Typhoon class submarine

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Career
Typhoon class submarine at sea
Ordered:	?
Laid down:	March 3, 1977
Launched:	September 23, 1980
Commissioned:	December 12, 1981
General Characteristics
Length:	175 metres
Beam:	23 metres
Draft:	12 metres
Displacement:	Surfaced: 23,200-24,500 tonnes Submerged: 33,800-48,000 tonnes
Propulsion:	2×OK-650 pressurized-water nuclear reactors →190 megawatt each 2×VV-type steam turbines →37 megawatt each 2 propellers
Complement:	163 men
Armament:	1×9K38 Igla SAM 4×650 mm torpedo tubes →RPK-7 Vodopad AShMs →Type 65K torpedoes 2×533 mm torpedo tubes →RPK-2 Viyoga cruise missiles →Type 53 torpedoes^[1] D-19 launch system →20×RSM-52 SLBMs
Speed:	Surfaced: 12 knots Submerged: 27 knots
Maximum depth:	400 metres

NATO reporting name	Soviet project number	Soviet name
Typhoon	941	Akula

The Typhoon class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. With a maximum displacement of 48,000 tonnes, Typhoons are the largest class of submarine ever built. The NATO reporting name stems from the use of the word "typhoon" (тайфун) by Leonid Brezhnev in a 1974 speech while describing a new type of nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The Typhoon class was developed under Project 941 as the Russian Akula class (Акула), meaning shark. It is sometimes confused with other submarines, as Akula is the name NATO uses to designate the Russian Project 971 Shchooka-B (Щука-Б) class attack submarines.

Typhoon submarines are among the quietest sea vessels in operation, being quieter and yet more manoeuvrable than their predecessors. This is partly due to the vessels' large size, which allows them to minimize noise caused by water. Besides their missile armament, the Typhoon class features six torpedo tubes; two are designed to handle RPK-2 (SS-N-15) missiles or Type 53 torpedoes, and the other four are designed to launch RPK-7 (SS-N-16) missiles, Type 65 torpedoes, or mines. A Typhoon class submarine can stay submerged for periods up to 180 days in normal conditions, and potentially more if necessity arises (e.g. nuclear war).

Typhoon class submarines feature multiple pressure hulls that simplify internal design while making the vessel much wider than a normal submarine. In the main body of the sub, two Delta class titanium pressure hulls lie parallel with a third, smaller pressure hull above them (which protrudes just below the sail), and two other pressure hulls for torpedoes and steering gear. This also greatly increases their survivability - even if one pressure hull is breached, the crew members in the other are safe and there is less potential for flooding. High internal volume also allows Typhoon class submarines to provide good conditions for their crews, including sport facilities, sauna, swimming pool and a smoking room.[2]

Six Typhoon class submarines were built, with each carrying 20 R-39 missiles (SS-N-20) with a maximum of 10 MIRV nuclear warheads each. Originally, the submarines were designated by hull numbers only. Names were later assigned to the four vessels retained by the Russian Navy, which were sponsored by either a city or company. The construction of an additional vessel (hull number TK-210) was cancelled and never completed. Only the first of these submarines to be constructed, the Dmitry Donskoi, is still in service with the Russian Navy, serving as a test platform for the Bulava (SS-NX-30) missile currently under development. All the R-39 missiles have been retired. The Typhoons are slated to be replaced with the Borei class starting in 2007.

1 Vessels
2 830 TK 17 Arkhangelsk
3 TK 20 Severstal
4 834 TK 208 Dmitry Donskoy
5 Typhoon-based cargo vessel
6 Typhoon class submarines in fiction
7 See also
8 External links
9 Notes

[edit] Vessels

*Typhoon* class — significant dates
#	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
TK-208^[3]	March 3, 1977	September 23, 1980	December 12, 1981
TK-202	October 1, 1980	April 26, 1982	December 28, 1983
TK-12^[4]	April 27, 1982	December 17, 1983	December 27, 1984
TK-13	January 5, 1984	February 21, 1985	December 29, 1985
TK-17^[5]	February 24, 1985	August 1986	November 6, 1987
TK-20^[6]	January 6, 1987	June 1988	September 1989
TK-210	Cancelled

[edit] 830 TK 17 Arkhangelsk

Typhoon-5. 19.02.1988 entered 18th division (Zapadnaya Litsa) NOR. 08.01-09.11.2002 refit at Sevmash. In July 2002, crew petitioned Main Navy Headquarters to adopt the name Arkhangel'sk (renamed on 18.11.2002). Commander: 2002-2003 V.Volkov. Feb 17, 2004 took part in military exercises with President Putin aboard. 2005: Planned to be refitted to carry a new Bulava missile system.

[edit] TK 20 Severstal

Typhoon-6. 28.02.1990 entered 18th division (Zapadnaya Litsa), NOR. 25.08.1996 successfully launched SLBM; 11.1996 successfully launched SLBM from North Pole. 24.07.1999 took part in parade on Navy Day in Severomorsk, NOR. 11-12.1999 - distant march. 2001 renamed to Severstal'. 06.2001-12.2002 repairs at Sevmash. Commander: A.Bogachev (2001). Decommissioned ? To be refitted with new SS-NX-30 Bulava missiles.

[edit] 834 TK 208 Dmitry Donskoy

Typhoon-1. 09.02.1982 entered 18th division (Zapadnaya Litsa), NOR. 12.1982 transferred from Severodvinsk to Zapadnaya Litsa. 1983-1984 tests D-19 missile complex. Commanders: A.V.Olkhovnikov (1980-1984). 03.12.1986 entered Navy Board of the Winners of the Socialist Competition. 18.01.1987 entered MoD Board of Glory. 20.09.1989 -1991 repairs and refit at Sevmash to project 941U. 1991 refit cancelled. 1996 returned to 941U refit. 2002 renamed to Dmitry Donskoy. 26.06.2002 end of refit. 30.06.2002 start of testing. 26.07.2002 entered sea trials, Re-entered fleet, sans missile system; December 2003: sea trials; refitted to carry a new Bulava missile system. New missile system expected to be operational 2005. Oct 9, 2005 successfully launched SS-NX-30 Bulava SLBM from surface. Dec 21, 2005 successfully launched SS-NX-30 Bulava SLBM from submerged position on move. 2006.09.07 Test launch of the Bulava missile failed after several minutes in flight due to the problems in the flight control system. The missile fell into the sea about a minute after the launch. The sub was not affected and was returning to Severodvinsk base submerged. Later reports blamed the engine of the first stage for the failure. 2006.10.25, test launch of the Bulava-M missile in the White Sea failed some 200 seconds after liftoff due to the apparent failure of the flight control system.

[edit] Typhoon-based cargo vessel

Main article: Submarine Cargo Vessel

The Submarine Cargo Vessel is a proposed idea by the Rubin Design Bureau where a Typhoon has its missile launchers removed and replaced with cargo holds. The projected cargo capacity of this configuration is 15,000 tonnes.

[edit] Typhoon class submarines in fiction

Typhoon class submarine, covered with ice

A fictional Typhoon class submarine called Красный Октябрь (Red October) is the subject of the Tom Clancy novel The Hunt for Red October and the movie adaptation of that book. In the novel, the Red October used a drive system consisting of long shafts cut through the hull with impellers inside them, called a tunnel drive or catepillar drive. In the movie, the caterpillar drive was instead said to be a Magnetohydrodynamic drive. In both the novel and the movie, the drive was said to be all but silent; this made the Red October a perfect platform for launching depressed-trajectory ballistic missiles at the United States. The book claims such launches would have minimal warning times and be extremely difficult to intercept.

Typhoon submarines are also the subject of a fictional novel, Typhoon, written by Mark Joseph, which is about an attempted takeover of the Soviet Union by rebellious officers using Typhoon submarines to threaten nuclear missile launches on their own country of Russia.

Typhoon class submarines are available as naval units when playing the Soviet faction in the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 strategy game - however these were armed only with torpedoes, and were not ballistic missile submarines.

In the game expansion Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots, in the Cold War campaign only, the Soviets have Typhoon class submarines at their disposal. They are armed only with torpedoes, but are one of the most powerful naval units in the game, and are able to sink almost every enemy vessel with a single salvo.

In the game expansion Act of War: High Treason, the Consortium uses modified Typhoon class submarines, which are faster and harder to detect than the original ones. They're armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles, but they must surface and reveal themselves to fire missiles.

A fictional Typhoon class submarine named the Nikodim is mentioned in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident as the drop zone for Artemis Fowl senior on the Kola Peninsula, although this submarine is one of over a hundred in the stretch of coast near Sevoromorsk.

The Typhoon class submarines are the largest and best armed in the shareware game SinkSub Pro. [7]

A Typhoon class submarine also plays a part in the Japanese animated OVA series Blue Submarine No. 6 (Ao no Roku Gou. Blue no. 6). The Typhoon class submarine with a complement of 20 nuclear missiles was salvaged and intended to be used as a mine for the final strike against Zorndyke.

Groundbreaking submarines