On September 23, 1980 at the shipyard of the city of Severodvinsk, on the surface of the White Sea, the first Soviet submarine of the Akula class was launched. When her hull was still in the stocks, on his nose, below the waterline, he could see a drawn grinning shark, which twisted around a trident. And although after the descent, when the boat stood on the water, the shark with the trident disappeared under the water and no one else saw it, the people have already dubbed the cruiser "Shark". All subsequent boats of this class continued to be named the same, and for their crews a special sleeve patch with the image of a shark was introduced. In the West, the boat was codenamed Typhoon. Subsequently, this boat was called Typhoon in our country.
So, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev himself, speaking at the XXVI Party Congress, said: “The Americans have created a new submarine Ohio with Trident missiles. We have a similar system - Typhoon”.
In the early 70s in the United States (as the Western media wrote, "in response to the creation of the Delta complex in the USSR"), a large-scale Trident program began, providing for the creation of a new solid-fuel missile with an intercontinental (over 7,000 km) range, as well as SSBN a new type, capable of carrying 24 such missiles and having an increased level of stealth. The ship with a displacement of 18,700 tons had a maximum speed of 20 knots and could carry out rocket launches at a depth of 15-30 m. In terms of its combat effectiveness, the new American weapon system was to significantly surpass the domestic 667BDR / D-9R system, which was at that time in mass production. The political leadership of the USSR demanded from the industry an "adequate response" to the next American challenge.
Tactical and technical assignment for the heavy nuclear submarine missile cruiser - Project 941 (code "Akula") - was issued in December 1972. On December 19, 1973, the government adopted a decree providing for the start of work on the design and construction of a new missile carrier. The project was developed by the Rubin Central Design Bureau, headed by General Designer I. D. Spassky, under the direct supervision of the chief designer S. N. Kovalev. The main observer from the Navy was V. N. Levashov.
“The designers were faced with a difficult technical task - to place on board 24 missiles weighing almost 100 tons each,” says SN Rubin, general designer of the projects. Kovalev. - After many studies, it was decided to place the missiles between two strong hulls. There are no analogues to such a solution in the world”. “Only Sevmash could build such a boat,” says A. F. Helmets. The construction of the ship was carried out in the largest slipway - shop 55, which was headed by I. L. Kamai. A fundamentally new construction technology was used - the modular-modular method, which significantly reduced the time. Now this method is used in everything, both underwater and surface shipbuilding, but for that time it was a serious technological breakthrough.
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The indisputable operational advantages demonstrated by the first Russian naval solid-propellant ballistic missile R-31, as well as the American experience (which was always held in high esteem in the Soviet military and political circles) led to the customer's categorical demand to equip the 3rd generation submarine missile carrier with solid-fuel missiles … The use of such missiles made it possible to significantly reduce the time of prelaunch preparation, eliminate the noise of its implementation, simplify the composition of the ship's equipment, abandoning a number of systems - atmospheric gas analysis, filling the annular gap with water, irrigation, draining the oxidizer, etc.
The preliminary development of a new intercontinental missile system for equipping submarines began at the Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau under the leadership of chief designer V. P. Makeev in 1971. Full-scale work on the RK D-19 with R-39 missiles was deployed in September 1973, almost simultaneously with the start of work on a new SSBN. When creating this complex, an attempt was made for the first time to unify underwater and land-based missiles: the R-39 and the heavy ICBM RT-23 (developed at the Yuzhnoye design bureau) received a single first stage engine.
The level of domestic technologies of the 70-80s did not allow the creation of a solid-propellant ballistic intercontinental missile of high power in dimensions close to the dimensions of the previous liquid-propellant missiles. The growth in the size and weight of the weapon, as well as the weight and size characteristics of the new radio-electronic equipment, which increased by 2.5-4 times compared to the electronic equipment of the previous generation, led to the need for unconventional layout decisions. As a result, an original, unparalleled type of submarine with two strong hulls arranged in parallel (a kind of "underwater catamaran") was designed. Among other things, such a "flattened" in the vertical plane shape of the ship was dictated by restrictions on draft in the area of the Severodvinsk shipyard and repair bases of the Northern Fleet,as well as technological considerations (it was required to ensure the possibility of simultaneous construction of two ships on the same slipway "line").
