Nuclear submarine. How does a nuclear submarine work?

Soviet shipbuilders from the Central Design Bureau No. 18 (TsKB-18, the current Rubin Central Design Bureau) approached the creation of Project 658, having behind them, on the one hand, experience in building the first domestic nuclear submarines (NPS) of the Leninsky Komsomol type (project 627 and 627A, “Kit”), on the other hand, the first diesel-electric submarines with ballistic missiles on board.

The Project 658 boat was intended to carry out strikes with ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads on naval bases, ports, industrial and administrative centers located on the coast and deep in enemy territory.

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The chief designer of the project was the future academician and twice Hero of Socialist Labor, 37-year-old Sergei Kovalev, who in the late 1940s was part of a group of Soviet specialists who studied the achievements of German shipbuilders in Germany.

Work on the project began in August 1956, and already on November 12, 1960, the acceptance certificate for the lead submarine of the K-19 series was signed.

Quick solutions

The submarine of the 658th project was a double-hull type submarine (an external “strong” hull and an internal “light”), consisting of ten compartments. Hull length - 114 m, width - 9.2 m. Displacement - about 4030 tons.

Unlike the first Soviet nuclear submarines of Project 627, which had a rounded elliptical bow shape, Project 658 received pointed contours of the bow.

This decision was made to improve the seaworthiness of the K-19 on the surface. Initially, it was assumed that the launch of ballistic missiles would be carried out only on the surface.

The robust hull was divided by transverse bulkheads into ten compartments: 1st - torpedo, 2nd - battery, 3rd - central post, 4th - missile, 5th - diesel, 6th - reactor, 7th - turbine, 8th - electric motor, 9th - auxiliary mechanisms, 10th - stern.

As in the first Soviet nuclear submarines, the main power plant K-19 had a power of 35 thousand hp. and included two VM-A water-cooled reactors with a power of 70 mW with steam generators that rotated two propulsion units. In addition, the new submarine had two 450 hp “sneak” electric motors. each and two diesel generators.

With 80% of the power of both steam-producing installations of the ship in a submerged position, the maximum speed of the submarine was about 24 knots (44 km/h).

At this speed, the cruising range reached about 28 thousand miles (up to 50 thousand km). With a 100% load on the power unit, it was possible to reach a speed of about 26 knots (46 km/h). The submarine's autonomy was 50 days of continuous stay at sea without replenishing the ship's reserves of oil, fuel, provisions, fresh and distilled water.

The missile weapons consisted of three surface-launched R-13 ballistic missiles placed in vertical silos. The same liquid-propellant missiles, developed by special design bureau No. 385 (SKB-385) in Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region, under the leadership of designer Viktor Makeev, were installed on the first Soviet submarine missile carriers - diesel-electric submarines of Project 629.

The limited width of the hull and the substantial dimensions of the 14-ton missiles and their launch devices made it possible to install missile silos in only one row.

Each of the three missiles was equipped with a one and a half ton nuclear warhead with a yield of 1 Mgt (about 50 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and could deliver it at a distance of up to 600 km from the launch site with a deviation of up to 4 km.

In order to ensure fire safety, the rockets were stored filled only with an oxidizer - AK-27I (a solution of nitrogen tetroxide in concentrated nitric acid), and the TG-02 fuel itself was placed in a special container, outside the durable housing and separately for each rocket. It was applied to the product before launch. The launch of three missiles took 12 minutes after the boat surfaced.

The submarine's torpedo armament consisted of four bow 533-mm torpedo tubes (the ammunition load included 16 torpedoes) and two small-sized 400-mm stern tubes (6 torpedoes). The latter were intended for self-defense and firing anti-submarine torpedoes at a depth of up to 250 m; 533 mm torpedoes could be used at a depth of up to 100 m.

The need to surface to launch missiles and, therefore, automatically uncloak the submarine significantly reduced the combat stability of the missile carrier, so when modernizing the nuclear submarine under Project 658M, the installation of three SM-87-1 launchers and R-21 missiles with underwater launch was provided.

