B-440 Ave 641. 15.09.1973 Combat Service - 8.10.1974
I was a member of the 13-month autonomous on the B-440 in 1973-74, served as an officer. We were not warned about such a duration of the voyage in advance, we thought that we were going to 7 months. The exit time was hidden, but after loading the torpedoes from the special combat police unit, we were already waiting for the call to the ship, which happened at night. Went to 5 in the morning of 15 in September of 1973, then at the point of collection a PL and NK order was formed: Submarine Ave 641 - B-409, B-440, B-130, B-31, B-105, B-116, B-413, Submarine Ave. 651 - K-318, NK - BOD Ave. 1134B, tanker, etc. With such a warrant of the boat, they made a surface transition to the Faro-Iceland frontier of NATO PLO on a stormy sea, then forced the line into PP. Then again as part of the warrant in the NP, with a forced temporary diving due to a wild storm (the wave height reached 15-17 m), and so to the beam of Gibraltar, after which the order was disbanded, and each submarine had to force the Strait of Gibraltar (to create and the discretion of the commander) to secretly enter the Mediterranean Sea.After entering the Mediterranean, an ambush from NATO PLCs awaited us, mostly French, who at the time were working on their newest lowered GUS. B-440 began to cuddle up to the African coast to get away from contact capture. I had to cuddle up almost to the coast of Morocco, perhaps they had even broken their thermal waters, but we managed to get away from the discovery. Then came the open space of the western part of the Mediterranean. No luck B-409, it was discovered and led the French. Then they were assigned to patrol the area with the usual main goal - to search and detect US SSRBs, maintain contact with the detected target and, in the event of a database (war), destroy it with torpedoes, preferably before it launches its BRs in our territory (in At that time, the Sredimenka was the main launch pad of amerovsky SSBNs). The first area to look for us was the Tyrrhenian Sea, where we first discovered our first SSBN. The advantage of our boats at the initial stage was that we were practically in ambush, had an 2,5 - 3 node running on an EC, and SSBNs that circulated around their combat duty did not hear us and "ran across" us. The fact that the boat was new, with a new FPS MG-10M model on transistors, helped significantly. This first contact was remembered most of all by the fact that we conducted the missile carrier for an unusually long time - 1 hour 56 minutes, it remained our kind of record. But further, at the next stage - maintaining contact and pursuing a SSBN, our technical backwardness immediately began to affect: we gave an average move (St. 6 knot.) And the Amer immediately detected us, started evasion and added speed. On 14 - 16 nodes, he would easily leave us (we could develop such speed for a while, but at the same time, we would completely “deaf” and immediately lose contact). But this time there was a thunderstorm and a storm at the top, and there were amazing hydrological conditions - we continued to hear the SSBNs with increasing distance and followed him. After a while, he understood it and released the PL Simulator, his very exact copy of the noise. We could not maintain contact with two goals at PSS, as well as determine which goal is true. As a result, they lost contact, and then podsplili on the periscope depth, due to thunderstorms with strong lightning, the radiogram was difficult to transmit. The horizon was clear.
Usually the contact with the SSBN was 10 - 20 minutes, we could no longer hold the "adversary" (I indicated the reasons above). But our detection reports greatly helped the Navy’s Main Staff to find out the SSBN patrol routes and direct other forces to them. During this autonomy, the B-440 had a steady 14 contact with the SSBN. In addition, the OSNAZ group - radio intelligence, was constantly working on the boat in the surface position. I was genuinely surprised by their high professionalism. On the outdated radio receiving equipment (P-670 Mermaid), they effectively detected and intercepted the talks of the Americans, setting the approximate locations of the carriers and classifying them. So, they were very happy when they were the first to intercept radio communications of the aircraft wing of the aircraft carrier that entered the Mediterranean Sea. Usually, intelligence on surface situations in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic was reported to us in radiograms according to reconnaissance data. The guys of OSNAZ were in urgent service, but very well-trained - real pros.
