Russia is disposing of Akula-class submarines from its reserve. The largest submarine in the world (32 photos) Shark submarine technical characteristics

When I was little, Steven Spielberg's Jaws had a profound influence on my relationship with the sea. The fear of water that appeared in me then did not give me peace for a very long time.

Now I understand that the shark from the movie “Jaws” did not exist in reality, but no one knows what the depths of the ocean hide from us. I am not the type of person who believes that Megalodon still lives somewhere in the depths (this is such a prehistoric shark), but nevertheless, if you consider that the ocean makes up 70% of the entire land surface, and 95% the world's oceans remain unexplored to this day, you inevitably begin to believe that in the depths of the ocean there can live creatures much larger than those with whom we are accustomed to sharing our home planet.

If there are large, not yet described creatures in the sea, then the most terrible one will probably be some kind of shark. There are plenty of sensational reports and articles about the discovery of such fish, but all of them are most often exaggerated. But nevertheless, perhaps there is some truth in all this and I decided to choose 10 of them. So - the 10 most famous man-eating sharks.

There is no concrete evidence of the existence of this shark. During the 70s and 80s there were reports of a large shark near Cape Town, South Africa. A large shark of 7-8 meters in length was reported. It received the name Submarine because of its impressive size.

9 – Mysterious Mariana Trench Shark

In 1989, deep-sea exploration was carried out in Suruga Bay off the coast of Japan. Scientists placed the bait at a depth of one and a half kilometers. A lot of all sorts of small and larger fish gathered near the bait. A giant shark with a length of 9 to 15 meters was also discovered there. There is even video footage of sharks. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to accurately determine its dimensions, because... the only thing you can start from in measurements is the bait, and its dimensions are unknown.

8 - The shark that swallowed the great white

In 2003, researchers attached a tracking device to one white shark. Four months later, the device was washed ashore by a wave. The information contained in the device showed a sudden jump in temperature from 8 degrees Celsius to 26, which meant that it had been eaten by someone. Further, a drop in depth to 560 meters was recorded, after which the device slowly surfaced and was thrown ashore by the current.

7 - Colossus

Colossus is the name given to a giant species of great white shark that lives off the coast of South Africa, off Seal Island. These areas are home to a large population of seals, which in turn attracts hungry sharks. This giant is 4.8 meters long and weighs approximately two tons.

6 - Slash

This aggressive shark was spotted off the coast of New Zealand. This almost five-meter giant is named so because of the large scar on the left side of its mouth. The scar remained after an unsuccessful attempt to attach a tracking device, after which, in principle and naturally, the shark began to react quite aggressively towards people.

5 - Cuban

This shark was caught off the coast of the northern coast of Cuba in 1945, according to the fishermen who caught it, the shark was 6.5 meters in length and weighed more than three tons.

4 – Maltese large white

On the morning of April 17, 1987, a huge white shark, which the locals nicknamed the “Big Giant,” was caught off the coast of Malta. Another two-meter shark could fit in this female's stomach. Eyewitnesses say that it was more than 7 meters long!

3 - Prince Edward Island Shark

This giant was caught near the Canadian Prince Edward Island. Caught in 1983, this shark is the largest of those whose size is known with certainty. The length is 6 meters.

The Black Devil is reported to be between 7 and 18 meters long. It lives in the Sea of ​​Cortez, off the coast of the California Peninsula. This is the only shark that has been reported to attack small vessels. But there is no evidence to confirm these reports.

1 – Great White Shark – Deep Blue

If you haven't seen this video, immediately type in a search engine - Deep Blue. This is what scientists named this giant white shark. This predator was discovered near the island of Guadeloupe and its length is more than 6 meters.

Russia is disposing of the last two Akula-class (NATO Typhoon) nuclear-powered missile submarines from its reserve. This is reported by the country's main media.

“Denuclearization and dismantling of the TK-17 Arkhangelsk and TK-20 Severstal submarines will begin in 2020. Their re-introduction into combat turned out to be unprofitable.”

The two Project 941 Akula submarines (as they are called according to the correct Russian classification) were disarmed and anchored in the port of Severodvinsk awaiting an official decision from the Kremlin. Arkhangelsk and Severstal, built in the eighties, have been in reserve since 2006 and 2004, respectively.