The R-21 single-stage liquid-fueled 20-ton missile could take off from under water and deliver a warhead to a range of 1,400 km with a deviation of 3 km.

Due to the conditions of the strength of the missiles and the accuracy of their impact, the launch could only be carried out in a narrow range of depths - the “launch corridor”. The R-21 missiles were launched from a depth of 40-60 m from the bottom of the missile at a boat speed of up to 2-4 knots (4-7 km/h) and sea state up to 5 points. The pre-launch preparation of the first rocket for launch took about 30 minutes. The firing time for three missiles is no more than 10 minutes.

At the same time, the impact of impulses arising during the launch of missiles led to the submarine’s ascent to 16 m, which did not allow short term bring it to the original depth for the launch of the next rocket. Complex special means, keeping the submarine in the required depth range, was called the “possession system.”

Before the underwater launch of missiles, the K-19 silos were filled with water, and to eliminate the imbalance on the boat, special ballast tanks with a water pumping system were used.

After the missiles exited the silos, it was necessary to take about 15 cubic meters of water into the “equalization tank.”

The special navigation complex “Sigma-658” tracked the course, roll and pitch angles, calculated the speed of the boat and provided continuous calculation of current coordinates. During the pre-launch preparation of the rockets, this data was transmitted to computing devices, which took into account corrections for the rotation of the Earth and guided the rocket to a given target.

The first Soviet nuclear-powered rocket ships were built at a plant in Severodvinsk. The lead boat of the 658th project K-19 was laid down on October 17, 1958. She was launched on April 8, 1959, and entered service a year and a half later. In 1961, the Northern Fleet was replenished with the nuclear missile carrier K-33, in 1962 - K-55 and K-40, in 1963 - K-16 and K-145, and in 1964 - K-149 and K-176 .

Thus, over the course of six years, a program was implemented to build a series of eight nuclear submarines that carried a total of 24 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

First and last K-19

The service of the first domestic nuclear-powered missile ship, the K-19, began at the end of 1960. In 1961, the submarine was fully practicing combat training tasks: it made three trips to sea, traveled 5,892 miles (11 thousand km) under water, and 529 miles (980 km) above water.

On July 3, 1961, at 4:00 a.m., the starboard reactor accident occurred on the nuclear-powered ship while submerged.

K-19 surfaced and continued to move while the main turbo-gear unit on the left side was operating. As a result of the depressurization of the reactor's primary circuit, a powerful radiation background arose in all compartments.

During the struggle for the life of the submarine, 30 people received heavy doses of radiation and died (15 after a few hours, nine after a few days, six within a year).

Approaching diesel-electric submarines and surface ships managed to evacuate the crew members and tow the submarine to Zapadnaya Litsa. In post-Soviet times, the incident became widely known, memoirs of the participants in the events were published, and in 2002 the feature film “K-19” was shot with Harrison Ford as the captain of the Soviet boat. In 2006, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev nominated the submarine's crew for the Nobel Peace Prize, insisting that the heroic actions of the crew saved the world from a terrible catastrophe and even possible nuclear war: if the dead sailors had not prevented the reactor explosion, the US might have accepted the incident for attempting to attack its naval base in the area.

After the accident, the boat received the ominous nickname “Hiroshima” from the sailors, but after repairs it continued to serve.

The problem of cracking of primary circuit tubes on nuclear submarines was solved by replacing stainless steel with titanium.

The K-19 was considered an unlucky ship by submariners. Accidents happened to her regularly. On November 15, 1969, the nuclear-powered submarine collided in the Barents Sea with the American nuclear submarine SSN-615 Gato, which was trying to covertly track a Soviet submarine. Both ships were damaged.

On February 24, 1972, when the boat was 1,300 km northeast of the island of Newfoundland, a fire broke out on board the Hiroshima, killing 28 crew members in the 5th, 8th and 9th compartments.

