Soviet submarine K-162 was the world's fastest submarine. The first submarine constructed with a titanium hull, she was the only vessel of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

's Project 661 Anchar nuclear-powered attack submarine design. The boat is best known in the West by its NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

 Papa class. K-162 was renamed K-222 in 1978.

Design

This project was intentionally forced to be highly innovative, as it was forbidden to reuse the past technical solutions. While enforcing innovation, this also slowed the development.

K-222 was designed as an extremely fast attack submarine, and was the first submarine built with a titanium hull. She was armed with 10 SS-N-7 Starbright (П-70 «Аметист») missiles in individual tubes forward of the sail, between the inner and outer hulls, which were both of titanium alloy. Similar in design to the Charlie class submarine

Charlie class submarine

The Charlie class submarine is a nuclear powered cruise missile submarine built for the Soviet Navy and later operated by the Russian Navy.-Background:...

, K-222 was designed to intercept and attack aircraft carrier groups. Like the Charlie class and the later Oscar class submarine

Oscar class submarine

The Project 949 and Project 949A Soviet Navy/Russian Navy cruise missile submarines ....

s, her cruise missiles could only be reloaded in port, making her one of the Soviet Navy's "one shot" boats.

K-222 had two water-water reactors, designed to be as compact as possible. Unusually, there were no diesel generators, using the powerful battery as the emergency power source.

She is regarded as a predecessor to the Alfa

Alfa class submarine

The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa...

 and Sierra

Sierra class submarine

The Sierra I class or Project 945 nuclear submarine was the Soviet Union's successor class to the partly successful Project 705 Lira class submarine...

 classes, and may have tested technologies which were later used in those classes.

History

K-222 was laid down on December 28, 1963 and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on December 31, 1969, at Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...

. She was assigned to the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet for the duration of her career. She was the world's fastest submarine, reaching a record submerged speed of 44.7 kn (54.4 mph; 87.6 km/h) on trials. Her unofficial maximum speed, reached 30 March 1971, is 44.85 kn (54.6 mph; 87.9 km/h). However, K-222s high speed came at the price of high costs during construction, and both excessive noise and significant damage to external hull features when used.

Though never given a name, within the Soviet Navy the boat was commonly referred to as the "Golden Fish", in reference to her cost of development and construction.

On September 30, 1980, one of K-222s nuclear reactors was damaged during maintenance in the shipyard. By 1988, she was placed in reserve at the Belomorsk Naval Base in Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...

. Beginning on 5 March 2010 the boat was dismantled at Sevmash

Sevmash

JSC PO Sevmash is a shipbuilding company based in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia's White Sea. The name Sevmash is an abbreviation of Severnoye Mashinostroitelnoye Predpriyatie , i.e. "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise". Sevmash is the largest shipbuilding enterprise in Russia and today the...

, the only facility capable of handling the titanium hull. In an unusual move, the scrapping was performed with the reactors and nuclear fuel still on board, as no provisions had been made in the design for the reactor's removal. The scrapping also began before the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) chose an international consultant for the fuel's unloading.

In fiction

The Papa class submarine appears in the Tom Clancy

Tom Clancy

Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...

 novel Red Storm Rising

Red Storm Rising

Red Storm Rising is a 1986 techno-thriller novel by Tom Clancy and Larry Bond about a Third World War in Europe between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces, set around the mid-1980s...

where she engages in a cat and mouse chase with the USN

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

  and the British frigate Battleaxe

HMS Battleaxe (F89)

HMS Battleaxe was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was sold to the Brazilian Navy on 30 April 1997 and renamed Rademaker.HMS Battleaxe was featured in Tom Clancy's novel Red Storm Rising....

before ultimately being sunk.

External links

• Project 661 (Anchar) at Bellona.no
• Project 661 Anchar Fastest submarine of the world