Victor-class submarine

Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship class overviewTemplate:Infobox ship characteristics

The Victor class, Soviet designations Project 671 Yorsh, Project 671RT Syomga and Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka, (NATO reporting names Victor I, Victor II and Victor III, respectively), are series of nuclear-powered attack submarines built in the Soviet Union and operated by the Soviet Navy. Since the 1960s, 48 units were built in total, of which the last remaining are currently in service with the Russian Navy. The Victor-class submarines featured a teardrop shape, allowing them to travel at high speed. These vessels were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack American ballistic missile submarines. Project 671 began in 1959 with the design task assigned to SKB-143 (one of the predecessors of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau).

Versions

Project 671 Yorsh (Victor I)

Template:Floatbox Soviet designation Project 671 Yorsh (ruffe)—was the initial type that entered service in 1967; 16 were produced.<ref name="PolmarNoot">Template:Cite book</ref> Each had six torpedo tubes for launching Type 53 torpedoes and SS-N-15 anti-submarine missiles and mines could also be released. Subs had a capacity of 24 tube-launched weapons or 48 mines (or a combination). They were Template:Convert long. All disposed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Project 671RT Syomga (Victor II)

Template:Floatbox Soviet designation Project 671RT Syomga (atlantic salmon)—entered service in 1972; seven were produced in the 1970s.<ref name="PolmarNoot"/> These were originally designated Uniform class by NATO. They had similar armament to the Victor I class and were the first Soviet submarines to introduce raft mounting for acoustic quieting.<ref name="Polmar">Template:Cite book</ref> Production was truncated due to a decision to develop the improved Victor III class.<ref name="Polmar"/> They were Template:Convert long. All disposed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (Victor III)

Template:Floatbox Soviet designation Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (pike)—entered service in 1979; 25 were produced until 1991.<ref name="PolmarNoot"/> Quieter than previous Soviet submarines, these ships had four tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another two tubes for launching SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes. 24 tube-launched weapons or 36 mines could be on board. The Victor III class caused a minor furor in NATO intelligence agencies at its introduction because of the distinctive pod on the vertical stern-plane. Speculation immediately mounted that the pod was the housing for some sort of exotic silent propulsion system, possibly a magnetohydrodynamic drive unit. Another theory proposed that it was some sort of weapon system.Template:Citation needed In the end, the pod was identified as a hydrodynamic housing for a reelable towed passive sonar array;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the system was subsequently incorporated into the Template:Sclass2 and Template:Sclass SSNs. In October 1983 the towed array of Template:Ship, a Victor III operating west of Bermuda, became tangled with the towed array of US frigate Template:USS. K-324 was forced to surface, allowing NATO forces to photograph the pod in its deployed state. The Victor-III class was continuously improved during construction and late production models have a superior acoustic performance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They were Template:Convert long. 21 disposed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Units

Last active units

#	Name	Project	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fleet	Status	Notes
B-138	Obninsk	671RTMK	7 December 1988	5 August 1989	30 December 1990	Northern Fleet	Refit?	Overhauls completed in 2014, 2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
B-448	Tambov	671RTMK	31 January 1991	17 October 1991	24 September 1992	Northern Fleet	Active<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Completed prolonged refit in 2022/23<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Victor III class submarine.jpg

A Victor III-class submarine on the surface

Incidents

• On 3 November 1974, the nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS James Madison (SSBN-627) collided with a Soviet submarine, assumed to be a Victor-class submarine, during a dive just after departing from Holy Loch. The American submarine was dented and suffered a nine-foot scratch on her hull. She spent a full week at the base for inspection and repairs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• In 1981 Template:USS collided with a Victor III-class submarine—K-324—while attempting to photograph the odd pod on the back. The event was covered up by the Reagan Administration and never made public, though it nearly cost the lives of the sailors on USS Drum. The collision occurred in Peter the Great Bay, not far from Vladivostok.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The incident was declassified and disclosed by the Clinton Administration in February 1993.
• On 21 March 1984, K-314 collided with the aircraft carrier Template:USS in the Sea of Japan. Neither ship was significantly damaged. <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• The Soviet cargo ship Bratstvo collided with the Soviet submarine K-53 of the Victor I-class in position Latitude 35 deg 55 min North and Longitude 005 deg 00 min West, at the exit from the Gibraltar Strait in Alboran Sea, on 18 (as per ship's time) or 19 (as per submarine time) September 1984.Template:Citation needed
• On 6 September 2006, the Victor III-class Daniil Moskovskiy suffered an electronics fire while in the Barents Sea, killing two crew members. The boat was 16 years old and was overdue for overhaul. It was towed back to Vidyayevo.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Bellona">Template:Cite web</ref> She continued to serve into the latter 2010s and was reportedly formally decommissioned on 28 October 2022.<ref>Deep Storm</ref>

In media

• A depiction of a Victor III-class submarine (Valentin Zukovsky's nephew Nikolai's own submarine) was used prominently in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough as a key element in the film's antagonists (Elektra King and Viktor "Renard" Zokas) plan.Template:Citation needed

See also

• List of submarine classes in service
• Future of the Russian Navy

External links

• Victor-class at National Geographic
• NATO Code Names for Submarines and Ships at Aerospace Page of Andreas Gehrs-Pahl
• Victor I Template:Webarchive at Encyclopedia of Ships Template:In lang
• Victor II Template:Webarchive at Encyclopedia of Ships Template:In lang
• Victor III Template:Webarchive at Encyclopedia of Ships Template:In lang
• Victor III-class submarines - Complete Ship List at Russian-Ships.info
• Fire breaks out aboard Northern Fleet nuclear sub, killing 2 at Bellona.org