Russian submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk

Novomoskovsk (K-407) is a Project 667BDRM Delfin-class ballistic missile submarine

Delta class submarine

The Delta class is a class of submarines which formed the backbone of the Soviet and Russian strategic submarine fleet since its introduction in 1973...

(NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

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

"Delta-IV") of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.

Background

Construction of the nuclear submarine

Nuclear submarine

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...

K-407 Novomoskovsk began at the Northern Machinebuilding Enterprise (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...

) 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...

on February 2, 1987, and it became part of the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

on November 27, 1990. She was the last of seven 667BDRM Delfin submarines and the last SSBN submarine built in the USSR. This class of submarines was developed at the Rubin Design Bureau

Rubin Design Bureau

Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in Saint Petersburg is one of the main Russian centers of submarine design, having designed more than two-thirds of all nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy...

in 1975 and is considered one of the most successful Soviet submarine missile carrier designs.

Specification

The submarine has a submerged displacement of 18,200 tons and a surface displacement of 11,700 tons. It is 167 m long and 11.7 m wide. It is powered by two OK-700A nuclear reactors with a total power of 180 MW. The submarine’s immersion depth is 400 m; its surface speed is 14 knots, and its underwater speed is 24 knots. It carries a crew of 135. Armaments include a D-9RM missile system (16 RSM-54 ballistic missiles) and four 533-mm torpedo tubes (18 torpedoes).
The RSM-54 missile (3M37, R-29RM, or SS-N-23 according to the NATO classification) is a liquid-propellant, three-stage missile with separable heads (it carries four or ten warheads depending on the modification). It has a range of 8300 km, a hit accuracy of 500 m, and a launching mass of 40.3 tons. It is 14.8 m long and 1.9 m in diameter.

History

On 6 August 1991 21:09 Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain Second Rank Sergey Yegorov, became the world's only submarine to successfully launch an all-missile salvo

Salvo

A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute.Troops armed with muzzleloaders required time in which to refill their arms with gun powder and shot...

, launching 16 ballistic missiles (RSM-54) of total weight of almost 700 tons at an interval of several seconds (operation code name "Behemoth-2"

Operation Behemoth

Operation Behemoth-1, Behemoth-2 were military exercises held by the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1989 and 1991. Behemoth-2 was the first time ever when a ballistic missile submarine launched all of its missiles at once.- Behemoth-1 :...

). The first and the last missiles hit their targets successfully, while the others were self-destroyed in the air according to the plan. This operation was considered by the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

as a part of possible nuclear war

Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...

scenario ("Dress rehearsal of the Apocalypse") and experimentally confirmed the technical possibility of a safe underwater all-missile salvo. Politically, the Soviet ballistic missile submarines passed a reasonibility check as a part of strategic triad. The previous attempt of an all-missile salvo (operation code name "Behemoth") was performed in 1989 and finished unsuccessfully, however with no casualties. As the experiment took place just before the August Putsch in the USSR, its results were forgotten for a while, and the crew's work wasn't rewarded by the Soviet government authorities.

On 19 March 1993, Novomoskovsk, under the command of Captain First Rank Andrey Bulgarkov, collided with USS Grayling (SSN-646)

USS Grayling (SSN-646)

USS Grayling , a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayling, a fresh-water game fish closely related to the trout.-Construction and commissioning:...

. The American submarine was trailing the Russian submarine and miscalculated its speed. Both submarines returned to their homeports, and though badly damaged both returned to service. Grayling was decommissioned some four years later, while Novomoskovsk remains in service over ten years later.

In 1996, Novomoskovsk, together with the K-447 submarine, fired a batch of ballistic missiles. The operation was a complete success. The city of Novomoskovsk

Novomoskovsk, Russia

Novomoskovsk , called Bobriki before 1934 and Stalinogorsk between 1934 and 1961, is a city in Tula Oblast, Russia, located at the source of the Don and Shat Rivers. Population: 143,000 ; 107,000 ; 76,000 ....

in Tula Oblast

Tula Oblast

Tula Oblast is a federal subject of Russia with its present borders formed on September 26, 1937. Its administrative center is the city of Tula. The oblast has an area of and a population of 1,553,874...

took the submarine under its patronage

Patronage

Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...

, and on June 19, 1997, K-407 received the name Novomoskovsk.

On 7 July 1998, Novomoskovsk launched a Shtil-1

Shtil'

Space launch vehicle Shtil Space launch vehicle Shtil Space launch vehicle Shtil (Russian: (Штиль - calm (weather)), is a converted SLBM used for launching artificial satellites into orbit. It is based on the R-29RM designed by State Rocket Center Makeyev and related to the Volna Launch Vehicle....

carrier rocket with two German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

scientific Tubsat-N

Tubsat-N

Tubsat-N was a German miniaturized satellite for communication designed by the University of Berlin. The satellite was launched on July 7, 1998 by the Russian submarine K-407 Novomoskovsk in Barents Sea using a Shtil' rocket....

and Tubsat-N1 micro-satellites

Miniaturized satellite

Miniaturized satellites or small satellites are artificial satellites of unusually low weights and small sizes, usually under . While all such satellites can be referred to as small satellites, different classifications are used to categorize them based on mass .One reason for miniaturizing...

while submerged in the Barents Sea

Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...

