1][2]
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After the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, U-475 began to fly the Ukrainian national flag as a sign of clear support for Ukraine in the conflict.[3]
Naming
[edit]The submarine is currently referred to as Foxtrot B-39 U-475 Black Widow.[1] The B- designation stands for Bolshaya (Large), and was used by the Soviet Navy during the Cold War era. The B-39 designation also suggests a vessel in the Soviet Pacific Fleet; Baltic Fleet vessels carried numbers in the 200s. The name Black Widow and the designation U-475 were invented for the boat by the new owners. Soviet submarines were not generally named, the U- designation was not used by the Soviets, and none of the Foxtrots known carried the number -475.
In Soviet service it was actually known as B-49 and served in the Northern Fleet until November 1974 when it was reassigned to the Baltic.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Black Widow", Medwaylines.com. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
- ^ "The Russian Submarine U-475 Black Widow, Medway". Undergroundkent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2013. (Web archive)
- ^ "Flying the flag for Ukraine". Kent Online. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ "Project 641" Archived 7 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, russian-ships.info.com. Retrieved 21 April 2014.]