Whiskey-class submarine

Class overview
Scheme of Whiskey-class submarine
Operators:	Soviet Navy and others
Preceded by:	S class
Succeeded by:	Romeo class (patrol variant) Juliett class (missile variants)
Built:	1949–1958
Completed:	236
Lost:	2
Retired:	232
Preserved:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Submarine
Displacement:	(typical): 1,080 tons surfaced 1,350 tons submerged
Length:	76 m (249 ft 4 in) 83.3 m (273 ft 4 in) (Whiskey Long Bin)
Beam:	6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) to 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Draft:	4.9 m (16 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric
Speed:	18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) surfaced 13 knots (24 km/h) submerged 7 knots (13 km/h) (snorkelling) (cruise missile carrying variants presumably slower)
Range:	13,500 nmi (25,000 km) surfaced 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) submerged
Endurance:	40–45 days^[1]
Complement:	54 (more on the cruise missile variants)
Armament:	6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 2 stern) 12 torpedoes or 22 mines 1 × 25 mm (1.0 in) AA gun (Whiskey I, II, and IV) 1 × 57 mm (2.2 in) AA gun (Whiskey II) 1 × SS-N-3 cruise missile (Whiskey Single Cylinder) 2 × SS-N-3 cruise missiles (Whiskey Twin Cylinder) 4 × SS-N-3 cruise missiles (Whiskey Long Bin)

Whiskey-class submarines (known in the Soviet Union as Projects 613, 644, and 665) are a class of naval submarines that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period.

Design

Whiskey-class submarine S-189, preserved as a museum in Saint Petersburg

Indonesian Navy Whiskey-class submarine KRI Pasopati mounted on pedestal in Surabaya riverside

The initial design was developed in the early 1940s as a sea-going follow on to the S-class submarine. As a result of war experience and the capture of German technology at the end of the war, the Soviets issued a new design requirement in 1946. The revised design was developed by the Lazurit Design Bureau based in Gorkiy. Like most conventional submarines designed 1946–1960, the design was heavily influenced by the Type XXI U-boat.^[2]

Patrol variants

Between 1949 and 1958 a total of 236 of an envisaged 340^[3] submarines of this type were commissioned into the Soviet Navy. The vessels were initially designed as coastal patrol submarines. These patrol variants are known in the west as Whiskey I, II, III, IV, and V and were called Project 613 in the Soviet Union.

Whiskey I − twin 25 mm (1.0 in) guns in conning tower
Whiskey II − twin 57 mm (2.2 in) guns and twin 25 mm guns
Whiskey III − guns removed
Whiskey IV − 25 mm guns - fitted with snorkel
Whiskey V − no guns - streamlined conning tower and snorkel

Missile variants

Whiskey Twin Cylinder submarine

In the 1950s and 1960s some Whiskey submarines were converted to guided missile submarines, with the capability to fire one to four SS-N-3 Shaddock cruise missiles. In 1956, the first prototype was ready. a regular Whiskey class modified with a launch tube aft of the sail containing a single SS-N-3c. This vessel was known in the West as Whiskey Single Cylinder. Between 1958 and 1960, six additional Whiskey-class submarines were converted to carry guided missiles. These boats had two missile tubes behind the sail, and were known in the west as the Whiskey Twin Cylinder, and Project 644 boats by the Soviets.^[4]

Between 1960 and 1963, six boats received an extended sail that could contain four Shaddock missiles. These were called Whiskey Long Bin in the West and Project 665 in the Soviet Union.^[4] All guided missile variants of the Whiskey class carried the P-5/ NATO SS-N-3c Shaddock land-attack missile, and had to surface in order to fire their missiles. The boats of the single and twin cylinder class also had to raise their missile tubes, which were normally positioned horizontally.

The "Long Bin" boats did not handle well, with the launch tubes causing stability problems, and water flow around the missile fittings was very noisy.^[5] All were soon retired from service. Four were converted to Project 640 radar picket boats (called Whiskey Canvas Bag in the West). Two were converted for 'fishery research' and 'oceanographic research' purposes. In the Soviet Navy, the patrol variants of this class were replaced by the Romeo class. The guided missile variants were replaced by the Juliett class.