It should be admitted that the chosen scheme was to a large extent a forced, far from optimal solution, which led to a sharp increase in the ship's displacement (which gave rise to the ironic nickname of the boats of the 941 project - "water carriers"). At the same time, it made it possible to increase the survivability of the heavy submarine cruiser by spreading the power plant across autonomous compartments in two separate robust hulls; improve explosion and fire safety (by removing the missile silos from the rugged hull), as well as placing the torpedo compartment and the main command post in isolated rugged modules. The possibilities for modernizing and repairing the boat have also expanded somewhat.
When creating a new ship, the task was set to expand the zone of its combat use under the ice of the Arctic up to the maximum latitudes by improving navigation and hydroacoustic weapons. To launch missiles from under the Arctic "ice shell", the boat had to float up in the openings, breaking through the deckhouse fence up to 2-2.5 m thick ice.
Flight tests of the R-39 rocket were carried out on an experimental diesel-electric submarine K-153, converted in 1976 according to Project 619 (it was equipped with one shaft). In 1984, after a series of intensive tests, the D-19 missile system with the R-39 missile was officially adopted by the Navy.
The construction of Project 941 submarines was carried out in Severodvinsk. For this, a new workshop had to be built at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise - the largest covered boathouse in the world.
The first TAPKR, which entered service on December 12, 1981, was commanded by Captain 1st Rank A. V. Olkhovnikov, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for mastering such a unique ship. It was planned to build a large series of heavy submarine cruisers of the 941st project and create new modifications of this ship with increased combat capabilities.
However, at the end of the 1980s, for economic and political reasons, it was decided to abandon the further implementation of the program. The adoption of this decision was accompanied by heated discussions: the industry, the developers of the boat and some representatives of the Navy were in favor of continuing the program, while the General Staff of the Navy and the General Staff of the Armed Forces advocated the termination of construction. The main reason was the difficulty in organizing the basing of such large submarines, armed with no less "impressive" missiles. Most of the existing bases of the "Akula" simply could not enter due to their tightness, and the R-39 missiles could be transported at almost all stages of operation only along the railway track (along the rails they were also fed to the berth for loading onto the ship). The missiles were to be loaded with a special super-powerful crane, which is a unique engineering structure.
As a result, it was decided to limit the construction of a series of six ships of Project 941 (that is, one division). The unfinished hull of the seventh missile carrier - TK-210 - was dismantled on the slipway in 1990. It should be noted that a little later, in the mid-90s, the implementation of the American program for the construction of submarine missile carriers of the Ohio type also ceased: instead of the planned 30 SSBNs, the US Navy received only 18 nuclear-powered ships, of which it was decided to leave in service by the early 2000s only 14.
The design of the project 941 submarine is made as a "catamaran": two separate strong hulls (7.2 m in diameter each) are located in a horizontal plane parallel to each other. In addition, there are two separate sealed capsule-compartments - the torpedo compartment and the control module located between the main buildings in the diametrical plane, in which the central post and the radio-technical compartment located behind it are located. The missile bay is located between the rugged hulls at the front of the ship. Both cases and capsule compartments are interconnected by passages. The total number of watertight compartments is 19.
At the base of the wheelhouse, under the fence of retractable devices, there are two pop-up rescue chambers that can accommodate the entire crew of the submarine.
The central post compartment and its light enclosure are shifted towards the stern of the ship. Durable hulls, central post and torpedo compartment are made of titanium alloy, and the light hull is made of steel (a special hydroacoustic rubber coating is applied to its surface, which increases the boat's stealth).
The ship has a developed stern plumage. The front horizontal rudders are located in the bow of the hull and are retractable. The wheelhouse is equipped with powerful ice reinforcements and a rounded roof that serves to break the ice when surfacing.
