We sing glory to the best of the best! 120 years of Russian submarine fleet
Before launching into what's usually written in such cases, I'd like to make a brief digression. Over the past century and a half, humanity has come up with many interesting technical solutions that have allowed us, as they say, to go "higher, further, and faster."
Yes, we've mastered supersonic speeds and reached altitudes of 400 kilometers above the planet's surface—in short, progress is evident. Heck, even the most ordinary people can easily fly at 10 kilometers to warm their bellies.
But if you look down and peer into the black depths of the water... You immediately understand that higher and faster - yes, but deeper - somehow... not at all.
Let's consider how many people have overcome gravity and flown into Earth's orbit, those infamous 400,000 meters? 644 people to date.
What if we take just 10,000 meters, but down? Not 400 kilometers, but 10? Forty times less?
The answer is devastating: 27 people. One, the absolutely reckless American Victor Vescovo, did it 11 times, lowering people in his bathyscaphe to depths of more than 10 km.
Sadly, it's a fact: humanity has only been able to penetrate a mere 500 meters below sea level. Any lower/deeper reaches only specialized deep-sea vehicles. It's an interesting development, but humans have mastered space far better than the ocean.
And in this world, where light begins to fade below 100 meters, they meet—large, streamlined steel ships, calm and deadly as sperm whales. Sperm whales dive deeper; ships can effortlessly wipe a continent off the map. To each their own.
As experience has shown, cosmonauts can be retrieved from Earth. A military pilot has a catapult and a parachute, a sailor has a lifeboat or a life raft. A submariner has a slim chance of rescue, and nothing more.
There was so much of this: the red emergency light, the creaking of bulkheads, the roar of rushing water, the blaring of sirens, and the darkness ahead. And what those who entered their final battle with no chance of victory felt, from the Dolphin to the Kursk, is remembered in the cold waters of various seas.
Indeed, submariners are the elite of the elite, operating in the most hostile environment for humans (though, admittedly, without which this species cannot survive), on highly sophisticated ships, and not exposed to sunlight for months at a time… They are extremely strong and formidable. A true elite of the elite, and no matter how much we praise our military personnel from all branches of the armed forces, submariners are still something above all others.
And today we say: Glory to the Russian submarine fleet! Glory to the Russian submariners who have protected our safety for 120 years on all the seas washing our shores!
On March 9, 1906, by decree of Emperor Nicholas II, the Russian Imperial navy A new class of vessels appeared - submarines. In fact, submarines had existed before this moment (historical (excursion will follow) in the Imperial Navy, but they were part of the destroyer forces, and by decree of Emperor Nicholas II they were allocated to a separate class.
In fact, since 1892, the Russian Imperial Navy's mine-laying class was supplemented by submarines as a class of mine-laying ships. On March 19 (March 6, old style), 1906, submarines were designated a separate class of ship by imperial decree. This day became an unofficial holiday for submariners, and it became official exactly 90 years later, on July 15, 1996, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy.
Let's talk a little about historical names. Boats are boats, but people are the force that creates them.
Schilder Karl Andreevich, engineer-general
The creator of a prototype submarine powered by muscle power and mechanical "flippers." The crew consisted of two commanders and 12 oarsmen. The submarine was armed with a gunpowder mine, which the submarine was supposed to attach to the ship's hull and activate with an electric fuse after withdrawing to a safe distance.
Stefan Karlovich Dzhevetsky
The designer of the first Russian production submarines. His de facto patron was Emperor Alexander III, who ordered a series of 50 submarines.
Drzewiecki's first boats were powered by human muscle power, although he later improved the design by using an electric motor and battery. The boats were armed with two mines each, and the craft themselves were intended for the defense of naval fortresses.
Ivan Fedorovich Alexandrovsky
In 1866 he built a 350-ton boat.
It could dive and move underwater for relatively long periods using piston-powered pneumatic machines powered by compressed air from 200 high-pressure cast-iron cylinders.
Ivan Grigorievich Bubnov
The creator of the first truly Russian combat submarine with a gasoline engine and an electric motor. It was on the "Dolphin" that Russian sailors practiced the rules and techniques of everyday submarine operation and combat use.
Thirty-two submarines were built using Bubnov's designs, including the incomparable Bars, as well as the Minoga and Akula, the first Russian diesel submarines.
Mikhail Petrovich Nalyotov
He created the world's first underwater minelayer, the "Crab".
It's impossible to imagine the history of Russian submarine warfare without these people. Bubnov's submarines played a particularly significant role.
The Dolphin marked the beginning of the first stage in the development of the Russian submarine force, which ended in 1917. It wasn't much, but within 16 years, submarines had not only become an independent class in the Russian fleet, but also a fully formed combat force.
In total, 73 submarines have joined the Russian submarine forces during this time:
- 34 submarines were built according to domestic designs (almost all of them according to Bubnov’s designs);
- 16 - Russian-built according to designs by American engineers;
- 23 foreign-built submarines purchased abroad.
After the October Revolution and the Civil War, the Russian submarine fleet was virtually depleted. Some of the boats were lost during the First World War, many were stolen from Russia by the invaders and the retreating White Army. And some were sunk by the comrades who replaced the "hated tsarist regime."
As a result, by 1924, the Soviet submarine fleet had nine submarines in the Baltic Fleet and two in the Black Sea Fleet. It was only in 1927 that the Soviet Navy began its own submarine construction program.
The first Soviet submarines were the Dekabrist-class boats designed by K. I. Ruberovsky and B. M. Malinin and the Leninets-class underwater minelayers designed by B. M. Malinin.
Xenophon Ivanovich Ruberovsky
Boris Ivanovich Malinin
"Decembrist"
A few years later, mass construction of submarines of the Shchuka type, designed by the same brilliant Boris Malinin, and the Malyutka type, designed by A. N. Asafov, began.
Alexey Nikolaevich Asafov
These submarines became the most numerous in the Red Army Navy during the pre-war period: 77 and 78 boats, respectively.
In general, increasing the fleet by 15 times in just ten years is worthy of respect, no matter what.
The hard work did its job, and by the start of World War II, the Soviet Navy had 161 submarines, and the fleet entered the Great Patriotic War with 212 submarines—more than any other fleet, both among the Axis powers and the anti-Hitler coalition.
Germany began the war with 57 submarines, but set a record by launching and arming an additional 1099 boats during the war. The Italian Navy had 115 submarines, making it the largest submarine fleet in Europe. The British had only 69 boats, adding another 165 during the war. France had 77 submarines before the war. The US submarine fleet numbered 112 submarines, adding another 203 by the end of the war. The Japanese Navy entered the war with only 64 submarines, but built an additional 129 within four years.
There are, of course, many nuances here, both in terms of submarine deployment and deployment. Soviet submariners contributed to the Victory, no matter what one says, and the names of Marinesko, Kolyshkin, and Matiyasevich (one of the most effective commanders of the Baltic Fleet: three ships were sunk by torpedoes from his Lembit, and four more were blown up by mines laid by the Lembit) have become symbols of the success of our submariners.
Alexey Mikhailovich Matiyasevich
Submarine "Lembit"
And, of course, Grigory Ivanovich Shchedrin, a legend, just like his S-56. This crew and its commander, along with the submarine, absolutely deserved all the awards their homeland bestowed upon them.
Firstly, the S-56 only began fighting in the spring of 1943, transferring under its own power from the Pacific Ocean to the Northern Fleet, which in itself was an epochal event.
Secondly, Shchedrin and his crew were not known for claiming credit for their victories. The S-56 had already achieved outstanding results compared to other submarines, sinking two enemy vessels and two enemy ships. There was also an instance where a torpedo that had already hit its target failed to detonate.
Thirdly, it is the only submarine to hit two targets with one salvo.
Fourthly, this is the only boat to survive among its titled Guards Red Banner “sisters”.
The most remarkable thing is that after the war, the S-56 returned to the Far East, this time via the Northern Sea Route, thus completing the route around the globe.
After the war, the growth rate of the Soviet submarine fleet skyrocketed. In 1950, the first submarine of Project 613, the most produced in Soviet history, was laid down at the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod). A total of 215 submarines of this project were built.
There were also other large series of diesel submarines; for example, 75 Project 641 submarines were built, while nuclear submarines were built in series of two to three dozen.
Let's give credit to Soviet shipbuilders: by the end of the 80s, the Soviet Navy had 450 submarines:
- 83 strategic nuclear-powered missile submarines;
- 113 multi-purpose nuclear submarines;
- 254 diesel-electric submarines.
Indeed, after the collapse of the USSR, it was the Russian Navy's submarine forces that became the shield that reliably protected a country that, frankly, was not in the best of shape. Our submarines, having changed their flag, continued to demonstrate their power and readiness to pulverize any enemy.
And yes, a very serious survey: what did our enemies fear more: land forces? missiles Or submarines. Generally speaking, of course, launching missiles from a submarine near US territorial waters is far more terrifying and dangerous than launching missiles from underground silos, simply because the locations of these silos have long been known, whereas predicting the point from which a Russian submarine will decide to deliver a bouquet is practically impossible. It will deliver from wherever it wants.
And here we can recall that three of our submarines were included in the Guinness Book of Records.
1. The world's largest nuclear submarine, the heavy nuclear-powered strategic submarine TK-208 Dmitry Donskoy of Project 941 (Akula) with a normal displacement of 23,200 tons.
2. The submarine with the greatest recorded diving depth is the K-278 Komsomolets, a Project 685 (Plavnik) submarine that dived to a depth of 1027 meters on August 4, 1985.
3. The submarine that managed to reach the highest underwater speed was the K-162 of Project 661 (Anchar), which accelerated underwater to 44,7 knots on December 18, 1970.
By the way, the records are not broken.
Then came the 90s, and all that remained of its former might was shreds. But even in those difficult and shameful times, Russian submarines continued to guard the country's borders and demonstrate their combat effectiveness.
It is encouraging that our shipbuilders have recovered from all the crises and have not lost the ability to modernize submarines and build new ones.
Today the number is not so great: in total, as of the end of 2015, there were 72 submarines:
- 48 nuclear (13 submarines with ballistic missiles and 9 with cruise missiles, as well as 18 multi-purpose and 8 special-purpose boats);
- 24 diesel (including one special purpose).
Some may find this frankly insufficient, especially compared to the US submarine fleet. But these forces are quite sufficient to maintain parity in the ocean. It would be wrong to say that our Borei-class and Yasen-class submarines are significantly inferior to the American Virginia-class and Ohio-class submarines. These are highly modern ships, capable of providing a worthy response to any aggressor.
They say that our submarine fleet is now only one step behind the most powerful and largest submarine forces and has every chance of regaining its primacy.
It's hard to say how necessary this is; what's more important is that powerful and deadly ships are only half the battle. They simply need top-class professionals, in whose hands these ships will truly become weapons, capable of cooling the ardor of even Donald Trump.
Congratulations to the submariners and everyone involved on the 120th anniversary of the Russian submarine forces!
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