Production programme

Model of ORP Orzeł

The Soviet Union built a total of 236 or 215 Whiskeys (sources vary; it appears the initial 21 Chinese-built boats are often included with the Soviet boats). Vice Admiral Burov, head of the Soviet Defense Ministry's Shipbuilding Institute from 1969 to 1983, confirms 215 units built.^[4]

Year	Gorkiy	Nikolayev	Baltic	Komsomolsk	Total
1951	1	–	–	–	1
1952	4	5	–	–	9
1953	19	11	–	–	30
1954	29	14	–	1	44
1955	37	18	8	4	67
1956	26	15	4	4	49
1957	–	9	3	2	14
1958	–	–	1	–	1
Total	116	72	16	11	215

Patrol submarines of the Whiskey class were exported to:

Albania (four vessels, all retired)
Bulgaria (two vessels, retired)
China (five vessels, and another 21 built locally from parts provided by the Soviet Union, known as Type 03, all now retired)
Egypt (seven vessels, retired)
Indonesia (twelve vessels, and two as a source of spare parts, retired)
North Korea (four vessels)
Poland (four vessels, 1962–1986, retired)

ORP Orzeł (292)

ORP Bielik (295)

ORP Sokół (293)

ORP Kondor (294) – 10 June 1965 raising of the banner, 30 October 1985 lowering of the banner.

Cuba and Syria ordered used Whiskey-class submarines for use as battery charging hulks. The guided missile and radar picket boats were never exported.

By 1982, only 60 boats remained in the Soviet Navy (45 active, 15 in operational reserve); all were retired by the end of the Cold War.

Incidents involving Whiskey-class submarines

On 27 January 1961, S-80 was lost due to accidental flooding while the boat was submerged. The valve that should have prevented water from entering the snorkel did not work properly.
On 24 November 1972, the submarine KNM Sklinna of the Royal Norwegian Navy had "contact" with what they presumed was a Whiskey-class submarine, after 14 days of "hunt" in Sognefjord. Military documents released in 2009 confirm this episode.^[6]
On 21 October 1981, S-178 was run down by the merchant vessel Refrizherator-13 in Golden Horn Bay, Vladivostok.
On 27 October 1981, S-363 ran aground in Swedish territorial waters near the Karlskrona naval base.
On 5 February 2007, the decommissioned S-194 took on water and sank off the coast of Denmark while being towed to become part of a naval museum.^[7]
In 2009 a previously unknown and unidentified sunken Whiskey-class submarine was discovered within Sweden's EEZ close to the island of Gotland. It was a decommissioned submarine which sank while under tow to be scrapped in Denmark. News of the discovery was not made public until March 2011.^[8]^[9]

Surviving examples

S-189 is preserved as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. KRI Pasopati (ex-S-290) is preserved in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Notes

↑ Couhat, Jean. Combat Fleets of the world 1982/1983 Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament. Paris: Editions Maritimes et d'Outre-Mer, 1981, p.1 ISBN 0-87021-125-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 78-50192
↑ Gardiner, pp. 396–397
↑ Kuzin, V.P.; Nikolskiy V.I. Voyenno-morskoy Flot SSSR 1945-1991. Istoricheskoye Morskoye Obshchestvo, Sankt Peterburg, 1996
1 2 3 Burov, V.N. Otechestvennoye Voyennoye Korablestroyeniye v Tretem Stoletii Svoyey Istorii, Sudostroyeniye, Sankt Peterburg, 1995. 5-7355-0508-4
↑ Weir and Boyle 2003
↑ Aftenposten(Norwegian Language) (including pictures)
↑ Dansk Dykkerservice ApS (Danish Language) (including pictures)
↑ JP.dk
↑ Forsvarsmakten.se

References

Gardiner, Robert (ed.) (1995). Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's all the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.
Weir, Gary E., and Boyle, Walter J. Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines That Fought the Cold War Basic Books, 2003.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Whiskey-class submarine.

Soviet and Russian submarine classes after 1945
Ballistic missile nuclear submarines – SSBN	658 Hotel 667A Yankee 667B Delta I 667BD Delta II 667BDR Delta III 941 Typhoon 667BDRM Delta IV 955 Dolgorukiy
Cruise missile nuclear submarines – SSGN	659 Echo I 675 Echo II 670 Charlie I 670M Charlie II 661 Papa^S 949 Oscar I 949A Oscar II
Nuclear attack submarines – SSN	627A November 671 Victor I 671RT Victor II 671RTM Victor III 705/705K Alfa 945 Sierra I 945A Sierra II 685 Mike^S 971 Akula 885 Severodvinsk
Conventional ballistic missile submarines – SSB	AV611 Zulu IV 629 Golf
Conventional cruise missile submarines – SSG	644/665 Whiskey (missile) 651 Juliett
Conventional attack submarines – SS or SSK	611 Zulu 613 Whiskey 615 Quebec 617 Whale^S 633 Romeo 641 Foxtrot 641B Tango 877 Kilo 636 Improved Kilo 677 St. Petersburg Amur S1000 Kalina
Auxiliary submarines – SSA	690 Bravo 940 India 1710 Beluga^S 1840 Lima^S 1910 Uniform 865 Losos 210 Losharik Sarov^S
S Single ship of class

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