Shark/Typhoon class

The parameters of these boats are 173 meters long, 23 meters high and 23.3 meters wide. They have a displacement of 49,800 tons and are capable of reaching a maximum operational depth of 400 meters. Six double-hull submarines of this class (based on two Delta-class hulls) have been included in the Guinness Book of Records. In 1996-1997, due to lack of funding, after only 13 years of active operation, the Kremlin removed three Akula submarines from service: TK-12 Simbirsk, TK-202 and TK-13.

The Soviet Union designed the Akula submarines to counter the American Ohio-class submarines, they were intended for constant strategic patrol of the territories located north of the Arctic Circle (which is why they received a fortified hull, an additional reserve of buoyancy equal to 35% of displacement, and were equipped with shielded propellers that protected the ship from collisions with ice). An unusual feature of the Sharks was the missile compartment in the tail of the submarine in front of the tower. Each boat was equipped with twenty three-stage R-39 "Reef" (SS-NX-20 Sturgeon) 84-ton ballistic missiles, capable of hitting any point in the continental United States.

Context

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The Akula submarines could reach speeds of 22 knots on the surface and 27 knots when submerged thanks to two 650 OKB pressurized water reactors of 190 MW each, the same ones used in the Lyra, Fin, and Barracuda classes ", "Antey". Of the eight submarines of this class planned by the Soviet Union, only six were built.

The last Typhoon

The latest Project 941 submarine is used as an experimental platform for the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile. TK-208 was the first submarine to enter service and will be the last to go to sea as part of the 18th Submarine Division of the Northern Fleet. Significant modifications to which the Dmitry Donskoy underwent turned this boat into the first advanced Akula, the level of which is not inferior to fourth-generation submarines.

Project 941UM was conceived to launch RSM-56 Bulava missiles. The Project 941UM submarine TK-208 “Dmitry Donskoy” will remain in operation until 2020: from 2003 to 2010, it carried out 14 test launches, half of which were cancelled.

"Red October"

The "seventh" Akula-class submarine, nicknamed "Red October", became the main character of Tom Clancy's first novel, published by Naval Institute Press in 1984. In the novel, the Soviet Project 941 Akula submarine had a new type of propulsion system, made using stealth technology without mobile parts, called a “caterpillar propulsion unit.” Clancy imagined a modified Akula submarine armed with 27 ballistic missiles: thanks to the stealth technology of the engine, Red October could proceed unhindered to destroy the upper east coast of the United States. In The Hunt for Red October, Commander Marco Ramius, played by Sean Connery, secretly heads to the US coast with the goal of deserting and turning over the submarine to the US Navy.

K-139 "Belgorod" project 09852

In a year, Russia will receive the world's largest nuclear submarine, and it will be 11 meters longer than the Project 941 Akula submarines. Officially unveiled as the next Project 949A Antey-class II, the Project 09852 K-139 Belgorod submarine will carry out scientific research missions as a platform for unmanned vehicles and specialized equipment. K-139 was redesigned and received a new central compartment 30 meters long, due to which the dimensions of the submarine reached 184 meters. This is 30 meters larger than the original size of the Antey class submarines and 11 meters longer than the Akula class submarines.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

The world's two largest nuclear submarines (NPS) of the Akula project will be in the Russian Navy until 2019, Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Vysotsky told reporters.

Heavy strategic missile submarines of Project 941 "Akula" ("Typhoon" according to NATO classification) are the largest nuclear-powered strategic submarines in the world.

December 19, 1973 The USSR government adopted a resolution providing for the start of work on the design and construction of a new missile carrier, created as a counterweight to the American nuclear submarine Ohio.

The project was developed at the Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering (CDB MT) Rubin (St. Petersburg), headed by General Designer Igor Spassky, under the direct supervision of Chief Designer Sergei Kovalev.

The construction of Project 941 submarines was carried out in Severodvinsk. To do this, it was necessary to build a new workshop at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise.

On June 30, 1976, the lead strategic missile submarine cruiser (SSBN) of Project 941 was laid down on the slipway of the Severodvinsk Shipyard.