For the crew of the boat (consisting mostly of officers and warrant officers), conditions of increased comfort have been created. The officers were accommodated in relatively spacious double and quadruple cabins with washbasins, TVs and air conditioning, while the sailors and foremen were accommodated in small quarters. The ship received a sports hall, a swimming pool, a solarium, a sauna, a recreation room, a "living corner", etc.
Power plant of the 3rd generation with a nominal capacity of 100,000 liters. from. made according to the block layout principle with the placement of autonomous modules (unified for all boats of the 3rd generation) in both durable hulls. The adopted layout solutions made it possible to reduce the dimensions of the nuclear power plant, while increasing its power and improving other operational parameters.
The power plant includes two water-to-water thermal reactors OK-650 (190 mW each) and two steam turbines. The block layout of all units and component equipment, in addition to technological advantages, made it possible to apply more effective measures for vibration isolation, which reduce the noise of the ship.
The nuclear power plant is equipped with a battery-free cooling system (BBR), which is automatically activated in the event of a power failure.
Compared with the previous nuclear submarines, the reactor control and protection system has changed significantly. The introduction of pulsed equipment made it possible to control its condition at any power level, including in a subcritical state. A self-propelled mechanism is installed on the compensating organs, which, in the event of a power failure, ensures the lowering of the gratings onto the lower limit switches. In this case, there is a complete "jamming" of the reactor, even when the ship capsizes.
Two low-noise fixed-pitch seven-bladed propellers are mounted in annular nozzles. There are two 190 kW DC motors as backup means of propulsion, which are connected to the main shaft line by means of couplings.
There are four 3200 kW turbogenerators and two DG-750 diesel generators on board the boat. For maneuvering in cramped conditions, the ship is equipped with a thruster in the form of two hinged columns with propellers (in the bow and stern). The thruster propellers are driven by 750 kW electric motors.
When creating a Project 941 submarine, great attention was paid to reducing its hydroacoustic signature. In particular, the ship received a two-stage system of rubber-cord pneumatic damping, a block arrangement of mechanisms and equipment, as well as new, more effective soundproofing and anti-hydrolocation coatings, were introduced. As a result, in terms of hydroacoustic stealth, the new missile carrier, despite its gigantic size, significantly surpassed all previously built domestic SSBNs and, probably, came close to the American counterpart, the Ohio-class SSBN.
The submarine is equipped with a new navigation system "Symphony", a combat information and control system, an MG-519 "Arfa" hydroacoustic mine detection station, an MG-518 "Sever" echometer, an MRKP-58 "Buran" radar system, and an MTK-100 television complex. There is a Molniya-L1 radio communication complex on board with the Tsunami satellite communication system.
A digital sonar complex of the Skat-3 type, which integrates four sonar stations, is capable of providing simultaneous tracking of 10-12 underwater targets.
Retractable devices located in the wheelhouse enclosure include two periscopes (commander's and universal), a radiosextan antenna, a radar station, radio antennas for communication and navigation systems, and a direction finder.
The boat is equipped with two buoy-type pop-up antennas that allow receiving radio messages, target designation and satellite navigation signals when being at a great (up to 150 m) depth or under ice.
The D-19 missile system includes 20 solid-propellant three-stage intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple warheads D-19 (RSM-52, western designation - SS-N-20). The start of the entire ammunition load is carried out in two volleys, with minimal intervals between missile launches. The missiles can be launched from a depth of up to 55 m (without restrictions on weather conditions on the sea surface), as well as from the surface.
The three-stage R-39 ICBM (length - 16.0 m, hull diameter - 2.4 m, launch weight - 90.1 tons) carries 10 individually guided warheads with a capacity of 100 kg each. Their guidance is carried out by means of an inertial navigation system with full astrocorrection (CEP is provided about 500 m). The maximum launch range of the R-39 exceeds 10,000 km, which is greater than the range of the American analogue, the Trident C-4 (7400 km) and approximately corresponds to the range of the Trident D-5 (11,000 km).
To minimize the size of the rocket, the engines of the second and third stages have retractable nozzles.
