Project 641 submarine: ships, photo

During the Cold War between the USSR and the United States, a stalemate developed on the sea: on the one hand, the Yankees had no problems with surface ships (including missile carriers), but our country's fleet (including as a result of undercover intrigues) In this area was noticeably weaker. But the Soviet Union had submarines. The variety was enormous: from the little ones that can be seen in the "Fishing features", to the huge "Sharks".

Despite the fact that the main strike force of our state at that time were nuclear missile carriers, yet the modest diesel-electric submarine of project 641 played a significant role in the history of shipbuilding.

New time - other requirements

By the second half of the 50-ies of the last century it became clear that the "old women" of the project 611 completely do not correspond to the new requirements. At that time, the Americans were already heavily leaning on the projects of nuclear submarines, but in the USSR they made an important bet on classical projects, and it is not without reason.

The point here is that the diesel, no matter how paradoxical it may seem, is much quieter than the atom: the latter's problem in vibrations, noise from the operation of steam generators and condensing units. Diesel submarines in the submarine position are exclusively electric, and therefore the noise is extremely low.

Designation of project boats 641

Like its predecessor, the 641 submarine was designed to cover marine caravans, protect trade and communication routes, and maintain connections. But at the same time new machines were required to have better speed indicators, greater autonomy, improved living and living conditions of the crew, and, most importantly, carry much more weapons on board.

The crew consisted of 70 people, of whom 12 were officers. For all, wonderful living conditions were created at that time, which on project 611 boats were unattainable. Particularly comfortable was the submarine B-427 641 project.

The main characteristics of the new submarines

Responsible for the design did well-known designers SA. Egorova and ZA Deribin. The case of their development is characterized by a slight saddle, as well as a noticeably sloped, "truncated" stem. The last was done in order to maximally improve the seaworthiness of the submarine in the above-water position. The boats of this project also feature pronounced fairings in the bow that serve to accommodate various radar and other equipment.

As for the equipment, the first compartment is traditionally torpedo. The submarine of project 641 could fire torpedoes to a depth of 80 meters. The second compartment was residential, there was, among other things, a wardroom. In the same compartment, under the deck deck, the designers placed the battery packs. The fourth became (traditionally) the place where the central post was located.

In addition, there were also residential cabins and additional battery packs. The fifth compartment is diesel, the next are the electric engines, and in the latter, that is, the seventh, reserve torpedo tubes are based.

The external appearance of boats of this type is also characterized by a very high fence around the felling. It is so "monumental" that nothing rises above it. In addition, in the fairing on the nose, which we mentioned above, there is not only electronic equipment, but also a gas outlet and equipment that allows the diesel engine to operate under water.

What were these submarines armed with?

The main armament consists of six bow torpedo tubes, which are supplemented by four more feeders. But still the main ones are nasal, since only they are equipped with a special system of rapid recharging. Total ammunition - 22 torpedoes. These included the first "telemetric" models, controlled by wire. But in practice, combat missions were often taken up to one-third of a minute, replacing them with torpedoes. The Leningrad Leningrad-641 complex was responsible for controlling the firing process.

The submarines were armed with torpedoes with a nuclear warhead, but they were intended exclusively for attacks on the enemy's surface ships.

Engine characteristics

The heart of the submarine is just three diesel models 37D. They are equipped with gas turbo charging, are protected from the main compartments by a massive soundproof bulkhead. As we have already said, two electric motors of the PG-101 brand are responsible for the underwater run. The capacity of each is 1350 liters. from. There is a reserve engine PG-102, the power of which is 2700 hp at once. There is also an economical 140-strong PG-104. It is used in cases where it is necessary to save resources, "sits" on the same shaft with PG-102.

For movement, the boat can use three propellers, the pitch of which can be arbitrarily changed by the crew. In the above-water position, diesel engines are used for driving, which simultaneously charge the batteries.

Mechanics

Three shafts and three screws, the pitch of which can be changed by the crew. All the rudders of depth and direction had three drives at once: hydraulics, electric and manual, it was also the "last chance". For the first time, the automatic stabilization complex "Marble" was used, which greatly facilitated the work of the crew and tracking the position of the submarine in space.

Power Engineering

Initially, the battery was installed on the boat model 46SU, later replaced by a more reliable and capacious 48SM. Altogether aboard these submarines there were 448 batteries. It is possible that some 60SU batteries could be used on some boats. Their mention occurs in several episodes of the memoirs of Soviet submariners (in particular, it mentions submarine B-427 641 projects), but here, perhaps, there is a common inaccuracy.