At the same time, the service of other submarines of the 658th project proceeded safely. K-115 in 1963 made the transition from the Northern Fleet to the Pacific Fleet, covering 1.6 thousand miles (3 thousand km) under ice in six days. In 1968, the under-ice crossing was repeated by the K-55, already with nuclear weapons on board.

Despite their high noise level and other disadvantages, Project 658M submarines remained in service in the 1970s, patrolling the ocean in close proximity to the American coast, and ensuring minimal flight time for their missiles. This made it difficult for the United States to take measures to counter a missile strike, but at the same time made the return of nuclear-powered ships to their native shores after completing the mission very problematic.

The service of the last Project 658M nuclear submarines in the Northern Fleet continued until the end of the existence of the USSR. K-16, K-33, K-40 and K-149 were decommissioned in 1988-1990. They were in storage in Olenya Bay and Gremikha.

The last submarine of the K-19 series to lower the naval flag in 1991.

The first Soviet-made nuclear-powered missile ship, compared to a similar American ship of the George Washington class, had higher surface and underwater speeds, better combat survivability, and an increased diving depth, but was inferior to the “American” in terms of stealth and information technology characteristics. Project 658 was very significantly inferior to the US Navy ship in terms of the ship's tonnage to the mass of missile weapons. If on the George Washington for every ton of the Polaris A-1 missile there was a little more than 30 tons of submarine displacement, then on a Soviet-made boat this value increased to almost 130 tons.

Submarines form the main backbone of Russia's naval armament. They are capable of performing a number of strategically important tasks. They are used to destroy enemy ships, various underwater and surface objects, as well as hit targets in the enemy’s coastal waters. In addition, they are able to quietly carry out combat missions and leave places of temporary deployment. It is believed that the submarine fleets of the Russian Federation and the United States are the most powerful, and these powers share the palm in dominance over the World Ocean.

How the nuclear submarine fleet was born

In the middle of the last century, in 1954, the Nautilus was launched, which is considered the first nuclear submarine launched by the United States. Development of the SSN 571 type submarine vessel began in 1946, and its construction began in 1949. The basis for the design was the German military submarine of the 27th series, the design of which the Americans changed beyond recognition and installed a nuclear power plant in it. Before the beginning of 1960, production of the first nuclear submarines of the EB 253-A project, better known as the Skate submarines, was launched.

Just 5 years later, at the beginning of 1959, Project 627 appeared, which became the first nuclear submarine of the Soviet Union. It was immediately adopted by the Navy. Soon after this, Soviet designers developed Project 667-A, which was originally intended for use as a strategic missile submarine cruiser (SSBN). Actually, the adoption of the 667s into service as combat units is considered to be the beginning of the development of the second generation of nuclear submarines of the USSR.

In 1970 of the last century, Project 667-B was adopted and approved in the Union. It was a nuclear submarine called "Moray". It was equipped with a powerful naval DBK (ballistic missile system) "D-9" for intercontinental use. Following this submarine, Murena-M (project 667-BD) appeared, and already in 1976 the Soviet fleet received the first series of missile-carrying submarines, project 667-BDR. They were armed with missiles that had multiple warheads.

The further development of the submarines of the leading countries was carried out in such a way that the design was based on silent propellers and some changes in the hull. Thus, in 1980, the first attack submarine appeared, which became Project 949 III generation. To perform a number of strategic tasks, it used torpedoes and cruise missiles.

A little later, Project 667-AT appeared, the flagship of which was the K423 nuclear submarine. It was adopted in 1986 by the Soviet fleet. It is also worth noting that this project managed to survive to this day. Like other Russian nuclear submarines, the active combat units of the fleet include the Project 667 model K395.

One cannot fail to note the Soviet submarines created in 1977. They became a modification of the project 667 ─ 671 RTM, of which 26 units were built by the end of 1991. Soon after this, the first domestic multi-purpose nuclear submarines were created, the hull of which was made of titanium - Bars-971 and 945, known as Barracuda.