In the fall of 2011, reports appeared in the domestic media according to which it was planned to decommission and dismantle all remaining Project 941 Akula nuclear submarines by 2014. The next day, Defense Department officials denied this information. As it turns out, these submarines will remain in the fleet in the coming years. Since then, new reports have been received from time to time about the future fate of the Sharks. First of all, the possible modernization of these boats is mentioned. However, the repair and re-equipment of the Sharks is sometimes called impractical, because there are only three such boats left in service. But in the early eighties, the Soviet Union was going to build ten Project 941 submarines. Why, instead of the ten largest submarines in the world, does our country now have only three?

When at the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Medical Sciences under the leadership of S.N. Kovalev, the development of Project 941 began, the fleet command could express quite bold wishes. According to some sources, the possibility of building a series of twelve new submarines was seriously considered. Apparently, for economic reasons, it was subsequently reduced to ten ships. Despite this reduction, the mid-seventies, when the project was created, can be called one of the best periods in the Russian Navy. Therefore, only three and a half years passed from the issuance of tactical and technical specifications to the laying of the lead “Shark”. Four years later, the first boat of the TK-208 project left the stocks and entered service in December 1981. Thus, it took about nine years to create the lead submarine.

Until 1986-87, seven Project 941 submarines were laid down at the Severodvinsk Sevmash plant. However, problems began already in 1988. Due to a number of financial and political problems, the seventh submarine, 35-40 percent complete, was cut into metal. The last three boats of the series generally remained at the stage of preliminary preparation for construction. Perestroika began in the country and funding for defense projects decreased significantly. In addition, the former (?) potential enemy, who was directly interested in the absence of such equipment, learned about the new submarines.

It's worth noting that the United States had good reason to fear the Sharks. Project 941 boats were the largest submarines in the world and carried substantial weapons. The original design of the boat with two main strong hulls located at a distance from each other made it possible to fit two dozen missile silos of the D-19 complex with R-39 missiles into the contours of the light hull. The record-breaking size of Project 941 boats was due to the dimensions of the missiles. The P-39 had a length of 16 meters and simply did not fit on submarines of the old design, like the later versions of Project 667. At the same time, increasing the size of the boat made it possible to place on it comfortable cabins and quarters for the crew, a small recreation room, a gym, a swimming pool and even a sauna.

Both main pressure buildings housed one OK-650VV reactor with a thermal power of up to 190 MW. Two steam turbine units with turbo-gear units had a total power of up to 90-100 thousand horsepower. Thanks to this power plant, Project 941 boats with a displacement of 23-28 (surface) or 48-50 thousand tons (underwater) are capable of moving underwater at speeds of up to 25-27 knots. The maximum diving depth is 450-500 meters, autonomy is up to 120 days.

The main payload of the Sharks was R-39 ballistic missiles. These three-stage solid-fuel ammunition could fly to a range of about 8200-8500 kilometers and deliver ten warheads to targets with a capacity, according to various sources, from 100 to 200 kilotons. In combination with the unlimited cruising range and relatively low noise level of the carrier boat, the R-39 missile provided Project 941 submarines with high combat characteristics. It is worth noting that the R-39 missiles were not very easy to use. Problems with them were associated, first of all, with weight and size parameters. With a length of 16 meters and a diameter of 2 meters, the rocket with so-called units. shock-absorbing rocket launch system (ARSS) weighed about 90 tons. After launch, the R-39 shed six tons of ARSS weight. However, despite such mass and size, the R-39 missile was considered suitable for use and put into production.

In general, the potential enemy had every reason to be afraid. In 1987, new cause for concern appeared. The Soviet Union decided to modernize all existing Sharks in accordance with the 941UTTH project. Its main difference from the basic project was the use of upgraded R-39UTTH missiles. Before the collapse of the USSR, Sevmash managed to finalize only one lead boat of the project, TK-208. Other submarines were not modernized - there was simply no money for it. Subsequently, the lack of money constantly affected the fate of the Sharks, and only in a negative way.

