Oscar class submarine
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Papa class submarine |
| Succeeded by: | none |
| Completed: | 13 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 6 |
| Preserved: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 13,900 tons surfaced 18,300 tons submerged |
| Length: | 154 m (505 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 18.2 m (59 ft 9 in) |
| Draught: | 9 m (29 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × pressurized water cooled reactors powering two steam turbines delivering 73,070 kW (98,000 shp) to two shafts |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) surfaced 28 knots (52 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 107 |
| Armament: | 4 × 533mm (21 in) and 2 × 650mm (25.6 in) torpedo tubes in bow 28 × 533 mm and 650 mm weapons, including Tsakra (SS-N-15 Starfish) anti-submarine missiles with 15-kT nuclear warheads and Vodopad/Veder (SS-N-16 Stallion) and anti-submarine missiles with 200-kT nuclear warhead or Type 40 anti-submarine torpedo or 32 ground mines 24 × P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) cruise missiles with 750 kg (1,655 lb) HE or 500-kT nuclear warheads |
The Project 949 (Granit) and Project 949A (Antey) Soviet cruise missile submarines are known in the West by their NATO reporting names: the Oscar-I and Oscar-II classes respectively.
Oscars are the largest guided missile submarines in service as of 2006, being slightly larger than converted Ohio-class submarines of the United States Navy, displacing less when surfaced but more when submerged, as they are shorter in length but broader in beam.
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[edit] Oscar-I
Two Oscar-I submarines were built at Severodvinsk and assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:
- K-525 Arkhangelsk, laid down 1978, commissioned 1980, decommissioned 1997, scrapped at Sevmash 2001
- K-206 Murmansk (ex-Minsky Komsomolets), commissioned 1981, renamed Murmansk in 1993, decommissioned 1997, scrapped at Zvezdochka 2004
[edit] Oscar-II
Eleven Oscar-II submarines were built at Severodvinsk. Five were assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet:
- K-148 Krasnodar, commissioned 1986
- K-119 Voronezh, commissioned 1988
- K-410 Smolensk, commissioned 1990
- K-266 Orel, formerly Severodvinsk, commissioned 1992
- K-141 Kursk, laid down 1992, launched 1994, commissioned December 1994, lost August 12, 2000
Six were assigned to the Soviet Pacific Fleet:
- K-132 Irkutsk, commissioned 1987, inactive reserve 1997
- K-173 Krasnoyarsk, commissioned 1989, inactive reserve 1998
- K-442 Chelyabinsk, commissioned 1990
- K-150 Tomsk, commissioned 1991
- K-186 Omsk, launched May 8, 1993, commissioned October 27, 1993
- K-456 Viluchinsk (ex-Kasatka), commissioned to the Northern Fleet in 1991; transferred to the Pacific Fleet September 1993
One more Oscar-II submarine, K-329 Belgorod, laid down in July 1992, is currently under construction in Severodvinsk. Its construction was frozen several times due to lack of funds. Finally, on July 20, 2006, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Ivanov announced, "The Ministry of Defense does not need Belgorod... therefore, it will not finance its further construction."[1] If the submarine is going to be finished, it is not clear which country is going to pay for it.
At one stage it had been planned to develop a new fourth-generation follow-on to the Oscar but this plan was later scrapped. [2]
Like other Soviet submarines, the Oscar not only has a bridge open to the elements on top of the sail but, for use in inclement weather, an enclosed bridge forward of this station in the sail.
A distinguishing mark is a slight bulge at the top of the fin. A large door on either side of the fin reaches this bulge. These are wider at the top than on the bottom, and are hinged on the bottom. It is reported in the Federation of American Scientists' web page [1] that this submarine carries an emergency crew escape capsule, and as there is no more likely visible feature, these doors apparently cover it.
[edit] References
- The Encyclopedia Of Warships, From World War Two To The Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.
[edit] External links
- Two pictures of boats of the class
- http://www.friends-partners.org/pipermail/fpspace/2000-September/000237.html
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