Zulu-class submarine in Amsterdam | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Zulu |
Operators | Soviet Navy |
Preceded by | K class |
Succeeded by | |
In commission | 1952 |
Planned | 26 |
Completed | 26 |
Retired | 26 |
General characteristics | |
Type | attack submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length | 90 m (295 ft) |
Beam | 7.5 m |
Draught | 5.14 m |
Propulsion |
|
Speed |
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Test depth | 200 m (656 ft) |
Complement | 70 officers and men |
Armament |
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The Soviet Navy's Project 611 (NATO reporting name: Zulu class) were one of the first Soviet post-Second-World-War attack submarines. They were similarly capable to the American GUPPY fleet-boat conversions. They were a contemporary of the Whiskey-class submarines and shared a similar sonar arrangement. Like most conventional submarines designed 1946–1960, their design was influenced by the German World War II Type XXI U-boat. [1]
The first few boats of the class were equipped with twin 57mm and twin 25mm anti-aircraft guns and no snorkels, although the guns were removed and snorkels added soon after the boats entered service. [2] [3] Six were converted in 1956 to become the world's first ballistic missile submarines, one armed with a single R-11FM Scud missile and five others with two Scuds each. They were designated as Project AV 611 and received the NATO reporting name of Zulu V. The missiles were too long to be contained in the boat's hull, and extended into the enlarged sail. To be fired, the submarine had to surface and raise the missile out of the sail. Soviet submarine B-67 successfully launched a missile on 16 September 1955. [4]
The Zulus were the basis for the very successful Foxtrot-class submarine, which lent their hull to the Golf class of ballistic missile submarine.
Twenty-six boats were built overall, entering service from 1952 to 1957, 8 of them in Leningrad and 18 in Severodvinsk. Their names were initially B-61 through B-82 and B-88 through B-91, with most renamed in the 1970s or 1980s. [5] The class received the NATO reporting names Zulu I through Zulu V, the last referring to the five converted missile-firing submarines (excluding the prototype). It is unclear from references how many of each subclass were built. [3] [6] Most were repurposed for non-combat purposes before being destroyed.
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.
A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead and allows a single launched missile to strike several targets. Submarine-launched ballistic missiles operate in a different way from submarine-launched cruise missiles.
K-77 was a "Project 651" diesel–electric submarine built for the Soviet Navy during the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, the boat was armed with long-range cruise missiles to carry out its mission of destroying American aircraft carriers and bases. The missiles could be fitted with either conventional or nuclear warheads.
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capability. They can fire missiles thousands of kilometers from their targets, and acoustic quieting makes them difficult to detect, thus making them a survivable deterrent in the event of a first strike and a key element of the mutual assured destruction policy of nuclear deterrence. The deployment of ballistic missile submarines is dominated by the United States and Russia. Smaller numbers are in service with France, the United Kingdom, China and India; North Korea is also suspected to have an experimental submarine that is diesel-electric powered.
The George Washington class was a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines deployed by the United States Navy. George Washington, along with the later Ethan Allen, Lafayette, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin classes, comprised the "41 for Freedom" group of submarines that represented the Navy's main contribution to the nuclear deterrent force through the late 1980s.
The James Madison class of submarine was an evolutionary development from the Lafayette class of fleet ballistic missile submarine. They were identical to the Lafayettes except for being initially designed to carry the Polaris A-3 missile instead of the earlier A-2. This class, together with the George Washington, Ethan Allen, Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin classes, composed the "41 for Freedom" that was the Navy's primary contribution to the nuclear deterrent force through the late 1980s. This class and the Benjamin Franklin class are combined with the Lafayettes in some references.
Whiskey-class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period.
Project 1840 is the name of a Soviet diesel-electric research submarine design of which only one vessel was built. The design is known in the west by its NATO reporting name Lima. The submarine, which was assigned hull number БС-555, was completed in 1979, and used by the Black Sea Fleet. It was decommissioned and laid up in 1994. The unarmed vessel was equipped with two diving chambers for deep-sea operations and hydro-acoustic experiments.
The Project 940 Lenok class was a military submarine design of the Soviet Union.
S-80 was a diesel-electric submarine of the Soviet Navy.
