Yankee-class submarine

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Yankee class SSBN.svg
Yankee class SSBN profile
Submarine Yankee I class.jpg
A Yankee I-class submarine underway
Class overview
NameYankee class
BuildersSeverodvinsk and Komsomolsk
OperatorsNaval Ensign of the Soviet Union (1950-1991).svg  Soviet Navy
Preceded by Hotel class
Succeeded by Delta class
Built1964–1974
In commission1967–1995
Completed34
Lost1
Retired33
General characteristics
Type Ballistic missile submarine
Displacement
  • 7,700 tons surfaced
  • 9,300 tons submerged
Length132 m (433 ft 1 in)
Beam11.6 m (38 ft 1 in)
Draught8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Propulsiontwo pressurized water cooled reactors powering four steam turbines driving two shafts.
Speed
  • Surfaced: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
  • Submerged: 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
RangeUnlimited
Complement120
Armament
  • Yankee I/II: 4 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 400 mm (16 in) torpedo tubes
  • Yankee I: 16 × R-27 (SS-N-6 Serb) SLBMs
  • Yankee II: 12 × R-31 (SS-N-17 Snipe) SLBMs

The Yankee class, Soviet designations Project 667A Navaga (navaga) and Project 667AU Nalim (burbot) for the basic Yankee-I, were a family of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. In total, 34 units were built: 24 in Severodvinsk for the Northern Fleet and the remaining 10 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for the Pacific Fleet. Two Northern Fleet units were later transferred to the Pacific.

Contents

The Yankee-class were subject to a wide variety of modifications; these ships have a different designation to the original model.

Design

The Yankee-class nuclear submarines were the first class of Soviet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) to have thermonuclear firepower comparable with that of their American and British Polaris submarine counterparts. The Yankee class were quieter in the ocean than were their Hotel-class predecessors, and had better streamlining that improved their underwater performance. The Yankee class were actually quite similar to the Polaris submarines of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy. These boats were all armed with 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) with multiple nuclear warheads as nuclear deterrents during the Cold War, and their ballistic missiles had ranges from 1,500–2,500 nautical miles (2,800–4,600 km; 1,700–2,900 mi).

General characteristics (Yankee I)

Operational history

K-219 damaged Submarine Yankee I damaged.jpg
K-219 damaged

The Yankee-class SSBNs served in the Soviet Navy in three oceans: the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean beginning in the 1960s. During the 1970s about three Yankee-class were continually on patrol in a so-called "patrol box" in the Atlantic Ocean just east of Bermuda [1] and off the US Pacific coast. This forward deployment of the SSBNs was seen to balance the presence of American, British, and French nuclear weapons kept in Western Europe and on warships (including nuclear submarines) in the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic.

The lead boat K-137 Leninets received its honorific name on 11 April 1970, two and one half years after being commissioned. One Yankee-class submarine, K-219, was lost on 6 October 1986 after an explosion and fire on board. This boat had been at sea near Bermuda, and she sank from loss of buoyancy because of flooding. Four of her sailors died before rescue ships arrived. The events surrounding the loss of this boat has continued to be controversial.

At least one other boat in this class was involved in a collision with a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine.[ citation needed ]

Because of their increasing age, and as negotiated in the SALT I, START I and START II treaties that reduce nuclear armaments of the United States and the Soviet Union, all boats of Yankee class were disarmed, decommissioned and sent to the nuclear ship scrapyards.

Variants

There were eight different versions of the Yankee-class submarines:

Yankee-class submarines [2]
First entered service NATO reporting name Project name and number ImageClassMain payloadNumbers builtNotes
1967Yankee-I667А "Навага" Yankee class SSBN.svg SSBN16 × Р-27 Зыбь 34Baseline; first Soviet sub to carry SLBMs in hull, as opposed to the sail. Some were later disarmed and operated as SSNs; sometimes classed as SSNX
1975Improved Yankee-I667АУ "Налим"SSBN16 × Р-27У 13 convertedУ/U for Improved (Russian : Улучшен; Uluchshen)
1977Yankee-II667АМ "Навага-М" Yankee II class SSBN.svg SSBN12 × Р-31 1 convertedFirst Soviet sub to carry solid-fueled SLBMs. Subsequently theorized as emergency satellite-launcher or to strike ships in aircraft carrier battle groups
1987Yankee Notch667АТ "Груша" Yankee Notch class SSGN.svg SSGN/SSN 32-40 × РК-55 Гранат (SS-N-21 Sampson)3 converted + 4 unfinishedLengthened by 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) to 141.5 m (464 ft 3 in); 8 more torpedo tubes in waist
1989 (program cancelled)Yankee Sidecar667М "Андромеда" Yankee Sidecar class SSGN.svg SSGN 12 × П-750 Метеорит (SS-NX-24 Scorpion)1 convertedDelivered as an attack sub due to missile program cancellation. 153 m (502 ft 0 in) long, 13,650 tons full displacement
1984Yankee Pod667АК "Аксон-1" Yankee Pod class SSN.svg SSAN Towed array sonar, pod, other sensor systems 1 convertedK-403 Kazan. The tailfin-pod is similar to those of the Щука- and Щука-Б SSNs
1996Yankee Big Nose09780 "Аксон-2" Yankee Big Nose class SSN.svg SSAN Towed array sonar, Irtysh-Amphora spherical sonar array1 converted + 1 unfinished (K-415)Further modified K-403 Kazan. Tail now resembles those of the 667BDRM and 949А submarines. The Irtysh-Amphora would later equip the lead boat of the Yasen class
1991Yankee Stretch09774/667АН Yankee-Stretch class SSN.svg "Research" submarine Палтус-class midget submarine 1 converted (K-411)160 m (524 ft 11 in) long. Stated to be an oceanographic vessel, but believed to be a spy sub similar to USS Jimmy Carter

In addition, Soviet/Russian classification includes the Delta-class submarines within the same family of Project 667; Deltas being Project 667B onward.

