During the Cold War between the USSR and the USA, a stalemate occurred at sea: on the one hand, the Yankees had no problems with surface ships (including missile carriers), but our country has a fleet (including as a result of undercover intrigues) in this area was noticeably weaker. But the Soviet Union had submarines. Their variety was enormous: from the little ones that can be seen in the "Features of fishing" to the huge "Sharks".
Despite the fact that the main striking force of our state at that time was nuclear missile carriers, 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 50s of the last century, it became clear that the "old women" of project 611 did not meet the new requirements at all. At that time, the Americans were already heavily leaning on nuclear submarine projects, but in the USSR they made an important bet on classical projects, too, and not without reason.
The point here is that diesel, however paradoxical it may seem, is much quieter than an atom: the problem of the latter is in vibrations, noise from the operation of steam generators and condensing units. Diesel submarines in the underwater position go exclusively on electricity, and therefore their noise is extremely low.
The purpose of the boats project 641
Like its predecessor,
the project 641
submarine was intended to cover sea caravans, protect trade and communication routes, and escort connections. But at the same time, new machines were required to have better speed performance, greater autonomy, improved crew living conditions, and most importantly - to carry significantly more weapons on board.
The crew consisted of 70 people, of whom 12 were officers. The living conditions that were excellent for those times were created for everyone, which were unattainable on Project 611 boats. The B-427 641 project submarine was especially comfortable.
Key Features of New Submarines
Responsible for the design made well-known designers S.A. Egorova and Z. A. Deribina. The body of their development is characterized by low sheer, as well as noticeably beveled, "truncated" stem. The latter was done in order to maximize the seaworthiness of the submarine in the surface. The boats of this project are also distinguished by pronounced nose fairings, which serve to accommodate various radar and other equipment.
As for the configuration, the first compartment is traditionally torpedo. Project 641
submarine could fire torpedoes to a depth of 80 meters. The second compartment was residential, there was, including, and the wardroom. In the same compartment, under the decking, the designers placed battery packs. The fourth has become (traditionally) the place where the central post is located.
In addition, there were also living cabins and additional battery packs. The fifth compartment is diesel, in the next there are electric engines, and in the last, that is, the seventh, backup torpedo tubes are based.
The appearance of boats of this type is also characterized by a very high fence around the cabin. It is so “monumental" that nothing rises above it. In addition, in the nose fairing, which we have already discussed above, there is not only electronic equipment, but also a gas outlet and equipment that allows the diesel engine to work under water.
What were the submarines of this type armed with?
The main armament is six bow torpedo tubes, which complement four more stern ones. But still the main ones are nasal, as only they are equipped with a special quick reload system. The total ammunition - 22 torpedoes. They included the first "telemetric" models, controlled by wire. But in practice, combat campaigns often took up to 1/3 min, replacing them with torpedoes. The Leningrad-641 complex was responsible for controlling the firing process.
Submarines were armed with torpedoes with a nuclear warhead, but they were intended exclusively for attacks on enemy surface ships.
Engine specifications
Three 37D diesel engines are the heart of the submarine. They are equipped with gas turbocharging, fenced from the main compartments with a massive soundproof bulkhead. As we already said, two electric motors of the PG-101 brand are responsible for the underwater movement. The power of each is 1350 liters. with. There is a reserve motor PG-102, the power of which is immediately 2700 hp. There is also an economical 140-horsepower PG-104. It is used in cases where it is necessary to save resources, "sits" on the same shaft with the PG-102.
For propulsion, the boat can use three propellers, the pitch of which can be arbitrarily changed by the crew. In the surface position for the movement, diesels are used that simultaneously charge the batteries.
Mechanics
Three shafts and three screws, the pitch of which can be changed by the crew. All rudders of depth and direction had three drives at once: hydraulics, electric and manual, aka “last chance”. For the first time, the Marble complex of automatic stabilization was used, which greatly facilitated the work of the crew and tracking the position of the submarine in space.
Energetics
Initially, 46SU model batteries were installed on the boat, subsequently replaced by more reliable and capacious 48CM. In total, there were 448 batteries on board these submarines. It is possible that some boats could use 60SU batteries. Their mention is found in several episodes of the memoirs of Soviet submariners (in particular, the submarine B-427 641 of the project is mentioned there), but here, perhaps, there is a usual inaccuracy.