For the D-19 complex, an original launch system was created with the placement of almost all elements of the launcher on the rocket itself. In the shaft, the R-39 is in a suspended state, relying on a special depreciation rocket launch system (ARSS) on a support ring located in the upper part of the shaft.
Start-up is carried out from a “dry” mine using a powder pressure accumulator (PAD). At the moment of launch, special powder charges create a gas cavity around the rocket, which significantly reduces the hydrodynamic loads in the underwater section of movement. After exiting the water, the ARSS is separated from the rocket by means of a special engine and is pulled away to a safe distance from the submarine.
There are six 533-mm torpedo tubes with a quick-loading device, capable of using almost all types of torpedoes and rocket-torpedoes of this caliber in service (typical ammunition - 22 USET-80 torpedoes, as well as Shkval rocket-torpedoes). Instead of part of the missile and torpedo armament, mines can be taken on board the ship.
For self-defense of a submarine on the surface against low-flying aircraft and helicopters, there are eight Igla (Igla-1) MANPADS sets. The foreign press reported on the development of the 941 project for submarines, as well as a new generation SSBN, an anti-aircraft missile system for self-defense, capable of being used from a submerged position.
All six TAPRKs (which received the western code name Typhoon, which quickly "took root" in our country) were consolidated into a division that was part of the 1st flotilla of nuclear submarines. The ships are based in Zapadnaya Litsa (Nerpichya Bay). The reconstruction of this base to accommodate new super-powerful nuclear-powered ships began in 1977 and took four years. During this time, a special berthing line was built, specialized piers were manufactured and delivered, capable, according to the designers' plan, of providing the TAPKR with all types of energy resources (however, for a number of technical reasons, they are currently used as ordinary floating piers). For heavy missile submarine cruisers, the Moscow Design Bureau of Transport Engineering has created a unique complex of missile loading facilities (KSPR). It included, in particular,a two-cantilever gantry-type loader crane with a lifting capacity of 125 tons (it was not put into operation).
In Zapadnaya Litsa there is also a coastal ship repair complex, which provides service for boats of the 941 project. Especially to provide the "floating rear" of the boats of the 941st project in Leningrad at the Admiralty Plant in 1986, the sea transport-rocket carrier "Alexander Brykin" (project 11570) with a total displacement of 11.440 tons was built, which has 16 containers for R-39 missiles and is equipped with 125 -ton crane.
However, only the Northern Fleet managed to create a unique coastal infrastructure providing servicing of Project 941 ships. In the Pacific Fleet until 1990, when the program for the further construction of "Sharks" was curtailed, they did not manage to build anything of the kind.
The ships, each of which is manned by two crews, carried (and probably continue to carry it now) constant combat duty even while at the base.
The combat effectiveness of the "Sharks" is largely ensured by the continuous improvement of the communications system and combat control of the country's naval strategic nuclear forces. To date, this system includes channels that use different physical principles, which increases reliability and noise immunity in the most adverse conditions. The system includes stationary transmitters broadcasting radio waves in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, satellite, aircraft and ship repeaters, mobile coastal radio stations, as well as hydroacoustic stations and repeaters.
The huge buoyancy reserve of the heavy submarine cruisers of the 941 project (31.3%), combined with powerful reinforcements of the light hull and deckhouse, provided these nuclear-powered ships with the possibility of surfacing in continuous ice up to 2.5 m thick (which was repeatedly tested in practice). Patrolling under the ice shell of the Arctic, where there are special sonar conditions that reduce, even with the most favorable hydrology, the detection range of an underwater target by means of the most modern GAS to only a few kilometers, the Sharks are practically invulnerable to US anti-submarine nuclear submarines. The United States also does not have aircraft capable of searching for and engaging underwater targets through the polar ice.
In particular, the "Sharks" carried out combat service under the ice of the White Sea (the first of the "941s" such a trip was made in 1986 by TK-12, on which the crew was replaced with the help of an icebreaker).
