Russian submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk

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Russian submarine K-407
Career Russian Naval Ensign
Awarded:
Laid down: November 1989
Launched: 27 November 1990
Commissioned:
Fate: Active in service as of 2006.
Homeport: Olenya Bay, Skalisty Naval Base
General Characteristics
Displacement: 11 700 tons (surface) / 18 200 tons (submerged)
Length: 167 m
Beam: 11.7 m
Draft:
Speed: 14 knots (surface) / 24 knots (underwater)
Complement: 135 crew
Armament: D-9RM missile system and four 533-mm torpedo tubes

Novomoskovsk (K-407) is a Projekt 667BDRM Delfin-class ballistic missile submarine (NATO reporting name "Delta-IV") of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.

Construction of the nuclear submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk began at the Northern Engineering Plant (Sevmash) in Severodvinsk in November 1989, and it became part of the Soviet Navy on November 27, 1990. It was the last of seven 667BDRM Delfin submarines. This class of submarines was developed at the Rubin Central Design Office (TsKB Rubin) in 1975 and is considered one of the most successful Soviet underwater missile carrier designs. The submarine has a submerged displacement of 18 200 tons and a surface displacement of 11 700 tons. It is 167 m long and 11.7 m wide. It is powered by two OK-700A nuclear reactors with a total power of 180 MW. The submarine’s immersion depth is 400 m; its surface speed is 14 knots, and its underwater speed is 24 knots. It carries a crew of 135. Armaments include a D-9RM missile system (16 RSM-54 ballistic missiles) and four 533-mm torpedo tubes (18 torpedoes).

The RSM-54 missile (3M37, R-29RM, or SS-N-23 according to the NATO classification) is a liquid-propellant, three-stage missile with separable heads (it carries four or ten warheads depending on the modification). It has a range of 8300 km, a hit accuracy of 500 m, and a launching mass of 40.3 tons. It is 14.8 m long and 1.9 m in diameter.

On 6 August 1991, Novomoskovsk became the world's only submarine launching 16 ballistic missiles (RSM-54) at an interval of several seconds and all of them hit their targets successfully (operation code name "Behemoth-2"). This operation took place 4 months before the fall of the USSR, and was considered by the Soviet Navy as a part of possible nuclear war scenario ("Dress rehearsal of the Apocalypse"). The previous attempt of an all-missile salvo (operation code name "Behemoth") was performed in 1989 and finished unsuccessfully, however with no casualties.

On 20 March 1993, Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain First Rank Andrei Bulgarkov, collided with USS Grayling (SSN-646). Both submarines returned to their homeports, and though badly damaged both returned to service. Grayling was decommissioned some four years later, while Novomoskovsk remains in service over ten years later.

In 1996, Novomoskovsk, together with the K-447 submarine, fired a batch of ballistic missiles. The operation was a complete success. The city of Novomoskovsk in Tula Oblast took the submarine under its patronage, and on June 19, 1997, K-407 received the name Novomoskovsk.

On 7 July 1998, Novomoskovsk launched a Shtil-1 carrier rocket with two German scientific Tubsat-N and Tubsat-N1 micro-satellites while submerged in the Barents Sea. The satellite, developed by Berlin Technical University, was placed in orbit on an SS-N-23 (RSM-54)-type ballistic missile. The Northern Fleet was paid some 200,000 German Mark (US$111,000) for the launch.

In 1999, Novomoskovsk pioneered the launch of a ballistic missile from the geographic location of the North Pole.

On 17 February 2004, Novomoskovsk seemingly attempted to test-fire a SS-N-23 ballistic missile, but the missile failed to come out of its silo because of an unspecified technical problem. The Russian Navy, despite earlier statements describing the test, explained that no "physical" launch was intended at all: the exercise was supposed to be a simulation. President of Russia Vladimir Putin was aboard Archangelsk, an Akula-class ballistic missile submarine (NATO reporting name "Typhoon"), to observe the exercise.

On 17 March 2004, Novomoskovsk physically test-fired two SS-N-23 ballistic missiles, successfully hitting designated practice targets on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Like the other 667BDRM Delfin ships in service with the Northern Fleet, the K-447 is slated to receive new SLBMs to replace the RSM-54. The missile is a new-build, minor modernization of the RSM-54. It does not bear a separate designator from the RSM-54/R-29RM/SS-N-23 asides from the name "Sineva". Testing of the R-29RM "Sineva" was completed in June 2004.

At the moment, Novomoskovsk is worth to be proudly named as "the most shooting" submarine of the Russian Navy. The submarine is currently part of the 31st Red Banner (Krasnoznamennaya) underwater strategic missile cruiser division of the 12th submarine squadron of the Northern Fleet (Olenya Bay, Skalisty Naval Base). The submarine’s commander is Captain Sergei Rachuk.

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