AB was beaten only at night with the expectation: three days under water - night (before dawn) charging. NK anti-warheads didn’t bother us much; we left our sonars beforehand - we could hear the characteristic powerful AN \ SQS-26 triple modulation premises. Once they even ventured with an American - they approached him on 70 KBT, he worked as a sonar on the 150 KBKT scale, but did not notice us. Further decided not to risk it. The most dangerous were anti-submarine Orions with a cosecant radar pattern and a magnetometer. Finding on the search (passive) radar signal radar aircraft, we had to immediately dive. The anticipation was, as a rule, 1,5 D. It was worse if they were charging at that time. One day, the cap decided not to dive at night, when they beat the charge (regretted the battery), Orion, who had flown up, turned off the radar and began to fly perpendicular to our course, clearly grabbing us with a magnetometer. Spit on him, finished charging, plunged. No one has developed this contact, there was no persecution.
On food and life. The boat pr. 641 was originally designed for the autonomy of the 90 day, mainly for provisions and fresh water (80 tons in the tank). Leaving for a longer voyage, provisions were packed up as much as possible. The refrigerator cooler was stuffed with frozen meat, canned food and dry food was poured in all possible and impossible places. So that the sailors did not steal canned goods during loading, the assistant commander under personal control attracted a third of the personnel, but this did not save the situation, the sailors managed to secretly push some of the canned goods to "their" places. The first in a month ended the meat, and first "spiritually" (due to periodic defrosting of the refrigerator), then physically. Passed on meat and fish canned food. The bread was canned (a white loaf of alcohol), it could be eaten only by steaming it according to certain rules. If you properly steam it, it turned out very tasty as fresh. Natural potatoes also ended or rotted, they switched to canned (in cans) potatoes, the taste is unimportant, but you can eat. With its end they switched to dried potatoes (a nasty taste, these are not chips). The basis of the 1-th dish was cabbage, but the natural one also ended, switched to tinned in cans. On the 3-th-4-th month, these banks from the heat in the compartments began to swell and turn from cylinders into balls. The solution in them turned into an unsafe acidic compound, the sailor had to prudently turn away when punching the can of such a can, the “acid” flew out under strong pressure. Then this cabbage was soaked in water for a day and only then sent to the first one. Still, it turned out very sour. Canned, tasty compote. Additionally, 50 g of wine, 1 vobla and 1 a little chocolate were given out on the day.
With a small supply of fresh water, it was spent only on cooking and drinking. Washing, washing with outboard water only, for which they gave out or bought special shampoos (“Sun”). The shower was only in the 6 compartment, "odnirka", still a washstand in 2. To prevent furunculosis and other skin-purulent inflammations, the doctor walked daily around the boat and gave everyone a cotton swab with alcohol solution for wiping. But motorists often still acne. The clothes inside the case are single, from marlevki, panties and T-shirt, leather slippers. "Razuha" was originally designed to be worn for 10 days, then it must be disposed of, but, of course, it was not enough stock and was worn for a month or more, until it turned into a total worthlessness.
Based on the sad experience of the Cuban campaign 1962, air conditioning was started on boats by eliminating one 8-local cabin in the 2 compartment. The conditions for a “recumbent” sleep have somewhat deteriorated, but on the other hand, the temperature in the compartments became acceptable. The air conditioner could only work in the submarine submarine, and during the night they managed to bring the temperature down to 27 gr. Usually in the compartments was 30 - 35 gr. But the domestic "Conder" often broke down, suffered with it, but our inventive mechanics managed to put it into operation. If Conder did not work, then the temperature began to rise ominously and reached 1 gr in 37 compartment, 2 gr in 42, 6 gr in 60-m. It was already hard. There were two submersible galyuns - in the 3 and 6 compartments, but the queues were, as a rule, rare. Because of the canned food, everyone had constipation, and in a big way went about once a day on 3. Only one upper latrine worked in the surface position (in the light housing in the enclosure for withdrawable devices), submersible in the NP could not be used. A hike in this latrine is a miracle of balancing act. First, it was necessary to wait for the "good" to exit upward (quota). Then get in the dark past the retractable rods, thickly smeared with AMC (smelly grease) and in conditions of jerking hesitation not to touch them. Further, in the fence, sit down on the "soldier's point" and hold on to the side handle, observing a certain balancing. The fact is that right in front of the point the receiving bin of liquid garbage is sticking out, and the sailor poured liquid slop from large cans into it using the conveyor method. Be patient with their presence and actions in front of your nose. The bunker is covered with a hinged lid, and the overboard is at the level of the waterline. Another wave hits this hole and with a water hammer the slop partially comes back, lifting the lid and splashing upward. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the distance from the front to the bunker. But do not rush to lean back. Under your back is continuous drain points hot water - boiling water, rolling in steam. If you go down low - scald your point, and this is serious.
