Victor-class submarine

Class overview
A Victor III-class submarine on the surface.
Builders:	Soviet Union
Operators:	Soviet Navy Russian Navy
Preceded by:	Project 627 (November class)
Succeeded by:	Operational replacement: Project 971 (Akula class) By sequence of construction: Project 705 (Alfa class)
In service:	1967
In commission:	5 November 1967
Completed:	48^[1]
Active:	4
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,950 tons light surfaced; 6,990 tons normal surfaced/7,250 tons submerged
Length:	93–102 m (305 ft 1 in–334 ft 8 in)
Beam:	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Draft:	7 m (23 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:	One VM-4P pressurized-water twin nuclear reactor (2x75 MW), 2 sets OK-300 steam turbines; 1 7-bladed or 2 4-bladed props; 31,000 shp (23,000 kW) at 290 shaft rpm—2 low-speed electric cruise motors; 2 small props on stern planes; 1,020 shp (760 kW) at 500 rpm Electric: 4,460 kw tot. (2 × 2,000-kw, 380-V, 50-Hz a.c. OK-2 turbogenerators, 1 × 460-kw diesel emergency set)
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Endurance:	80 days
Complement:	About 100 (27 officers, 34 warrant officers, 35 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar: 1 MRK-50 Albatros’-series (Snoop Tray-2) navigation/search Sonar: MGK-503 Skat-KS (Shark Gill) suite: LF active/passive; passive flank array; Barrakuda towed passive linear array (Victor III only); MT-70 active ice avoidance EW: MRP-10 Zaliv-P/Buleva (Brick Pulp) intercept; Park Lamp direction-finder
Armament:	Active vessels have 2 bow torpedo tubes, 650 mm (26 in) (8 weapons - Type 88R/SS-N-16 Stallion cruise missiles, Type 65-76 torpedoes) 4 bow torpedo tubes, 533 mm (21 in) (16 weapons - Type 83RN/Type 53-65K/USET-80 torpedoes, Type 84RN/SS-N-15 Starfish cruise missiles, VA-111 Shkval rocket torpedoes, MG-74 Korund and Siren decoys, or up to 36 naval mines)

The Victor class is the NATO reporting name for a type of nuclear-powered submarine that was originally put into service by the Soviet Union around 1967. In the USSR, they were produced as Project 671 (Russian: Проект 671). Victor-class subs featured a teardrop shape, which allowed them to travel at high speed. These vessels were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack American ballistic missile submarines. Project 671 begun in 1959 and design task was assigned to SKB-143, one of the two predecessors (the other being OKB-16) of the famous Malachite Central Design Bureau, which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with Rubin Design Bureau and Lazurit Central Design Bureau.

Versions

Victor I

Project 671

Victor I - Soviet design designation Project 671 Yorsh (Ruffe) - was the initial type that entered service in 1967; 16 were produced.^[2] Each had 6 tubes for launching Type 53 torpedoes and SS-N-15 cruise missiles and mines could also be released. Subs had a capacity of 24 tube-launched weapons or 48 mines (a combination would require fewer of each). They were 92.5m long. All disposed.^[3]

Victor II

Project 671RT

Victor II - Soviet design designation Project 671RT Syomga (Atlantic Salmon)- entered service in 1972; 7 were produced in the 1970s.^[2] These were originally designated Uniform class by NATO. They had similar armament to Victor I. The Soviet Union discovered through its spy network that Americans could easily track Victor II-class subs and subsequently halted production of this type to design the Victor III class. They were 101.8m long. All disposed.^[4]

Victor III

Project 671RTM

Victor III - Soviet design designation Project 671RTM Shchuka (Pike) - entered service in 1979; 25 were produced until 1991.^[2] Quieter than previous Soviet submarines, these ships had 4 tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another 2 tubes for launching SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes. 24 tube-launched weapons or 36 mines could be on board. The Victor-III caused a minor furore in NATO intelligence agencies at its introduction because of the distinctive pod on the vertical stern-plane. Speculation immediately mounted that the pod was the housing for some sort of exotic silent propulsion system, possibly a magnetohydrodynamic drive unit. Another theory proposed that it was some sort of weapon system. In the end, the Victor-III's pod was identified as a hydrodynamic housing for a reelable towed passive sonar array; the system was subsequently incorporated into the Sierra class and Akula-class submarine SSNs. The Victor III class was continuously improved during construction and late production models have a superior acoustic performance.^[5] They were 106m long. 21 disposed.^[6]

Active submarines:

B-388 Petrozavodsk - commissioned November 1988
B-138 Obninsk - commissioned May 1990^[7]
B-414 Daniil Moskovskiy - commissioned December 1990.
B-448 Tambov - commissioned September 1992

A Victor III class sub, with the 'distinctive pod'

Incidents

In 1981 the USS Drum (SSN-677) collided with a Victor III class sub while attempting to photograph the odd pod on the back. The event was covered up and never made public, though it nearly cost the lives of the sailors on the USS Drum.^[8]
On 21 March 1984, K-314 collided with the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) in the Sea of Japan. Neither ship was significantly damaged.
On September 6, 2006, a Victor III Daniil Moskovskiy suffered an electronics fire while in the Barents Sea, killing two crew members. The boat was 16 years old and was overdue for overhaul. It was towed back to Vidyayevo.^[9]^[10]

In popular culture

A depiction of a Victor class submarine was used prominently in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough as a key element in the film's antagonists' (Renard & Elektra) plan.

In Tom Clancy's 1986 novel, Red Storm Rising, a Victor III submarine attacks the USS Pharris causing extreme damage (the bow forward of the ASROC mounts was torn off), warranting an extensive repair.

Notes

↑ Includes all three Victor classes
1 2 3 Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies 1718-1990, Norman Polmar and Jurrien Noot, Naval Institute Press, 1991
↑ "671, 671, 671". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
↑ "671". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
↑ Run Silent, Run Deep - Navy Ships
↑ "671 ()". Retrieved 19 December 2014.
↑ http://www.janes.com/article/58992/russia-confirms-higher-level-of-submarine-activity
↑ Reed, Craig, "Red November, inside the secret US-Soviet submarine war"
↑ "Fire aboard Russian nuclear submarine kills 2 crew members". China Post. 7 September 2006. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
↑ Northern Fleet accidents and incidents - Bellona

References and external links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victor class submarines.

National Geographic: Victor class accessed March 14, 2004.
NATO Code Names for Submarines and Ships accessed March 14, 2004.
Article in Russian Language on Victor I
Article in Russian Language on Victor II
Article in Russian Language on Victor III
Victor III Submarines - Complete Ship List in English
Article in English from FAS
Fire breaks out aboard Northern Fleet nuclear sub, killing 2

Victor-class submarine

Victor I

K-38
K-69 ⁄ B-369
K-147
K-53
K-306
K-323
K-370
K-438
K-367
K-314
K-398
K-454
K-462
K-469
K-481

Victor II

K-495
K-513
K-517
K-387
K-371
K-467
K-488
K-505

Victor III

Leningrad	K-524 K-254 K-502 K-527 K-298 K-358 K-299 K-244 K-292 K-388 K-138 B-414 Daniil Moskovsky B-448 Tambov

Komsomolsk-na-Amure	K-247 K-507 K-492 K-412 K-251 K-255 K-324 K-305 K-355 K-360 K-218 K-242 K-264 K-315

Soviet and Russian submarines
List of Soviet and Russian submarine classes

Soviet and Russian submarine classes after 1945

Ballistic missile nuclear submarines – SSBN	658 Hotel 667A Yankee 667B Delta I 667BD Delta II 667BDR Delta III 941 Typhoon 667BDRM Delta IV 955 Dolgorukiy

Cruise missile nuclear submarines – SSGN	659 Echo I 675 Echo II 670 Charlie I 670M Charlie II 661 Papa^S 949 Oscar I 949A Oscar II

Nuclear attack submarines – SSN	627A November 671 Victor I 671RT Victor II 671RTM Victor III 705/705K Alfa 945 Sierra I 945A Sierra II 685 Mike^S 971 Akula 885 Severodvinsk

Conventional ballistic missile submarines – SSB	AV611 Zulu IV 629 Golf

Conventional cruise missile submarines – SSG	644/665 Whiskey (missile) 651 Juliett

Conventional attack submarines – SS or SSK	611 Zulu 613 Whiskey 615 Quebec 617 Whale^S 633 Romeo 641 Foxtrot 641B Tango 877 Kilo 636 Improved Kilo 677 St. Petersburg Amur S1000 Kalina

Auxiliary submarines – SSA	690 Bravo 940 India 1710 Beluga^S 1840 Lima^S 1910 Uniform 865 Losos Sarov^S

S Single ship of class

Current and planned SSN classes

People's Liberation Army Navy	Type 091 Type 093 Type 095

French Navy	Rubis Barracuda

Indian Navy	Akula Indian SSN

Russian Navy	Victor III Sierra I & II Akula Yasen

Royal Navy	Trafalgar Astute

United States Navy	Los Angeles Seawolf Virginia

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