Is half a hundred a lot or a little?

The Russian submarine fleet is armed with 76 submarines of various classes, including SSBNs, multi-purpose submarines, diesel-powered submarines, and special-purpose vessels. The question of how many nuclear submarines there are in Russia can be answered this way: there are 47 of them. It should be noted that this is a very large number, since the construction of one nuclear submarine today costs the state over $1 billion. If we take into account ships being re-equipped and in ship repair yards, then the number of nuclear submarines in Russia will be 49. For comparison, we present some data on the submarines in service with the superpowers. The American submarine fleet has 71 submarine combat units, while Great Britain and France each have 10 units.

Nuclear-powered heavy missile-carrying cruisers

Heavy missile carriers are considered the largest and most dangerous in terms of defeating enemy force and destructive ability. There are 3 such nuclear submarines in Russian service. Among them is the missile carrier Dmitry Donskoy (heavy cruiser TK208), as well as the Vladimir Monomakh. They were built according to Project 945. Their weapons are represented by the Bulava missile system.

The TK-17 cruiser of the Akula class, which is part of the 941UM project, is in service with the submarine fleet and is called Arkhangelsk. The TK-20 boat is called “Severstal”, and it was also built according to this project. One of the reasons for their decommissioning is the shortage of P-39 ballistic missiles. We also note that these ships are among the largest in the world, and their total displacement is about 50 thousand tons.

At the beginning of 2013, the flag was raised on the nuclear submarine K-535 (Project 955 “Borey”), named after Yuri Dolgoruky. This submarine became the lead submarine missile cruiser of the Northern Fleet. Less than a year has passed, and in December the Pacific Fleet received the K-550. This nuclear submarine is named after Alexander Nevsky. All boats are IV generation strategic missile carriers.

Strategic nuclear submarines "Dolphin"

Project 667-BDRM represents nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy in the amount of 6 units:

• "Bryansk" ─ K117;
• "Verkhoturye" ─ K51;
• "Ekaterinburg" ─ K84;
• "Karelia" ─ K118;
• "Novomoskovsk" ─ K407;
• "Tula" ─ K114.

In mid-1999, the nuclear-powered cruiser K64 ceased to be an active unit of the Navy and was removed from service. All Russian nuclear submarines (photos of some can be seen above) included in the project are in service with the Northern MF.

Project 667-BDR. Nuclear boats "Squid"

In terms of their number in the Navy, modern Russian nuclear submarines of the Kalmar class are right behind the Dolphins. The construction of boats under Project 667BDR began even before the beginning of 1980 in the USSR, so most of the nuclear submarines have already been decommissioned and become unusable. Today, the Russian fleet has only 3 units of such submarine cruisers:

• "Ryazan" ─ K44;
• “Saint George the Victorious” ─ K433;
• "Podolsk" ─ K223.

All submarines are in service with the Russian Pacific Fleet. Ryazan is considered the “youngest” of them, since it was put into operation later than the others, at the end of 1982.

Multi-purpose nuclear submarine

Russia's multi-purpose nuclear submarines, which were assembled according to Project 971, are considered the most numerous in their class (Shchuka-B). They are capable of destroying targets in coastal waters, on the shore, as well as hitting underwater structures and objects located on the surface of the water. The Northern and Pacific fleets are armed with 11 nuclear submarines of this type. However, 3 of them will no longer be in operation for various reasons. For example, the nuclear submarine "Akula" is not used at all, and "Barnaul" and "Bars" have already been transferred for disposal. The Nerpa K152 submarine has been sold to India under contract since 2012. Later it was transferred to the Indian Navy.

Project 949A. Multipurpose nuclear submarine "Antey"

There are 3 Russian Project 949A nuclear submarines and they are part of the Northern Fleet. 5 Antey nuclear submarines are in service with the Pacific Fleet. When this submarine was conceived, it was planned to put 18 units into operation. However, the funding shortage made itself felt, so only 11 of them were launched.