Finishing the life, I note that the unpleasantness of the trouble was the rapid reproduction of cockroaches, which were brought with food packaging from the warehouses of the coastal base. In the underwater they were called "Stasik". Parasites covered the ceiling and swooped down on his mess-room table, he had to cover his plate with his body to avoid the "platter" in the dish. Knowing this property, before the autonomous system, the officers were dumped and the doctor bought a large number of dichlorvos cans, which the shore, before the first call to any port, where, having driven everyone out of the boat and wearing gas masks, the group under his leadership sprayed all the rooms, then closed all the bulkheads, turned off the ventilation and waited for hours 4. After that, the "clean-up" team swept the corpses into buckets. Carried out a few buckets. Processing was enough for a couple of months.
On October 3, we forced the Strait of Gibraltar, and on October 6, the Arab-Israeli war began ("Doomsday War"). The boats of the brigade, which we changed to the BS, were not sent home, they were held in the eastern Mediterranean, where they also urgently redirected 2 boats from our brigade - B-130 and B-409, closer to the coast of Israel. Thus, in the eastern Mediterranean, the order of the 16 of the Soviet submarines was concentrated, of which 4 was atomic. From October 10, our transports began to approach the coasts of Syria and Egypt. weaponsmainly with armored vehicles. One transport ("Ilya Mechnikov") was attacked by Israeli rockets, caught fire and ran aground. A few days later we received a circular radiogram, duplicated by WAS. According to her boats, they received a combat mission — defeating enemy ships using conventional weapons (the transporters meant attacking) and using anti-submarine weapons for anti-submarine defense. It was from what sweat bald head commander! How to identify the enemy? And if it will be American combat units? And in the nasal TA we have only 2 torpedoes usual, the rest 4 - atomic!
"Ilya Mechnikov"
Two days later, this indication of the Navy General Staff was canceled, and we breathed a sigh of relief. Moreover, at that time we were still in the western Mediterranean, and only B-130 and B-409 could actually execute such an order. What they really did there, I do not know, but the submarine commanders were subsequently awarded orders.
After the end of this war, we were given the opportunity to enter Annaba (Algeria) on the 3 day, where we replenished water supplies and partially provisions. First came ashore.
Then continued carrying the BS in the western Mediterranean. On New Year's Eve, we were redirected to the eastern Mediterranean, closer to Egypt, and finally, in January, we received orders to enter Alexandria, i.e. 4 months after exiting the database. Alexandria met the strongest wind, with difficulty holding the ladder. But the long-awaited inter-backpack break did come. Engaged in the replenishment of stocks, maintenance, released into the city. They gave currency, they bought gifts for wives. But you had to be very careful in purchases, especially gold products. They were deceived at every step, it was unusual at first (the “wild” market, we got used to the Soviet trading system, when the seller was responsible for the goods sold), then gradually adapted, received advice from the “old-timers”. After a month of stay in Egypt again at the BS in the eastern Mediterranean, until April 1974, when, after the month 3, we are again in Alexandria. This time they handed over the boat to the repair crew, who was supposed to carry out the necessary repairs and restoration of the materiel, and our crew was sent for a month to the Crimea to rest. We plunged onto the Black Sea PRTB and went 4 days to Sevastopol through the Bosphorus. In Sevastopol, we were greeted by a wife’s command, and now we were with them. The conscripts were placed in the barracks (where a memorable bust of P.Koshke), and the officer and midshipmen and their wives went to Yalta, but not to the sanatorium, where at that time there was another crew (B-105), and to a rest house. The trouble was the enormous stairs in front of the house, which the atrophied legs of the submariners could not overpower in one step, the lack of hot water and the icy cold (due to the lack of normal water supply, many wives “flew”). The food in this DO was lousy, but we quickly adapted - went to local restaurants, where there was an excellent and very cheap cuisine (the season had not yet arrived - April), we ate shashlyk, ribs and other meat delicacies. Sparkling Bottle for Dinner - 1 rub. 40 cop.!