According to some sources, maintaining one “Akula” in combat-ready condition cost 1.5-2 times more than operating Project 667BDRM boats. In addition, in the late eighties and early nineties, the leadership of our country was ready to make a variety of concessions in international negotiations, including those that were obviously disadvantageous for its own defense capability. As a result of consultations with, as they began to say, foreign partners, the construction of the seventh submarine of the series was completely forgotten, and half of those manufactured were decided to be gradually written off and disposed of. In addition, in the early nineties, production of R-39 missiles ceased. The submarines risked being left without their main one.

Due to insufficient funding, Project 941 boats sat at the piers almost all the time without any hope of going out. The first submarine to leave the fleet was the submarine cruiser TK-202. Disposal was delayed: instead of the planned start in 1997, work began only in 1999. The cutting into pins and needles was completed by the mid-2000s. In 1997-98, two other boats, TK-12 and TK-13, were excluded from the fleet’s operational strength. They stood at the piers for a very long time, and at the beginning of the 2000s there was hope for their return. The option of returning the TK-12 boat to service was considered. In addition, she was supposed to receive the name “Simbirsk”, since the administration of the city of Ulyanovsk expressed a desire to take patronage over her. But these proposals did not come to fruition. In 2004, the United States achieved the start of recycling the boat. The contract for the destruction of the last TK-13 submarine was signed in 2007. A few months later work began.

As we see, the “foreign partners” were still able to push through a solution that was beneficial to them. The importance of destroying the Sharks is perfectly illustrated by the fact that about 75-80% of the costs of dismantling the boats were paid by the United States and NATO. In total, they spent about $25 million. Probably, due to the danger of Soviet and Russian submarine cruisers, they were ready to once again shell out sums of this order for the disposal of the remaining Russian submarines, including other projects.

A completely fair question may arise: why didn’t the Russian leadership break the agreement on the joint destruction of unique boats? There are reasons for this. During the first years, our country simply did not have the opportunity to fully maintain all six submarines. Without proper maintenance, nuclear power plants could cause colossal environmental disasters. Later, at the beginning of the 2000s, money appeared, but at the same time another problem appeared. By the end of the nineties, the lack of missile production began to take its toll. A little later, the situation with ammunition became fatal: in 2005, reports appeared that there were only ten R-39 missiles for three submarines. In other words, it was not possible to equip even one submarine.

It is worth noting that the command of the navy drew attention to this problem back in the mid-nineties. In 1998, modernization of the TK-208 submarine began in accordance with project 941U (another designation “941M”). Instead of old launchers, several new silos were installed on the boat, designed to use R-30 Bulava missiles. The development of this rocket had just begun at that time, but appropriate measures were already being taken for testing and subsequent operation. After repairs, in 2002, the TK-208 boat received the name “Dmitry Donskoy”, and in 2003 it began to participate in the Bulava tests.

The operation of the Dmitry Donskoy submarine continues to this day. The other two remaining boats were less fortunate: they were not modernized. In 2004, TK-17 Arkhangelsk and TK-20 Severstal were put into reserve. In the fall of 2001, the Severstal boat went on a cruise to conduct two training launches. Together with the sailors, television journalists who were filming the documentary “Russian Shark” went to the place of the combat training mission. Subsequently, the footage was repeatedly used in various films about record-breaking submarines. Ironically, these shootings turned out to be the last in the biography of the TK-20 boat.

After memorable statements from an unnamed source in 2011, the situation with Project 941 boats has repeatedly become the subject of discussion. A couple of months after the official denial of decommissioning, the management of the Sevmash plant confirmed that the Dmitry Donskoy submarine will henceforth be used as an experimental submarine to test technologies and technical solutions intended for promising projects. The further fate of Arkhangelsk and Severstal was not known at that time. At the beginning of 2012, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, V. Vysotsky, said that all three existing submarines would remain in the fleet and would be in operation over the next years. The situation with the lack of missiles was not commented on. Since then, there have been no official reports about the fate of the remaining Project 941 submarines. Probably, due to the lack of any clear prospects, Severstal and Arkhangelsk will remain in the fleet for several more years and then will be decommissioned. At least now no one is going to upgrade them to use R-30 missiles. Probably, the fleet command assessed the possibilities and prospects of such modernization and came to the appropriate conclusions.

