Whiskey-class submarine

Last updated
S-189 in Saint Petersburg.JPG
S-189 preserved and on display as a museum boat in Saint Petersburg.
Class overview
OperatorsSee operators
Preceded by S class
Succeeded by
Built
  • 1950–1958 (USSR)
  • 1956–1960 (China)
Completed236 (215 in the USSR + 21 in China)
Preserved2
General characteristics
(Project 613)
TypeDiesel-electric attack submarine
Displacement
  • Surfaced: 1,050 tonnes (1,030 long tons)
  • Submerged: 1,340 tonnes (1,320 long tons)
Length76 m (249 ft 4 in)
Beam6.3 m (20 ft 8 in) to 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Draft4.55 m (14 ft 11 in)
Propulsion
  • Two-shaft diesel-electric:
  • 2 × 4,000 bhp (3,000 kW) diesel engines
  • 2 × 2,700 hp (2,000 kW) main electric motors
  • 2 × 100 hp (75 kW) electric creep motors for silent running
Speed
  • Surfaced: 18.25 knots (33.80 km/h)
  • Submerged:13.1 knots (24.3 km/h)
Range
  • Surfaced: 8,580 nmi (15,890 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
  • Submerged: 335 nmi (620 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph)
EnduranceSubmerged: 166 h
Complement52
Armament
  • 6 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow + 2 stern) for:
  • 12 × torpedoes or,
  • 22 × mines
  • 1 × single-mounted 25 mm (1.0 in) AA gun
  • 2 × single-mounted 57 mm (2.2 in) AA gun

Whiskey-class submarines (known in the Soviet Union as Projects 613, 640, 644, and 665) are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period.

Contents

Design

Silhouette of a Whiskey-class submarine with twin 57 mm deck guns and twin 25 mm conning tower guns Whiskey I class SS.svg
Silhouette of a Whiskey-class submarine with twin 57 mm deck guns and twin 25 mm conning tower guns
Silhouette of a Whiskey Long Bin-class submarine Whiskey Long Bin class SSG.svg
Silhouette of a Whiskey Long Bin-class submarine
Silhouette of a Whiskey Twin Cylinder-class submarine Whiskey Twin Cylinder class SSG.svg
Silhouette of a Whiskey Twin Cylinder-class submarine

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 Soviet Union 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 between 1946 and 1960, the design was heavily influenced by the World War II German Type XXI U-boat. [1]

Patrol variants

Between 1949 and 1958 a total of 236 of an envisaged 340 [2] 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.

Missile variants

Whiskey Twin Cylinder submarine Whiskey Twin Cylinder submarine.jpg
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. It was 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. Some were converted to Project 640 radar picket boats (called Whiskey Canvas Bag in the West). [6] While others were converted for intelligence-gathering missions. [3] 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

Indonesian Navy Whiskey-class submarine KRI Pasopati mounted on pedestal in Surabaya riverside Submarine Monument Surabaya 2.JPG
Indonesian Navy Whiskey-class submarine KRI Pasopati mounted on pedestal in Surabaya riverside

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
19511–––1
195245––9
19531911––30
19542914–144
195537188467
195626154449
1957–93214
1958––1–1
Total116721611215

Operators

The Whiskey-class had a long service life, with 45 still on the active list of the Soviet Navy in 1982. All Whiskey-class submarines are now decommissioned. [3] [a]

Incidents involving Whiskey-class submarines

Surviving examples

S-189 is preserved as a museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. KRI Pasopati (ex-S-290) is preserved in Surabaya, Indonesia. [20] As of 2022, Albania's #105 existed at Pasha Liman Base in south Albania, though it was deteriorating. [21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ross and Bishop make a possible exception for North Korea. According to the IISS, 4 Whiskey-class submarines remained in North Korean inventories until 2004 (listed as possibly unserviceable). [7]
  2. ↑ According to the Military Review, one Whiskey-class was damaged beyond repair and scrapped, a claim that's contradicted by other sources, such as the The Statesman's Year-Book. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ Friedman, pp. 396–397
  2. ↑ Kuzin, V.P.; Nikolskiy V.I. Voyenno-morskoy Flot SSSR 1945-1991. Istoricheskoye Morskoye Obshchestvo, Sankt Peterburg, 1996
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Ross & Bishop 2016, p. 298.
  4. 1 2 3 Burov, V.N. Otechestvennoye Voyennoye Korablestroyeniye v Tretem Stoletii Svoyey Istorii, Sudostroyeniye, Sankt Peterburg, 1995. 5-7355-0508-4
  5. ↑ Weir and Boyle 2003
  6. ↑ Office of the Chief of Naval Operations 1985, p. 102.
  7. 1 2 IISS 2004, p. 178.
  8. 1 2 Garland 1964, p. 106.
  9. ↑ Zickel, Iwaskiw & Keefe 1992, p. 223.
  10. ↑ Semini, Llazar (26 May 2022). "Albania offers ex-Soviet built naval base to NATO". AP News. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  11. ↑ IISS 1991, p. 39.
  12. ↑ Paxton 2016, p. 733.
  13. ↑ [ dead link ] Aftenposten (Norwegian Language) (including pictures)
  14. ↑ "Military search reminiscent of Sweden's Cold War days". Sverige Radio. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  15. ↑ Bogen, Øystein; Aune, Aage; Dale, Kjetil H. (21 October 2014). "Skipperen Onar (68) fikk denne russiske ubåten i trålen". TV2.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  16. ↑ "Russisk U-båd". vragguiden.dk. Retrieved 19 August 2024.[ unreliable source? ]
  17. ↑ Dansk Dykkerservice ApS (Danish Language) Archived 2008-09-25 at the Wayback Machine (including pictures)
  18. ↑ "Flere ubåde sank i Sverige". jp.dk. Archived from the original on 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
  19. ↑ "Sjunken ubåt hittad söder om Gotland" (in Swedish). Forsvarsmakten. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "History of KRI Pasopati 410 at the Surabaya Submarine Monument". www.daerahkita.com. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "Refused to sink, Albania's Soviet-era submarine awaits its fate". Daily Sabah. Agence France-Presse. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2024-10-28.

Bibliography

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