The growing threat from the projected missile defense systems of a potential enemy demanded an increase in the combat survivability of domestic missiles during their flight. According to one of the predicted scenarios, the enemy could try to "blind" the optical astronavigation sensors of the BR using space nuclear explosions. In response to this, at the end of 1984, under the leadership of V. P. Makeeva, N. A. Semikhatova (missile control system), V. P. Arefiev (command instruments) and BC Kuzmina (astrocorrection system) began work on creating a stable astrocorrector for submarine ballistic missiles, capable of restoring its operability after a few seconds. Of coursethe enemy still had the opportunity to carry out nuclear space explosions with an interval of every few seconds (in this case, the accuracy of the missile guidance should have significantly decreased), but such a solution was difficult to implement for technical reasons and senseless - for financial reasons.
An improved version of the R-39, which is not inferior in its main characteristics to the American Trident D-5 missile, was put into service in 1989. In addition to increased combat survivability, the modernized missile had an increased warhead separation zone, as well as increased firing accuracy (the use of the GLONASS space navigation system in the active phase of the missile flight and in the MIRV guidance area made it possible to achieve an accuracy no less than that of a mine-based Strategic Missile Forces ICBM). In 1995, TK-20 (commander Captain 1st Rank A. Bogachev) performed rocket fire from the North Pole.
In 1996, due to a lack of funds, TK-12 and TK-202 were decommissioned, in 1997 - TK-13. At the same time, additional financing of the Navy in 1999 made it possible to significantly speed up the protracted overhaul of the head missile carrier of the 941 project - K-208. For ten years, during which the ship was in the State Center for Nuclear Submarine Shipbuilding, the main weapon systems were replaced and modernized (in accordance with Project 941 U). It is expected that in the third quarter of 2000 the work will be fully completed, and after the end of the factory and sea acceptance tests, in early 2001, the updated nuclear-powered ship will return to service.
In November 1999, two RSM-52 missiles were fired from the Barents Sea from one of the TAPKR 941 projects. The interval between launches was two hours. The missile warheads hit targets at the Kamchatka range with high precision.
As of 2013, out of 6 ships built in the USSR, 3 ships of Project 941 "Akula" have been scrapped, 2 ships are awaiting scrapping, and one has been modernized according to Project 941UM.
Due to the chronic lack of funding, in the 1990s, it was planned to disable all units, however, with the advent of financial capabilities and the revision of military doctrine, the remaining ships (TK-17 Arkhangelsk and TK-20 Severstal) underwent maintenance repairs in 1999-2002. TK-208 "Dmitry Donskoy" underwent major overhaul and modernization under the project 941UM in 1990-2002 and since December 2003 has been used as part of the test program for the newest Russian SLBM "Bulava". When testing the Bulava, it was decided to abandon the previously used test procedure.
The 18th submarine division, which included all the Sharks, was downsized. As of February 2008, it included the TK-17 Arkhangelsk TK-17 (last combat duty from October 2004 to January 2005) and TK-20 Severstal, which were in reserve after the working life of the "main caliber" missiles had been exhausted. "(Last combat duty - 2002), as well as converted into" Bulava "K-208" Dmitry Donskoy ". TK-17 "Arkhangelsk" and TK-20 "Severstal" for more than three years were waiting for a decision to dismantle or re-equip with new SLBMs, until in August 2007 the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet V. V. Masorin announced that until 2015 the modernization of the Akula nuclear submarine for the Bulava-M missile system is envisaged.
Interesting Facts:
- For the first time, the placement of missile silos in front of the wheelhouse was carried out on boats of the Akula project
- For mastering the unique ship, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to the Commander of the first missile cruiser, Captain 1st Rank A. V. Olkhovnikov in 1984
- Ships of the project "Shark" are included in the Guinness Book of Records
- The commander's chair in the central post is inviolable, there is no exception for anyone, not for the commanders of a division, fleet or flotilla, and even the Minister of Defense. Breaking this tradition in 1993, P. Grachev during his visit to the "Shark" was awarded the hostility of the submariners.
Here is what an officer who served on this ship writes: