September 1980 was marked by the launch of a gigantic new-type submarine, the height of which reached a nine-story building, and the area was equal to two football fields. It was a peculiar response of the Soviet Union to the development and construction of the NATO Ohio submarine, capable of delivering attacks from anywhere in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on several dozen targets located on the territory of the USSR. For a leading strike, the General Staff of the Union needed a mobile
submarine for combat from the territory of the Arctic Ocean. It was not even possible for space satellites to track such a tool under the ice.
In all the deep waters of the globe, underwater wars were fought. The only exception was the Arctic Ocean, which, with its unpredictable ice, made it difficult to expand to its full potential. In the assault on the North Pole, we won. It was for waters with such a temperature that the Shark submarine was created, the photo of which is presented on this page. In warmer waters, the submarine feels not quite comfortable, its engine and mechanisms undergo significant overheating.
Construction
According to the strategic calculation of the USSR General Staff, several submarines, each of which had 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles in its arsenal, should have been on duty under the ice. In addition, each missile had ten multiple warheads aimed at the cities of the potential enemy. The submarine "Shark" was not able to make combat attacks from under the ice. For this, a built-in strong cabin was provided. She forced ice or exploded it with torpedoes. The technical order for the construction of the submarine was complicated. The Shark submarine was supposed to have 20 launch mines for nuclear missiles with the possibility of launching all at the same time. The strategy of nuclear wars of that time consisted of an instant strike, while there might no longer be a second chance. It was such a military weapon that the Shark required. The submarine in the end turned out to be simply huge - 55% of its 50,000-ton displacement was allocated to the contents of the ballast tanks, which is why it was called a water carrier. Its length was 172 meters and a width of about 23 meters, it had a draft of the hull up to 11 meters. Not so long ago, the journal Science and Life published an interview with one of the officers, who described in detail the interior. It turns out that
the Shark
submarine had very good living conditions. The crew was accommodated in 2-, 4-, 6-seater cabins, sheathed with plastic under
natural wood. Each room had a desk, bookshelves, wardrobes, a wash basin and a TV. To maintain good physical fitness for officers, there was a gym equipped with a variety of simulators.
Currently, only six of the six submarines built are left. By agreement of Gorbachev with the Americans, special equipment for managing the BR was torn out of the submarines. From the former power of Russia, fragments remained, which it was time to collect and glue. And the most considerable among them is the Shark submarine, sometimes also called the Typhoon.