Underwater speed record include records for submarines, autonomous underwater vehicles, and torpedoes. As these are typically for military vehicles, most are unconfirmed.
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Underwater speed record include records for submarines, autonomous underwater vehicles, and torpedoes. As these are typically for military vehicles, most are unconfirmed.
Established reports and manufacturer's claims indicate that a handful of submarines are capable of speeds exceeding 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph). In 1965, the experimental USS Albacore reported a speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). [1] The Soviet November-class submarine was found in 1968 to have a speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph). [2] In response the United States Navy developed the Los Angeles-class submarine, with a reported speed of 30–32 knots (56–59 km/h; 35–37 mph). The Akula (Russian: shark)-class vessel is reportedly capable of travelling submerged at 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). Its predecessor, the Alfa class, could attain short speed bursts of 40–45 knots (74–83 km/h; 46–52 mph) while submerged. [3] [4] There are also claims that the Soviet twin-propeller submarine K-222 , with titanium inner and outer hulls, reached 44.7 knots (83 km/h; 51 mph), fully submerged, during sea trials in 1969.
The British Spearfish torpedo, designed to counter high-speed Russian submarines such as the Alfa class, is reputed to reach speeds in excess of 70 knots (130 km/h; 81 mph). The Russian VA-111 Shkval rocket-powered supercavitating torpedo is reportedly capable of speeds over 200 knots (370 km/h; 230 mph). [5] The German press reported on an underwater anti-torpedo missile, formerly named Barracuda, allegedly capable of reaching 430 knots (800 km/h). [6]
Project 651, known in the West by its NATO reporting name Juliett class, was a class of Soviet diesel-electric submarines armed with cruise missiles. They were designed in the late 1950s to provide the Soviet Navy with a nuclear strike capability against targets along the east coast of the United States and enemy combatants. The head of the design team was Abram Samuilovich Kassatsier. They carried four nuclear-capable cruise missiles with a range of approximately 300 nautical miles (560 km), which could be launched while the submarine was surfaced and moving less than four knots (7.4 km/h). Once surfaced, the first missile could be launched in about five minutes; subsequent missiles would follow within about ten seconds each. Initially, the missiles were the inertially-guided P-5. When submarine-launched ballistic missiles rendered the P-5s obsolescent, they were replaced with the P-6 designed to attack aircraft carriers. A special 10 m2 target guidance radar was built into the forward edge of the sail structure, which opened by rotating. One boat was eventually fitted with the Kasatka satellite downlink for targeting information to support P-500 4K-80 "Bazalt" anti-ship cruise missiles. The Juliett class had a low magnetic signature austenitic steel double hull, covered by two inches (51 mm) thick black tiles made of sound-absorbing hard rubber.
K-222 was the sole Project 661 "Anchar" nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarine of the Soviet Navy during the Cold War. Although the Soviets saw K-222 as an unsuccessful design, upon completion it was the world's fastest submarine and the first to be built with a titanium hull.
Supercavitation is the use of a cavitation bubble to reduce skin friction drag on a submerged object and enable high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theory, the technique could be extended to an entire underwater vessel.
The Alfa class, Soviet designation Project 705 Lira, was a class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in service with the Soviet Navy from 1971 into the early 1990s, with one serving later with the Russian Navy until 1996. They were among the fastest military submarines ever built, with only the prototype submarine K-222 exceeding them in submerged speed.
HMS J1 was a J-class submarine operated by the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
HMS J2 was a J-class submarine operated by the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
HMS J3 was a J-class submarine operated by the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
HMS J5 was a First World War J class submarine operated by the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
The VA-111 Shkval torpedo and its descendants are supercavitating torpedoes originally developed by the Soviet Union. They are capable of speeds in excess of 200 knots.
The R-class submarines were a class of 12 small British diesel-electric submarines built for the Royal Navy during World War I, and were forerunners of the modern attack submarine, in that they were designed specifically to attack and sink enemy submarines, their battery capacity and hull shape being optimized for underwater performance.
HMS E9 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow. She was laid down on 1 June 1912 and was commissioned on 18 June 1914.
HMS E12 was a British E class submarine built by HM Dockyard, Chatham. She was laid down on 16 December 1912 and commissioned on 14 October 1914. Her construction costs totalled £101,900.
HMS E20 was a British E-class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 25 November 1914 and was commissioned on 30 August 1915. She was sunk, torpedoed by UB-14, on 6 November 1915.
HMS E38 was a British E class submarine built by Fairfield, Govan, Clyde. She was launched on 13 June 1916 and commissioned on 10 July 1917. E38 was sold for scrap in Newport on 6 September 1922.
The Ha-201-class submarine were a class of small submarines designed for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). They were first deployed in 1945, but never saw combat. The Ha-201's were designed from the outset to have high underwater speed and were based on the earlier Submarine No.71 prototype. The official designation of the submarine was Sentaka-Shō type submarine. The type name was shortened to Suichū Kōsoku Sensuikan Ko-gata.
Submarine No.71 was an experimental high-speed submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s.
German submarine U-705 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.
Type UC III minelaying submarines were used by the Imperial German Navy during World War I. They displaced 474 tonnes at the surface and 571 t submerged, carried guns, 7 torpedoes and up to 14 mines. The ships were double-hulled with improved range and sea-keeping compared to the UC II type. The type had better seagoing, maneuvering and turning capabilities than its predecessor, while underwater stability was reduced.
Ro-111 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in July 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the Indian Ocean — where she sank a cargo ship and a troopship — and off the Admiralty Islands in the Pacific Ocean. She was sunk in June 1944 during her fifth war patrol.
The Japanese submarine I-203 was an I-201-class high-speed submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was commissioned in May 1945, and the war ended before she could carry out an operational patrol. She surrendered to the United States Navy in 1945 and was sunk as a target in 1946.
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