Today, Russia's Antey-class nuclear submarines are in service with the fleet in the amount of 8 combat units. Several years ago, the submarines “Krasnoyarsk” K173 and “Krasnodar” K178 were sent for dismantling and disposed of. On September 12, 2000, a tragedy occurred in the Barents Sea that claimed the lives of 118 Russian sailors. On this day, the Antey 949A Kursk K141 project sank.

Multi-purpose nuclear submarines "Condor", "Barracuda" and "Pike"

From the early 80s to the 90s, 4 boats were built, which were projects 945 and 945A. They were named "Barracuda" and "Condor". According to the 945 project, Russian nuclear submarines Kostroma B276 and Karp B239 were built. As for the 945A project, it was used to create the Nizhny Novgorod B534, as well as the Pskov B336, which were initially put into service with the Northern Fleet. All 4 submarines are still in service today.

Also in service there are 4 submarines of the multi-purpose project "Pike" 671RTMK, including:

• "Obninsk" ─ B138;
• "Petrozavodsk" ─ B338;
• "Tambov" ─ B448;
• “Daniil of Moscow” ─ B414.

The Ministry of Defense plans to decommission these boats and replace them with a completely new class of combat units.

Nuclear submarine 885 type "Ash"

Today, the SSGN Severodvinsk is the only operational submarine of this class. On June 17 last year, a ceremonial flag raising took place on K-560. Over the next 5 years, it is planned to create and launch 7 more such vessels. The construction of the Kazan, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk submarines is already in full swing. If “Severodvinsk” is a project 885, then the remaining boats will be created according to the project of an improved modification 885M.

As for weapons, the Yasen nuclear submarines will be equipped with supersonic cruise missiles of the Caliber type. The firing range of these missiles can be 2.5 thousand km, and they are high-precision projectiles whose main task will be the destruction of enemy aircraft carriers. It is also planned that the Kazan nuclear submarine will be equipped with fundamentally new equipment that has not previously been used in the development of underwater vehicles. Moreover, due to a number of technical characteristics, primarily due to the minimal noise level, detecting such a submarine will be very problematic. In addition, this multi-purpose submarine will be a worthy competitor to the American SSN575 Seawolf.

At the end of November 2012, tests of the Caliber missile system were carried out. The shooting was carried out from the submerged Severodvinsk submarine at ground targets from a distance of 1.4 thousand km. In addition, a supersonic Onyx-type rocket was launched. The missile launches were successful and proved the feasibility of their use.

On January 21, 1954, the nuclear submarine Nautilus was launched. She became the world's first submarine with a nuclear reactor. Five facts about the submarine, the creation of which opened a new page in the history of the Cold War, in our material

Nautilus was launched on January 21, 1954 in the presence of US President Dwight Eisenhower, eight months later the submarine was accepted into service with the US Navy, and on January 17, 1955, Nautilus began sea trials in the open ocean. 25 years later, the world's first nuclear submarine was withdrawn from the American fleet, and in 1985 it turned into a museum.

The submarine was named after the legendary ship of Captain Nemo from Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The fictional Nautilus had outstanding size and size for its time. technical specifications. Thus, Captain Nemo on his submarine covered a distance of 20 thousand leagues under water (approximately 90 thousand kilometers) in just seven months. Jules Verne's Nautilus could descend to a depth of 16 kilometers and accelerate underwater to 50 knots. In addition, the literary submarine could destroy surface ships using a special ram - a metal “tusk”, which was placed on the bow. However, according to another version, the world's first nuclear submarine was named not after the Nemov submarine, but after another American submarine, USS Nautilus (SS-168), which took part in the battles of World War II.

2. Russian roots of the creator of Nautilus

“The Father of the Nuclear Fleet” Hyman Rickover was born in 1900 in the town of Maków Mazowiecki, which was part of the Russian Empire before the October Revolution. The surname Rickover comes from the name of the village of Ryki, located near Warsaw. The creator of the world's first nuclear submarine came to the USA at the age of six; his family was forced to emigrate.