The Project 670 Skat submarine was a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine built for the Soviet Navy and later operated by the Russian Navy. All Charlie I/II-class submarines are decommissioned. One Charlie-class submarine was used for testing an Oniks missile. Charlie I and its successor Charlie II-class submarines are designed by the Lazurit Central Design Bureau of Gorky.
S-189 is a Project 613B diesel submarine of the Soviet Navy.
Razumnyy was a 1135 Burevestnik-class Large Anti-Submarine Ship or 'Krivak' class frigate that served with the Soviet and Russian Navies. Launched on 20 July 1973, the vessel operated as part of the Pacific Fleet, as a dedicated anti-submarine vessel, with an armament built around the Metel Anti-Ship Complex. The vessel undertook a number of tours, visiting the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and India. The ship was decommissioned on 16 March 1998 and subsequently disarmed ready to be broken up before the end of the year.
Zadornyy was a Project 1135 Burevestnik-class guard ship or Krivak-class frigate that served with the Soviet and Russian Navies. Displacing 3,200 tonnes full load, the vessel was built around the Metel anti-submarine missile system. Zadornyy was launched on 25 March 1979 in Leningrad, the last of the class to be built by the A.A. Zhdanov shipyard, and served with the Northern Fleet. After taking part in exercises Avangard-81, Sever-81 and Okean-83, and cruising as far as Havana, Cuba, the vessel was upgraded between 11 June 1990 and 23 May 1995 with missiles that added anti-ship capability. While serving with the Russian Navy, the ship took part in joint exercises with frigates of the Royal Navy, including a commemoration of the first Arctic convoy of the Second World War with HMS Campbeltown. After more than twenty-five years service, the ship was decommissioned on 3 December 2005.
Soviet submarine B-80 was a Project 611 or Zulu-class conventional submarine of the Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet. She was in service during the Cold War, and after de-commissioning was sold in 1991 to private buyers in the Netherlands. She was scrapped in 2019.
Razyashchiy was a Project 1135 Burevestnik-class Large Anti-Submarine Ship or Krivak-class frigate of the Soviet Navy. Displacing 3,200 tonnes full load, the vessel was built around the Metel anti-submarine missile system. Launched on 22 July 1974, Razyashchiy joined the Pacific Fleet of the Soviet Navy. While serving in the Arabian Sea, in 1983, Razyashchiy suffered minor hull damage from colliding with the destroyer USS Fife while approaching a US fleet. The ship also undertook visits to Port Louis, Mauritius, and Danang, Vietnam, to, among other objectives, enhance the relationships between these countries and the Soviet Union. In 1991, the vessel was transferred to the newly-formed Russian Navy. After nearly twenty years of service, however, Razyashchiy was in a poor state and so was decommissioned on 29 October 1992 and sold to be broken up on 6 October 1994.
K-70 was a "Project 651" diesel–electric submarine built for the Soviet Navy during the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, the boat was armed with long-range cruise missiles to carry out its mission of destroying American aircraft carriers and bases. The missiles could be fitted with either conventional or nuclear warheads. K-70 was initially assigned to the Northern Fleet, but was transferred to the Pacific Fleet a few months later. The submarine was decommissioned in 1989 and subsequently scrapped.
K-68 was a "Project 651" diesel–electric submarine built for the Soviet Navy during the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, the boat was armed with long-range cruise missiles to carry out its mission of destroying American aircraft carriers and bases. The missiles could be fitted with either conventional or nuclear warheads. While much of the submarine's activities during the Cold War are unknown, she did make at least one patrol in the Mediterranean Sea before serving as the test bed for an auxiliary nuclear reactor from 1976 to 1991. K-68 was decommissioned in 1992 and subsequently scrapped.
K-85 was a "Project 651" diesel-electric submarine built for the Soviet Navy during the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, the boat was armed with long-range cruise missiles to carry out its mission of destroying American aircraft carriers and bases. The missiles could be fitted with either conventional or nuclear warheads. While much of the submarine's activities during the Cold War are unknown, she did make at least two patrols in the Mediterranean Sea while assigned to the Northern Fleet. The submarine was renamed B-124 in 1977 and was transferred to the Baltic Fleet four years later. B-124 was decommissioned in 1993 and subsequently scrapped.