Novelties in onboard equipment

The design of the ship includes new types of sonar, radio and navigation equipment, and other high-tech equipment (for those times). To detect surface targets, the radar system "Flag" is used, and the advanced MG-10 hydroacoustic station could receive signals not only from its own, but also from foreign "Asdics." The same objectives are served by the Arktika-M complex, which constantly operates in an active mode.

If you buy a model of submarine B-28 project 641, you can see a large influx in the bow, which housed all electronics.

For passive protection of the boat is intended "Light-M", which in advance fixes even distant impulses of foreign sonars. Radio technical reconnaissance is carried out through the "Nakat" complex. It should be taken into account that during the production process, the design of these boats has been constantly changed, and therefore it will not be possible to accurately describe all variants of the on-board equipment. Modernized submarines pass under the index 641B.

Main disadvantages, information about operation

Already at the beginning of the construction, engineers have determined that there is practically no margin of safety for upgrading the standard project. So when laying the last submarines of this series, they were re-designed almost on the go. As a result of such changes, the fifth compartment was completely re-equipped and reassembled, the designers replaced the diesel engines with more reliable ones, and standard battery batteries were also replaced.

In the west, these submarines quickly received the name Foxtrot. This was one of the first projects of submarines, which were massively transferred to the Allies under the Warsaw Treaty, as well as to other pro-Soviet countries. For example, two submarines immediately after the construction were transferred to Poland, and for India in general were laid special submarines, which had a lot of serious differences from the original project.

So, there were put other batteries, which had a greater resource when working in conditions of high temperatures, in the fourth compartment, two cabins were removed immediately, which ensured the installation of an air-conditioning system on the submarine, and the nominal capacity for fresh water was significantly increased. As our submarine B-28 641 project needed it, it was forced to hide from the Americans in the tropics for a long time!

The modern condition of the park

In total, 13 such submarines were transferred abroad (not counting the countries of the socialist bloc), and they were received, in particular, by Libya and Cuba. At present, these boats have been accurately removed from combat duty in India, both ships of Poland were sent to the metal in the middle of 2000, the fate of the others is unknown. Most likely, they were simply scrapped. In the arsenal of our country there is one diesel submarine of 641 projects (seemingly, the information is sketchy), but it is likely to be written off in the near future, since today the "Lada" and other diesel-electric submarines are replacing the old modifications.

Also one copy is on the armament of the Ukrainian Navy (and is the only submarine in those parts). True, the state of the ship is such that it has been repeatedly proposed to be divided into metal, since its repair is already inappropriate. What is worth only the fact that in 2012 this ship for the first time in 20 years went its own way into the sea. Only Ukrainians benefit from the fact that the 641 project (submarines), whose photo is present in the article, was very reliable from a technical point of view.

Caribbean crisis

In the west, submarines of this type became widely known during the time of the Caribbean crisis. They participated in the breakthrough of the blockade of Cuba, and the exact number of submarines involved in this operation is unknown to this day. It is believed that there were submarines 641 project 19 brigade. The crews had to operate in the hardest conditions, as the temperature in the compartments sometimes reached 60 degrees Celsius, and it was impossible to float for ventilation and charging of batteries, in order to avoid detection by American ships. Alas, the classic submarine of the 641 air-conditioning project did not have ...

In such difficult conditions, the crews and even the submarine commander sometimes had no idea for several days what was happening in the world, and whether the USSR and the US were in a state of atomic war. Only high training and composure allowed to prevent an incredible misfortune. After all, on board each submarine there were torpedoes with nuclear charges!

There are reports that in the 1960s there were instances of practically combat contact between the boats of Project 641 and American destroyers. Particularly indicative is the case, which was in 1962. The submarine of project 641 with number B-36 for a long time patrolled the neighborhood of Cuba, successfully evading detection of the US Navy. One night, during a planned ascent, she was seen from the side of an unidentified American destroyer whose crew (without any warnings) launched an anti-submarine torpedo.

Fortunately, the crew of the B-36 acted competently and smoothly. They managed to escape the attack, but ... Americans for a long time pursued the boat (it was impossible to go to depth, the batteries were discharged) and dropped explosive packages and even ordinary grenades along its course, simultaneously deafening the air. The radiogram was sent to Moscow only with the eighth attempt.

Despite the opposition, the crew managed to break away from the pursuit. And even after that, the boat continued to carry out combat duty, leaving on the Kola Peninsula only after most of the battery was out of order. In a similar situation was the crew of the submarine B-28 project 641, but there were no torpedo attacks.