3. Huge mass

Due to the too high specific gravity of the nuclear installation, it was not possible to place some of the weapons and equipment provided for by the project on the submarine. The main reason for the weight was biological protection, which includes lead, steel and other materials - about 740 tons in total. As a result, Nautilus's entire armament consisted of six bow torpedo tubes with an ammunition load of 24 torpedoes, despite the fact that a larger number was assumed when designing the submarine.

4. Too much noise

One of the main shortcomings of the submarine was the terrible noise. The cause of its occurrence was strong vibrations of an unknown nature. The waves that Nautilus created caused vibration of the submarine's structures with a frequency of about 180 Hertz, which was dangerously close to the vibration values ​​of the boat's hull. If these vibrations coincided, the submarine could collapse. During the tests, it was found that the noise, which was created already at a speed of eight knots, and vibration were an obstacle to the normal launch and control of torpedoes. At a speed of 15-17 knots, the crew of the submarine was forced to communicate by shouting. The high noise level made the sonar useless already at a speed of four knots.

5. Reached the North Pole

On August 3, 1958, Nautilus became the first ship to reach the North Pole under its own power. To conquer this geographical point, the submarine was equipped with special equipment that made it possible to determine the condition of the ice, and a new compass that operated at high latitudes. Just before the trip, William Anderson, who was at the head of the operation, obtained the latest maps and directions to the depths of the Arctic and even made an air flight that repeated the route planned for Nautilus.

On July 22, 1958, the submarine left Pearl Harbor with the goal of reaching the North Pole. On the night of July 27, the ship entered the Bering Sea, and two days later it was already on the outskirts of the Arctic Ocean in the Chukchi Sea. On August 1, the submarine sank under the Arctic pack ice and two days later Nautilus reached its goal - the Earth's North Geographic Pole.

This section is dedicated to the submarine fleet - one of the most important components of the modern naval forces of any country. Submarines are ships that can strike the enemy directly from the depths of the sea, while remaining virtually invulnerable to the enemy. The main weapon of any submarine is its stealth.

The first combat use of a submarine occurred in the middle of the 19th century. However, submarines became a widespread weapon only at the beginning of the last century. During the First World War, German submarines became a formidable force that wreaked havoc on Allied sea lanes. Submarines operated no less effectively during the next global conflict - World War II.

The power of the submarine fleet has increased many times since the beginning of the atomic era. Submarines received nuclear power plants, which turned them into real masters of the deep sea. A nuclear submarine can not appear on the surface for months, develop unprecedented speed under water, and carry a deadly arsenal on board.

During the Cold War, submarines became underwater launch pads for ballistic missiles, capable of destroying entire countries in a single salvo. For many decades, in the depths of the sea there was a tense confrontation between the submarine fleets of the USA and the USSR, which more than once brought the world to the brink of a global nuclear disaster.

Submarines are still one of the most promising types of naval weapons today. Development of new vessels is underway in all leading world powers. The Russian design school of submarine shipbuilding is considered one of the best in the world. This section will tell you a lot of noteworthy things about Russian submarines, as well as promising developments by domestic shipbuilders.

Foreign work in this area is no less interesting. We will tell you about the submarines of the world that are currently in operation and about the most famous submarines of the past. Of no less interest are the main trends in the development of submarines and promising submarine projects from different countries.

A modern combat submarine is a real masterpiece of design, which in its complexity is not much inferior to a spaceship.

Submarines, which are currently in service with the strongest navies in the world, can not only destroy enemy military or transport ships, they are also capable of striking enemy military or administrative centers located hundreds of kilometers from the sea coast.

To hit targets, they can use not only ballistic missiles with a nuclear warhead, but also cruise missiles with conventional explosives. Modern submarines are capable of conducting reconnaissance, laying mines, and landing sabotage groups on enemy shores.