Project 941 submarines were unlucky to appear during a very difficult period in history. In the midst of their construction, transformations began that ultimately proved fatal for the country. Elimination of their consequences took many more years and as a result, the Sharks spent most of their lives at the pier. Now that it is possible to find opportunities to return the boats to service, the feasibility of this has begun to raise questions. Despite record-breaking characteristics for their time, the Project 941 boats are quite outdated and they will have to invest as much money in updating them as would be spent on creating a completely new project. Does this make sense?

Based on materials from sites:
http://flot.com/
http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/
http://deepstorm.ru/
http://lenta.ru/
http://ria.ru/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-578.html

Nerpichya Bay, 2004. Reserve. Photo http://ru-submarine.livejournal.com

By the early 70s, the main participants in the nuclear race, the USSR and the USA, quite rightly relied on the development of a nuclear submarine fleet equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles. As a result of this confrontation, the world's largest submarine was born.

The warring parties began to create nuclear-powered heavy missile cruisers. The American project, the Ohio-class nuclear submarine, envisaged the deployment of 24 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Our answer was the Project 941 submarine, provisionally named “Akula”, better known as “Typhoon”.

History of creation

Outstanding Soviet designer S. N. Kovalev

The development of Project 941 was entrusted to the team of the Leningrad TsKBMT Rubin, which was led by the outstanding Soviet designer Sergei Nikitovich Kovalev for several decades in a row. The construction of the boats was carried out at the Sevmash enterprise in Severodvinsk. In all respects, it was one of the most ambitious Soviet military projects, still stunning in its scale.

“Akula” owes its second name - “Typhoon” to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev. This is how he presented it to the delegates of the next party congress and to the rest of the world in 1981, which fully corresponded to its all-destructive potential.

Layout and dimensions

The size and layout of the nuclear underwater giant deserve special attention. Under the shell of the light hull there was an unusual “catamaran” of 2 strong hulls located in parallel. For the torpedo compartment and the central post with the adjacent radio-technical weapons compartment, sealed capsule-type compartments were created.

All 19 compartments of the boat communicated with each other. The horizontal folding rudders of the “Shark” were located in the bow of the boat. In case it surfaced from under the ice, provisions were made to significantly strengthen the conning tower with a rounded lid and special reinforcements.

“Shark” amazes with its gigantic size. It is not for nothing that it is considered the largest submarine in the world: its length - almost 173 meters - corresponds to two football fields. As for the underwater displacement, there was also a record here - about 50 thousand tons, which is almost three times higher than the corresponding characteristic of the American Ohio.

Characteristics

To propel this monster, it was equipped with two 190-megawatt nuclear reactors, which drove two turbines with a power of about 50 thousand hp. The boat moved thanks to two 7-bladed propellers with a diameter of more than 5.5 meters.

The “combat vehicle crew” consisted of 160 people, more than a third of whom were officers. The creators of the “Shark” showed truly fatherly concern for the living conditions of the crew. For officers, 2- and 4-berth cabins were provided. Sailors and foremen were located in small cubicles with washbasins and televisions. All living areas were supplied with air conditioning. In their free time off duty, crew members could visit the pool, sauna, gym or relax in the “living” corner.

Combat potential

In the event of a nuclear conflict, the Typhoon could simultaneously unleash 20 R-39 nuclear missiles on the enemy, each with ten 200-kt multiple warheads. Such a nuclear “typhoon” could turn the entire east coast of the United States into a desert in a matter of minutes.

In addition to ballistic missiles, the boat’s arsenal included more than two dozen conventional and jet torpedoes, as well as Igla MANPADS. The Alexander Brykin transport ship, with a displacement of 16 thousand tons and designed to carry 16 SLBMs, was developed specifically to equip the Typhoons with missiles and torpedoes.

In service

In just 13 years from 1976 to 1989, 6 Typhoon nuclear submarines rolled off the Sevmash slipways. Today, 3 units continue to serve - two in reserve and one - "Dmitry Donskoy" is used as the main object for testing the new Bulava missile system.