Victor-class submarine

Soviet nuclear-powered attack submarine

The Victor class, Soviet designations Project 671 Yorsh, Project 671RT Syomga and Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka, (NATO reporting names Victor I, Victor II and Victor III, respectively), are series of nuclear-powered attack submarines built in the Soviet Union and operated by the Soviet Navy. Since the 1960s, 48 units were built in total, of which the last remaining are currently in service with the Russian Navy. The Victor-class submarines featured a teardrop shape, allowing them to travel at high speed. These vessels were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack American ballistic missile submarines. Project 671 began in 1959 with the design task assigned to SKB-143 (one of the predecessors of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau).

Versions

Project 671 Yorsh (Victor I)

Project 671

Soviet designation Project 671 Yorsh (ruffe)—was the initial type that entered service in 1967; 16 were produced.^[2] Each had six torpedo tubes for launching Type 53 torpedoes and SS-N-15 anti-submarine missiles and mines could also be released. Subs had a capacity of 24 tube-launched weapons or 48 mines (or a combination). They were 92.5 m (303 ft) long. All disposed.^[3]

Project 671RT Syomga (Victor II)

Project 671RT

Soviet designation Project 671RT Syomga (atlantic salmon)—entered service in 1972; seven were produced in the 1970s.^[2] These were originally designated Uniform class by NATO. They had similar armament to the Victor I class and were the first Soviet submarines to introduce raft mounting for acoustic quieting.^[4] Production was truncated due to a decision to develop the improved Victor III class.^[4] They were 101.8 m (334 ft) long. All disposed.^[5]

Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (Victor III)

Project 671RTM

Soviet designation Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (pike)—entered service in 1979; 25 were produced until 1991.^[2] Quieter than previous Soviet submarines, these ships had four tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another two tubes for launching SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes. 24 tube-launched weapons or 36 mines could be on board. The Victor III class caused a minor furor in NATO intelligence agencies at its introduction because of the distinctive pod on the vertical stern-plane. Speculation immediately mounted that the pod was the housing for some sort of exotic silent propulsion system, possibly a magnetohydrodynamic drive unit. Another theory proposed that it was some sort of weapon system.^{[citation needed]} In the end, the pod was identified as a hydrodynamic housing for a reelable towed passive sonar array;^[6] the system was subsequently incorporated into the Sierra and Akula-class SSNs. In October 1983 the towed array of K-324, a Victor III operating west of Bermuda, became tangled with the towed array of US frigate USS McCloy. K-324 was forced to surface, allowing NATO forces to photograph the pod in its deployed state. The Victor-III class was continuously improved during construction and late production models have a superior acoustic performance.^[7] They were 106 m (348 ft) long. 21 disposed.^[8]

Units

A Victor III-class submarine on the surface

Incidents

• In 1981 USS Drum collided with a Victor III-class submarine—K-324—while attempting to photograph the odd pod on the back. The event was covered up by the Reagan Administration and never made public, though it nearly cost the lives of the sailors on USS Drum.^{[13][page needed]} The incident was declassified and disclosed by the Clinton Administration in February 1993.
• On 21 March 1984, K-314 collided with the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan. Neither ship was significantly damaged. ^[14]
• The Soviet cargo ship Bratstvo collided with the Soviet submarine K-53 of the Victor I-class in position Latitude 35 deg 55 min North and Longitude 005 deg 00 min West, at the exit from the Gibraltar Strait in Alboran Sea, on 18 (as per ship's time) or 19 (as per submarine time) September 1984.^{[citation needed]}
• On 6 September 2006, the Victor III-class Daniil Moskovskiy suffered an electronics fire while in the Barents Sea, killing two crew members. The boat was 16 years old and was overdue for overhaul. It was towed back to Vidyayevo.^[15][16] She continued to serve into the latter 2010s and was reportedly formally decommissioned on 28 October 2022.^[17]

In media

• A depiction of a Victor III-class submarine (Valentin Zukovsky's nephew Nikolai's own submarine) was used prominently in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough as a key element in the film's antagonists (Elektra King and Viktor "Renard" Zokas) plan.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of submarine classes in service
• Future of the Russian Navy

References

1. Includes all three Victor classes.
2. Polmar, Norman; Noot, Jurrien (1991). Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies 1718-1990. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-570-4.
3. "Проект 671 "Ёрш" (NATO – "Victor I")" [Project 671 "Ërsh"]. Deepstorm.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
4. Polmar, Norman (2003). Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines, 1945-2001. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-57488-594-1.
5. "Проект 671РТ "Сёмга" (NATO – "Victor II")" [Project 671RT "Somga"]. Deepstorm.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
6. Genys, Andrius. "Victor III class". Military-today.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018.
7. "Run Silent, Run Deep". FAS.org. Archived from the original on 5 February 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
8. "Проект 671РТМ и 671РТМК "Щука" (NATO – "Victor-III")" [Project 671RTM and 671RTMK "Shchuka"]. Deepstorm.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
9. "К-138, Б-138, "Обнинск" проект 671РТМК" [K-138, B-138, "Obninsk" project 671RTMK]. Deepstorm.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
10. "К-448, Б-448, "Тамбов" проект 671РТМК" [K-448, B-448, "Tambov" project 671RTMK]. Deepstorm.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
11. Nilsen, Thomas (5 October 2020). "Old nuclear sub gets new life at Nerpa shipyard". Barents Observer.
12. "ЦАМТО / / Российские подводники получат в 2023 году три атомные подводные лодки и две ДЭПЛ".
13. Reed, W. Craig (2010). Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.-Soviet Submarine War. New York City: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 978-0-06180-676-6.
14. "SOVIET SUB AND U.S. SHIP COLLIDE". The New York Times. 22 March 1984. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
15. "Fire aboard Russian nuclear submarine kills 2 crew members". The China Post. 7 September 2006. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
16. "Northern Fleet accidents and incidents". Bellona Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 August 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
17. Deep Storm

External links

• Victor-class at National Geographic
• NATO Code Names for Submarines and Ships at Aerospace Page of Andreas Gehrs-Pahl
• Victor I Archived 6 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Encyclopedia of Ships (in Russian)
• Victor II Archived 6 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine at Encyclopedia of Ships (in Russian)
• Victor III Archived 6 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine at Encyclopedia of Ships (in Russian)
• Victor III-class submarines - Complete Ship List at Russian-Ships.info
• Fire breaks out aboard Northern Fleet nuclear sub, killing 2 at Bellona.org