. The satellite, developed by Berlin Technical University, was placed in orbit on an SS-N-23

SS-N-23

The R-29RM Shtil is a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by Russia. It has the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and 3M27...

(RSM-54)-type ballistic missile. The Northern Fleet was paid some 200,000 German Mark

German mark

The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

(US $111,000) for the launch.

In 1999, Novomoskovsk pioneered the launch of a ballistic missile from the geographic location of the North Pole

North Pole

The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

.

On 17 February 2004, Novomoskovsk seemingly attempted to test-fire a SS-N-23

SS-N-23

The R-29RM Shtil is a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by Russia. It has the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and 3M27...

ballistic missile, but the missile failed to come out of its silo because of an unspecified technical problem. The Russian Navy, despite earlier statements describing the test, explained that no "physical" launch was intended at all: the exercise was supposed to be a simulation. President of Russia Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

was aboard Arkhangelsk, an Akula-class ballistic missile submarine

Typhoon class submarine

The Project 941 or Akula, Russian "Акула" class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s...

(NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

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

"Typhoon"), to observe the exercise.

On 17 March 2004, Novomoskovsk physically test-fired two SS-N-23

SS-N-23

The R-29RM Shtil is a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by Russia. It has the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and 3M27...

ballistic missiles, successfully hitting designated practice targets on the Kamchatka Peninsula

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...

.

Like the other 667BDRM Delfin ships in service with the Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet

The Red Banner Northern Fleet is a unit of the Russian Navy that has access to the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and is responsible for the defense of northwestern Russia. It was established in 1937 as part of the Soviet Navy...

, the K-407 is slated to receive new SLBMs to replace the RSM-54. The missile is a new-build, minor modernization of the RSM-54. It does not bear a separate designator from the RSM-54/R-29RM/SS-N-23 asides from the name "Sineva". Testing of the R-29RM "Sineva"

R-29RMU Sineva

The R-29RMU Sineva , also designated RSM-54,is a Russian liquid-fuelled submarine-launched ballistic missile. It has the GRAU index 3M27, and is identified by NATO as the SS-N-23 Skiff...

was completed in June 2004. The Novomoskovsk is the third Delfin-class submarine in line to receive the new missile (after her siblings K-51 Verkhoturye

Verkhoturye

Verkhoturye is a historic town and the administrative center of Verkhotursky District of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located in the middle Ural Mountains on the left bank of the Tura River north of Yekaterinburg. Population: 7,815 Verkhoturye is a historic town and the administrative center of...

and K-84 Ekaterinburg). She was fully overhauled and modernized in 2006 before returning to service.

In July 2006, cleric of Aleksandr Nevskiy Cathedral, the head of the Diocesan department on interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies, priest Leonid Leontiuk was temporarily included in the personnel list of the K-18 Kareliya and was on board of the K-407 Novomoskovsk. During the deployment the priest has performed the consecration

Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...

ceremony of submarine's compartments, met with submarine personnel, led discussions on the basics of faith

Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...

and spiritual life. Six sailors got baptized on board.

In November 2008 K-407 Novomoskovsk went to the Zvezdochka plant to general overhaul and modernization. It is expected return to the fleet in 2012 and will then remain in active duty until the early 2020s.

Present

At the moment, Novomoskovsk is worthy of the proud name of "the most shooting" submarine of the Russian Navy. The submarine is currently part of the 31st Order of the Red Banner

Order of the Red Banner

The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...

underwater strategic missile cruiser division of the 12th submarine squadron of the Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet

(Olenya Bay

Olenya Bay

Olenya Bay Russian naval base is a part of the naval installation at Gadzhievo .-External links:*...

, Skalisty Naval Base). The submarine’s commander is Captain Sergei Rachuk.

As a member of association of Russian regions and cities, patrons of Northern Fleet ships and units, the Tula Oblast

Tula Oblast

patronages K-114 Tula and K-407 Novomoskovsk submarines and assists in patriotic education and preparation of young people for serving in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are the military services of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR...

. Citizens of Novomoskovsk

Novomoskovsk, Russia

have preference to serve on K-407 Novomoskovsk. The submarine crew are regularly provided by humanitarian goods and visited by the city authorities.

Popular culture

In 2007, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n plastic model manufacturer Alanger introduced a 1:350 scale model of K-407 Novomoskovsk.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

Specification

History

Present

Popular culture

See also

External links