Victor-class submarine: Difference between revisions

A Victor I class submarine on the surface.
Class overview
Builders	Soviet Union
Operators	list error: <br /> list (help)  Soviet Navy  Russian Navy
Preceded by	Project 627 (November class)
Succeeded by	list error: <br /> list (help) Operational replacement: Project 971 (Akula class) By sequence of construction: Project 705 (Alfa class)
In service	1967
In commission	November 5, 1967
Completed	48[1]
Active	4
General characteristics
Displacement	4,950 tons light surfaced; 6,990 tons normal surfaced[verification needed]/7,250 tons submerged
Length	93 to 102 meters (303 to 335 feet)
Beam	10 m (33 ft)
Draft	7 m (24 ft)
Propulsion	One VM-4P pressurized-water twin nuclear reactor (2x75 MW), 2 sets OK-300 steam turbines; 1 7-bladed prop; 31,000 shp at 290 shaft rpm—2 low-speed electric cruise motors; 2 small props on stern planes; 1,020 shp 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)[verification needed]
Speed	32 knots (56 km/h, 35 mph)
Endurance	80 days
Complement	About 100 (27 officers, 34 warrant officers, 35 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems	list error: <br /> list (help) 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	list error: <br /> list (help) 2 bow torpedo tubes, 650 mm (8 weapons - Type 88R[verification needed]/SS-N-16 Stallion cruise missiles, Type 65-76 torpedoes) 4 bow torpedo tubes, 533 mm (16 weapons - Type 83RN/Type 53-65K/USET-80 torpedoes, Type 84RN[verification needed]/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 general NATO classification 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. 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 subs, should the need ever arise.

Victor I - Soviet designation Project 671 Yorzh (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 less of each).

Victor II - Soviet 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.

Victor III - Soviet Designation Project 671RTM Shchuka (Pike) - entered service in 1979; 25 were produced until 1991^[2]. Quieter than previous Soviet submarines, these ships had 2 tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another 4 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 SSNs.

Active submarines:

• K-388 Sosnovy Bor - commissioned November 1988
• K-138 Polyarnye Zori - commissioned May 1990
• K-414 Daniil Moskovsky - commissioned December 1990.
• K-448 Tambov - commissioned September 1992

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

• 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 overdue for overhaul. It was towed back to Vidyayevo.^[3][4]

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 for world domination.

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