Units

Yankee class — significant dates
#ProjectShipyardLaid downLaunchedCommissionedStatus
K-137 667A, 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk4 November 196411 September 19666 November 1967Decommissioned 3 April 1994 for scrapping [3]
K-140 667A, 667AMSEVMASH, Severodvinsk19 September 196523 August 196730 December 1967Decommissioned 19 April 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-26 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk30 December 196523 December 19673 September 1968Decommissioned 17 July 1988 for scrapping [3]
K-32 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk25 February 196625 April 196826 October 1968Decommissioned 19 April 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-216 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk6 June 19666 August 196827 December 1968Decommissioned 1985 for scrapping [3]
K-207 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk4 November 196620 September 196830 May 1968Decommissioned 30 May 1989 for scrapping [3]
K-210 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk16 December 196629 December 19686 August 1969Decommissioned 17 July 1988 for scrapping [3]
K-249 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk18 March 196730 March 196927 September 1969Decommissioned 17 July 1988 for scrapping [3]
K-253 667A, 667ATSEVMASH, Severodvinsk26 June 19675 June 196928 November 1969Decommissioned for scrapping [3]
K-395 667A, 667ATSEVMASH, Severodvinsk8 September 196728 July 19695 December 1969Decommissioned for scrapping [3]
K-339 667ALeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk23 February 196823 June 196924 December 1969Decommissioned 19 April 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-408 667A, 667ATSEVMASH, Severodvinsk20 January 196810 September 196925 December 1969Decommissioned 17 July 1988 for scrapping [3]
K-411 667A, 667ANSEVMASH, Severodvinsk25 May 196816 January 197031 August 1970Decommissioned for scrapping [3]
K-418 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk29 June 196814 March 197022 September 1970Decommissioned 17 March 1989 for scrapping [3]
K-420 667A, 667MSEVMASH, Severodvinsk12 October 196825 April 197029 October 1970Decommissioned for scrapping [3]
K-423 667A, 667ATSEVMASH, Severodvinsk13 January 19697 April 197013 November 1970Decommissioned for scrapping [3]
K-434 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk23 February 196929 May 197030 November 1970Decommissioned 17 March 1989 for scrapping [3]
K-426 667ASEVMASH, Severodvinsk17 April 196928 August 197022 December 1970Decommissioned 19 April 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-236 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk6 November 19694 August 197027 December 1970Decommissioned 1 September 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-415 667A, 667AK-2SEVMASH, Severodvinsk4 July 196926 September 197030 December 1970Decommissioned 6 August 1987 for scrapping [3]
K-403 667A, 667AK-1SEVMASH, Severodvinsk18 August 196925 March 197112 August 1971 [3] Decommissioned for scrapping
K-389 667ALeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk26 July 197027 June 197125 November 1971Decommissioned 19 April 1990 for scrapping [3]
K-245 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk16 October 19699 August 197116 December 1971Decommissioned 14 March 1992 for scrapping [3]
K-219 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk28 May 19708 October 197131 December 1971 [3] Lost 3 October 1986
K-252 667ALeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk25 December 197012 September 197131 December 1971Decommissioned 17 March 1989 for scrapping [3]
K-214 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk19 February 19701 September 19718 February 1972Decommissioned 24 June 1991 for scrapping [3]
K-228 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk4 September 19703 May 197230 September 1972Decommissioned 3 September 1994 for scrapping [3]
K-258 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk30 March 197126 May 197230 September 1972Decommissioned 16 June 1991 for scrapping [3]
K-241 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk24 December 19709 June 197223 October 1972Decommissioned 16 June 1992 for scrapping [3]
K-444 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk8 April 19711 August 197223 December 1972Decommissioned 30 September 1994 for scrapping [3]
K-446 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk7 November 19718 August 197222 January 1973Decommissioned 17 March 1993 for scrapping [3]
K-451 667AUSEVMASH, Severodvinsk23 February 197229 April 19737 September 1971Decommissioned 16 June 1991 for scrapping [3]
K-436 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk7 November 197225 July 19735 December 1973Decommissioned 14 March 1992 for scrapping [3]
K-430 667AULeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk27 July 197328 July 197425 December 1974Decommissioned 12 January 1995 for scrapping [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Title unknown". The Royal Gazette . Archived from the original on 29 March 2006.
  2. ↑ "Deepstorm.ru". Deep Storm. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Korabli VMF SSSR, Vol. 1, Part 1, Yu. Apalkov, Sankt Peterburg, 2003, ISBN   5-8172-0069-4
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