View source for R-13 (missile)

{{Short description|Soviet submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM)}}
[[File:Severomorsk R-13 monument.jpg|thumb|right|R-13 monument at [[Severomorsk]] naval base]]

The '''R-13''' ({{langx|ru|ракета-13}})  was a [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]] (SLBM) developed by the [[Soviet Union]] starting around 1955. It was assigned the [[NATO reporting name]] '''SS-N-4 Sark''' and carried the [[GRAU]] index '''4K50'''.

==History==
Development of the R-13 was authorised by the Soviet Supreme Council on 25 July 1955 for use on the [[Golf-class submarine|Project 629]] and [[Hotel-class submarine|Project 658]] submarines. The design work was started by [[S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia|OKB-1]] under [[Sergey Korolyov|Sergei Korolev]] before being transferred to CB Miasskoe engineering / [[Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau]] (chief designer - [[Viktor Makeyev]]). Final technical specifications was approved by 11 January 1956. Serial production was undertaken at [[Zlatoust Machine-Building Plant]] in 1959. The R-13 was a single-stage [[liquid-fuel rocket]] and entered service in 1961. This missile was somewhat similar in design to the [[R-11FM]] missile, which caused some confusion in Western [[intelligence service]]s during the [[Cold War]]. The missiles were phased out from 1965 to 1975.

This missile was the first{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}<sup>[[R-7 Semyorka|R-7?]]</sup> Soviet design to use a small set of [[rocket engine]]s  ([[vernier thruster]]s) to perform course and trajectory alterations instead of [[aerodynamic]] [[Flight control surfaces|control surface]]s, although a set of four [[Stabilizer (aircraft)|stabilizer]]s were used to keep the missile on-course during initial flight.

During initial testing before the missiles were deployed, 26 of 32 missiles (81%) were successfully launched. While the systems were deployed from 1961 to 1975, 225 of 311 launches (72%) were successful.

==Operators==

;{{USSR}}
*[[Soviet Navy]]

==Specifications==
*Length: {{convert|11.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
*Diameter: {{convert|1.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
*Diameter (to stabilizers): {{convert|1.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
*Launch weight: 13.7 t
*Warhead: single thermonuclear: 1.2 to 2.0 Mt (perhaps as low as 1.0 Mt)
*Propulsion: liquid-fuel rocket, single stage
**Engine: Isaev S2.713 liquid rocket engine, 252&nbsp;kN of thrust         
**Oxidizer: [[Inhibited red fuming nitric acid|AK-27I]]
**Fuel: [[Tonka (fuel)|TG-02]]
*Range: about {{convert|600|km|mi|abbr=on}}
*Launching technique: surfaced
*[[circular error probable|CEP]]: {{convert|1.8|to|4|km|mi|abbr=on}}

== See also ==
* [[List of missiles]]

==References==
{{no footnotes|date=December 2014}}
*[http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/r-13.htm FAS.org: R-13 / SS-N-4 Sark]
*[http://rbase.new-factoria.ru/missile/wobb/r13/r13.shtml Ракетный комплекс Д-2 С БРПЛ Р-13(35-М-4) ] In Russian - inc diagrams

{{Russian and Soviet military designation sequences}}

{{Russian and Soviet missiles|SSM}}

[[Category:Submarine-launched ballistic missiles of the Soviet Union|R-013]]
[[Category:Cold War missiles of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]