November class submarine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | project 627 / 627A / 645 |
| Builders: | shipyard No. 402 in Severodvinsk |
| Operators: |  Soviet Navy |
| Preceded by: | none |
| Succeeded by: | Hotel class submarine (project 658) |
| Built: | 1957 - 1963 |
| In commission: | 12 March, 1959 - 1 July, 1990 |
| Completed: | 1 (pr. 627) + 12 (pr. 627A) + 1 (pr. 645) |
| Lost: | 3 (K-8 - 12.04.1970, accident in the Bay of Biscay; K-27 - 09.1982, deliberately sunk in a training area in the Kara Sea; K-159 - 30.08.2003, sank while being towed for scrapping in the Barents Sea) |
| Retired: | 7 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Attack submarine |
| Displacement: | surface - 3,065 / 3,118 / 3,414 t; submerged - 4,750 / 4,069 / 4,380 t (project 627 / 627A / 645) |
| Length: | 107.4 / 109.8 m (project 627A / 645) |
| Beam: | 7.9 / 8.3 m (project 627A / 645) |
| Draft: | 5.6 / 6.4 / 5.8 m (project 627 / 627A / 645) |
| Propulsion: | two water-cooled reactors VM-A 70 mW each with steam generators, two turbogear assemblies 60-D (35,000 hp total), two turbine-type generators GPM-21 1,400 kW each, two diesel generators DG-400 460 hp each, two auxiliary electric motors PG-116 450 hp each, two shafts. Submarine of project 645 had two liquid metal-cooled reactors VT-1 73 mW each and two more powerful turbine-type generators ATG-610 1,600 kW each, no diesel generators. |
| Speed: | surface - 15.2 / 15.5 / 14.7 knots; submerged - 30 / 28 / 30.2 knots (project 627 / 627A / 645) |
| Endurance: | 50-60 days |
| Test depth: | 310 m |
| Complement: | usually 104-105 men (including 30 officers) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
sonar system MG-200 "Arktika-M" for target detection, sonar system of detection of hydroacoustic signals and underwater sonar communication "Svet", hydrophone station "MG-10" (submarine of project 627 had "Mars-16KP"), sonar system of detection of underwater obstacles "Luch", detection radar of surface targets and torpedo control "Prizma", reconnaissance radar "Nakat-M". |
| Armament: | 8 533 mm bow torpedo tubes (ammunition - 20 torpedoes SET-65 or 53-65K). |
Contents |
[edit] History
The Project 627 (Russian - проект 627 "Кит" [Whale], NATO - November) class submarine was the Soviet Union's first class of nuclear-powered submarines. More than 135 Soviet organizations (20 design bureaus, 35 research institutes, 80 works) participated in the design and construction of this completely new type of submarine in 1952-1958. The chief designer was V.N. Peregudov and the research supervisor was academician Anatoly Alexandrov. The class was originally tasked with entering American naval bases and using the thermonuclear gas-steam powered T-15 torpedo to destroy them once in range (The T-15 torpedo had the following specifications: calibre 1,550 mm, length 23.5 m, range 40-50 km). However, after expert opinions of Soviet naval specialists were considered, the role of the class changed to torpedo attacks on enemy warships and transport ships during actions along the ocean and distant sea routes. Reflecting this change of mission, the final design of Project 627 was developed with eight 533 mm torpedo tubes instead of the initial plan for one 1,550 mm and two 533 mm torpedo tubes. Project 627/627A submarines could launch torpedoes from 100 m depth.
[edit] Description
The November class were twin-hulled submarines with streamlined stern fins and nine compartments (I - bow torpedo, II - living and battery, III - central station, IV - diesel-generator, V - reactor, VI - turbine, VII - electromechanic, VIII - living, IX - stern). Three compartments equipped with bulkheads to withstand 10 atm pressure could be used as emergency shelters.
The November class attack submarines were considerably noisier than diesel submarines and the early American nuclear-powered submarines, despite the streamlined torpedo-like hull, limited number of holes in the hull, special low-noise variable-pitch propellers, vibration dampening of main equipment, and antisonar coating of the hull (used for the first time on nuclear-powered submarines). Soviet reactors were superior to American in compactness and power-to-weight ratio, but the vibrations of Soviet reactors were much more pronounced. Novembers detected submarine targets during active service (for example, there were 42 detections in 1965 when regular cruises of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines began) but such contacts were short-time usually. The Soviet hydroacoustic equipment on the Novembers was not intended for submarine hunting, and had relatively limited capabilities. Nevertheless, it should be noted that even the then-new American USS Thresher (SSN-593) class low-noise attack submarines couldn't provide continuous tracking of first generation Soviet nuclear-powered submarines . The first successful search and relatively long tracking of a "factual enemy" by Novembers was performed in the Atlantic Ocean in 1966 - K-181 tailed USS Saratoga (CV-60) for four days.
The reliability of the first Soviet nuclear-powered submarines was relatively low because of the short service life of the steam generators in the main propulsion machinery, which caused an increase of the radioactivity level in the second loop of the reactor after several hundred hours of reactor operation. Machinery problems were the main reason why Project 627/627A submarines were not used during the Cuban Missile Crisis in autumn 1962. The reliability of the steam generators became better over the course of construction development, handling technical problems and training of crews, so Novembers began to frequently perform Arctic under-ice cruises and patrol missions to trace nuclear delivery vessels in Atlantic Ocean in the 1960s. Despite the common opinion about the dangers of radiation in the first Novembers, the background radiation levels in the compartments was usually normal because of relatively effective iron-water radiation protection of the reactor compartment and radiation monitoring. But radiation safety requirements in the end of 1950s were less elaborate in comparison with modern ones, of course.
The first submarine of the class (Project 627), K-3 "Leninskiy Komsomol" performed a cruise under nuclear power on July 4, 1958 and became also the first Soviet submarine to reach the North Pole in July 1962, 4 years after the USS Nautilus. Project 627 had much better performance specifications (for example, submerged speed and depth) than the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus. The first commander of K-3 was Captain 1st Rank L.G. Osipenko (future admiral and Hero of the Soviet Union).
All other Novembers except K-3 belonged to modified project - project 627A. The main visual differences of project 627A were a bow sonar dome in the keel and a hydrophone antenna over the torpedo compartment. The Project P-627A armed with nuclear cruising missile system P-20 was developed in 1956-1957 but not finished, equipment and mechanisms were used for building the usual attack submarine of project 627A (submarine K-50).
A single vessel, submarine K-27, was built as project 645 to use a pair of liquid metal-cooled VT-1 reactors. K-27 was launched on 1 April, 1962 and had some additional differences from Novembers: cone-shaped hull head, new antimagnetic strong steel alloys, somewhat different configuration of compartments, rapid loading mechanism for each torpedo tube (for the first time in the world). Liquid metal-cooled reactor had better efficiency than water-cooled VM-A reactor, but technical maintenance of liquid metal cooled reactors in naval base was much more complicated.
[edit] Service history
The November class served in the Soviet Navy with the Northern Fleet (in 3rd division of submarines, later in 17th division of submarines). Four of the class (K-14, K-42, K-115, K-133) were transferred to the Pacific Ocean Fleet (Russia) in the 1960s: K-14, K-42 and K-115 performed Arctic under-ice voyages whereas K-133 transferred to Far East on south route via Drake Strait for the first time in the world (passing 21,000 miles during 52 days of submerged running). The surviving vessels were decommissioned between 1986 and 1990. Several of them have been scrapped already. All of the survivors remain laid-up hulks in Russian naval bases (K-14, K-42, K-115 and K-133 of the Pacific Ocean Fleet; K-11 and K-21 of the Northern Fleet). There are plans to convert the first submarine of the class (K-3) into a museum ship in Saint Petersburg, but the hulk of submarine remains in Polyarny due to economic reasons the "radiophobia" of some ecological organizations.
[edit] Submarines in class
The November class included 14 submarines: Project 627 (K-3 "Leninskiy Komsomol"), Project 627A (K-5, K-8, K-11, K-14, K-21, K-42 "Rostovskiy Komsomolets", K-50, K-52, K-115, K-133, K-159, K-181), Project 645 (K-27).
There was a serious accident on board K-3 on September 8, 1967 - the submarine was performing a patrol mission in the Mediterranean Sea and a hydraulic system fire occurred in I compartment on the 56th day of the cruise at a depth of 49 m during the return home. This occurred north-east of the Faeroes and 39 sailors died due to CO poisoning (boatswain Lunya was the only person in the central station who didn't black out. He surfaced the submarine and rescued the commander and second-in-command who organized damage control). The submarine reached base successfully. K-3 performed 14 long range cruises and passed 128,443 miles over 30 years (1958-1988).
One of the Novembers (K-8) sank during the large-scale "Ocean-70" naval exercise in April 1970, due to short circuits the took place in III and VII compartments simultaneously at a depth of 120 m and a subsequent fire in the air-conditioning system. This was the first loss of a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine (52 sailors including the commander, Captain 2nd Rank V.B. Bessonov, died due to CO poisoning and the flooding of the surfaced submarine during 80 hours of damage control in stormy conditions, 73 sailors were rescued). K-8 sank with four nuclear torpedoes on board at a depth of 4,680 m (Bay of Biscay). There were also three small incidents with K-8 whilst on patrol before (breakdowns of steam generators in 1960-1961).
On 30 August 2003, the submarine K-159 sank during stormy weather while being towed to the shipyard in Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk Oblast for scrapping (K-159 was removed from service in May 1989). Nine sailors died in the accident and one was rescued. K-159 was found and investigated by Russian deep-sea vehicles the same day in the point 69°22.64'N, 33°49.51'E (Barents Sea, 2.4 miles from Kildin Island) at a depth of 248 m. K-159 performed 9 missions and passed 212,618 miles since June 1963.
In September 2006, the submarine K-60 (former K-50), removed from service in April 1990, was delivered to Russian Shipyard Number 10 in Polyarny for further scrapping. K-50 passed 171,456 miles since December 1963.
An emergency in the port-side reactor took place on 24 May, 1968 during trials of K-27 (Project 645) at full speed. All of the crewmembers were irradiated (four sailors died in a hospital) but the submarine returned to home base using the starboard reactor. K-27 was in reserve after that accident until the submarine was towed to a special training area in the Kara Sea and sunk there in September 1982, at 72°31'N, 55°30'E (north-east coast of Novaya Zemlya) and at a depth of33 m.
[edit] References
- National Geographic: November class accessed March 14, 2004.
- NATO Code Names for Submarines and Ships accessed March 14, 2004.
- Article in Russian language with several photos and video of K-3 surfaced on the North Pole
- Detailed information in Russian language about each submarine of the class
- Article in English from FAS
- http://www.bellona.org/articles/last_sub - K-60 arrives for scrapping
- The Encyclopedia Of Warships, From World War 2 To The Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.
- Kolesnikov A. and Il'in V. Illyustrirovanny Spravochnik. Podvodnye Lodki Rossii (Illustrated Guide. Submarines of Russia). Astrel', AST. 2001. ISBN 5-17-008106-5
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