New on-board equipment
The ship’s design includes new types of sonar, radio engineering and navigation equipment, and other high-tech (for those times) equipment. To detect surface targets, the Flag radar system is used, and the MG-10 advanced sonar station could receive signals not only from its own, but also from other “ASDs”. The “Arctic-M” complex, which constantly operates in active mode, serves the same purposes.
If you buy a model of the B-28 submarine of project 641, you can see a large influx in the bow, where all the electronics were located.
For passive protection of the boat is designed "Light-M", which ahead of time captures even the distant impulses of other sonar. Radio-technical reconnaissance is carried out through the Nakat complex. It should be noted that in the process of production significant changes were constantly made to the design of these boats, and therefore it will not be possible to accurately describe all the options for on-board equipment. Upgraded submarines are under the code 641B.
The main disadvantages, operating information
Already at the beginning of construction, engineers found that the standard design has practically no margin of safety for modernization. And therefore, 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 re-arranged, the designers replaced the diesel engines with more reliable ones, and standard batteries were also replaced.
In the west, these submarines quickly got the name Foxtrot. This was one of the first submarine projects that were massively transferred to the Allies under the
Warsaw Treaty, as well as to other, pro-Soviet countries. For example, two submarines immediately after construction were handed over to Poland, and for India special submarines were laid at all, which had many serious differences from the original project.
So, other batteries were put there, which had a longer life when working at high temperatures, in the fourth compartment two cabins were removed at once, due to which the air conditioning system was placed on the submarine, and regular fresh water tanks were significantly increased. How our submarine B-28 641 of the project needed it, forced at one time to hide for a long time from the Americans in the tropics!
The current state 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. Currently, these boats are definitely removed from combat duty in India, both ships of Poland were sent to metal in the middle of 2000, the fate of the others is unknown. Most likely, they were simply butchered for scrap. Our country’s armament is left with one diesel project 641 submarine (seemingly fragmentary information), but it will probably be written off soon, as today the Lada and other diesel-electric submarines are replacing the old modifications.
Also, one instance is in service with the Ukrainian Navy (and is the only submarine in those parts). True, the condition of the ship is such that it has already been repeatedly proposed to be cut into metal, since its repair is no longer practical. What is only the fact that in 2012 this ship for the first time in 20 years went under its own power into the sea. It helps Ukrainians only that the 641 project (submarines), the photo of which is 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 Caribbean crisis. It was they who participated in breaking the blockade of Cuba, and the exact number of submarines involved in this operation is still unknown. It is believed that there were 641 submarines of the project 19 brigade. The crews had to act in difficult conditions, since the temperature in the compartments sometimes reached 60 degrees Celsius, and it was impossible to come up for ventilation and charging batteries, in order to avoid detection by American ships. Alas, the classic submarine 641 had no air conditioning project ...
In such difficult conditions, the crews and even the submarine commander sometimes for several days had no idea what was being done in the world and whether the USSR and the USA were in a state of nuclear war. Only high training and composure allowed to prevent incredible misfortune. After all, on board each submarine were torpedoes with nuclear charges!
There is evidence that in the 60s there were cases of practically combat contact of Project 641 boats with American destroyers. The case that happened in 1962 is especially indicative. Submarine project 641 with the number B-36 for a long time patrolled the vicinity of Cuba, successfully avoiding the discovery of the US Navy. One night, during a planned ascent, she was spotted from an unidentified American destroyer, whose crew (without warning) launched an anti-submarine torpedo.
Fortunately, the B-36 crew acted competently and harmoniously. They managed to escape from the attack, but ... The Americans chased the boat for a long time (it was impossible to go to the depth, the batteries were empty) and dropped explosive packets and even ordinary grenades at its heading, simultaneously suppressing the ether. They managed to transmit the radiogram to Moscow only on the eighth attempt.
Despite the opposition, the crew managed to break away from the pursuit. And even after that, the boat continued to be on alert, leaving for the Kola Peninsula only after most of the battery had failed. The crew of the B-28 submarine of project 641 was in a similar situation, but there were no torpedo attacks there.