The latest generation of submarines are very difficult to detect and are usually less noisy than the background noise of the ocean. A nuclear reactor allows modern submarines not to surface for a long time and develop significant speed under water. In the future, it is expected that combat submarines will become practically uninhabited; crew functions will increasingly be performed by automation controlled by complex computing systems.

Initially, in underwater shipbuilding, one of the most important problems was increasing the time spent under water and increasing the underwater speed, as the most important characteristics of submarines. Progress in this area was hampered by the imperfection of power plants, and in particular by their low power and the dependence of the time spent under water on the oxygen content in the air inside the boat. At first, these problems were solved by increasing the power of electric motors, battery capacity, increasing the supply of liquefied oxygen, high-pressure air, and regenerative cartridges. During the Second World War in Germany, for the first time, a device for operating diesel engines under water - a snorkel (RDP device) and a steam-gas turbine power plant of the Walter system - began to be commercially used. In the post-war period, nuclear energy appeared in the USA and the USSR, and then in other countries, beginning a new stage in the development of the submarine fleet. However, the creation of a mobile compact reactor took more than 10 years and required significant effort.

On June 14, 1952, the world's first nuclear submarine Nautilus (USS Nautilus) was laid down in the United States, and it was launched on January 21, 1954.

The creation of the first nuclear submarine marked the modern stage in the development of maritime energy, making it possible to provide it with an almost unlimited range. In addition, the technical solution allowed the Nautilus to both become the fastest submarine (underwater) and the first ship to visit the North Pole.

In the USSR, for the first time, the idea of ​​​​creating a submarine with a nuclear power plant was outlined by A.P. Alexandrov in a letter to I.V. Kurchatov dated August 19, 1952. The project was completed on June 4, 1958, when the Soviet submarine K-3 set sail under nuclear power plant.

Subsequently, with active cooperation with the United States, Great Britain began a nuclear submarine shipbuilding program, and with the assistance of the USSR, submarines with nuclear power plants began to be produced in the PRC.

However, there is another point of view on the nuclear submarine construction program in China. At the end of the 1950s, the PRC asked the USSR for technology and assistance in the construction of nuclear submarines, but while negotiations were ongoing, the Cultural Revolution began in the PRC and relations with the USSR deteriorated. The PRC began construction of nuclear submarines on its own in 1964 (the date is not exact) of Project 091 (NATO code - SSN Han-class / “Han”), but technical backwardness and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution led to the fact that the nuclear submarine entered service only in 1980 (date not exact). The only difference between the ship, whose name is unknown, is the side number - 401.

In 1963, the first British nuclear submarine HMS Dreadnought (S101) entered service.

In 1969, the first French nuclear submarine Le Redoutable (S 611) began combat service, and it did not belong to the class of torpedo submarines, but to the class of strategic submarines.

In 1974, China commissioned its first nuclear submarine.

Classification

Nuclear submarines are divided according to their purpose into three main groups:

In addition to the indicated main groups, there is a group of special-purpose submarines, which unites a few submarines, both specially built and converted from boats of the main groups (mainly missile), which were used to solve various tasks: radar patrol submarines, repeater submarines, research Submarines, carriers of ultra-small submarines, submarines for carrying out covert operations.

Design features

Rugged housing

• made of steel (alloy steel with high yield strength)
• made of titanium (K-222 (the first in the world), "Komsomolets", boats of projects 705 (K) "Lira", 945 "Barracuda", 945A "Condor"; titanium boats were not built in the West)

• Liquid metal cooled reactor (Project 645 Kit, Project 705 Lyra, USS Seawolf). In the USSR, an alloy of lead and bismuth was chosen as the liquid metal coolant; The US choice to use sodium was a mistake due to fire and explosion hazards.

Operating countries

In June 2012, the construction of a nuclear submarine in Iran was announced.

Sunken nuclear submarines

During the Cold War, the USSR lost 4 nuclear submarines. All of them were part of the Northern Fleet of the USSR Navy.