The special medical commission ran over us, tested them like rabbits, and later found out that they studied us as experimental subjects in order to identify the consequences of the long-term presence and working of a person in a closed, very limited space in one team. As it turned out, for the needs of astronautics.
In fact, 3 lasted for free for officers for weeks, and one week everyone had to otdezhurit in the barracks of Sevastopol with personnel in order to maintain discipline and order, and conscripts sometimes hooligans - young, adrenaline after sitting in the “iron barrel” pret A month later, we were again put on the NK and sent to Alexandria to take the boat and forth to the BS.
So, in May 74, we again went to the BS for the next 3-month cycle. Began to affect psychological fatigue. But the body is already familiar, automatically performed the work. He got used to the elevated temperature in the compartments, and the doctor at 27 gr. I began to climb into bed under the blanket, he was getting cold. About medical care. Oddly enough, none of the crew was sick (not counting skin acne from motor mechanics). Obviously, infections were nowhere to enter the closed volume. But the doctor began to worry - the second half of the autonomy, but he had not yet accomplished the feat. Then he began to bypass all the crew members in turn and be interested in their well-being, especially complaints of any pain. And of course I found what I was looking for - one electrician showed signs of appendicitis. Reported to the commander - need an operation. Reported to the floating base - from there they asked, "Can you do it yourself?". Doc answered the commander yes. The case began in the evening, lay on an even keel at a depth of 80 m, began to prepare the operating room, which served as a mess-room, she is an officer’s canteen. 2 hours washed, cleaned, installed spotlights, pulled the sheets on the ceiling, so that cockroaches and condensate from it did not fall down. The doctor needed an assistant for the operation; on schedule, he should be a medical chemist, we had a sailor-conscript. And here there was an incident. Chemist gone - no, and can not find. I also turned to the search and found it clogged for the farthest rack torpedo. I say - get out and surgery. He is in moans and snot, speaks for nothing. What's the matter? I said, I am afraid of blood from childhood, and when I see it faint I fall down. I to the doctor, I explain a situation. He was confused, asked me to assist him. I explain to the dock that I can serve as an assistant, I am not afraid of blood, but as the commander of the warhead communications, at any time I have to be on a radio broadcast or a communication session, and the duration of the operation is unpredictable. Then I remembered that my subordinate signaling officer, ZASovets, finished the 2 course of the medical institute before the call, and after his consent, he immediately recommended him to the doctor. On that and decided. The operation began after midnight. But it lasted an unusually long time; at first, the dock could not find the ill-fated appendix at all; it turned out to be somehow wrapped up, and, having found it, made sure that it was really purulent, phlegmonous, it needed to be urgently removed. In general, the operation was completed somewhere in the morning at 5. The operated was moved behind the wall onto the navigator's bed, he was on watch, the groupman was resting elsewhere. Doc went down and did not leave the sailor round the clock for 3 days, until he farted. In general, his dock came out as a child. The feat to the dock was counted according to his report.
This third 3x-month BS cycle passed without incident, and at the end of July 74 was sent to Syrian Tartus for rest and current repairs. Moored to the PM, a veteran who still serves in Tartus. Lived on the PM. They were released to the city in groups of 5 people and only in civilian clothes. Issued currency for purchases. The Syrians, unlike the Egyptians, have treated us very well. Not deceived, treated with respect. The restaurants fed very tasty, the fee was moderate. There was some tension with alcohol, but we quickly found out that the most optimal alcohol was coffee brandy for 3 pounds. In the shops they secretly sold us porn magazines, which was unusual for us, but the case was strictly monitored by the local Black Sea special, they confiscated everything they found, they took the owners on record. The currency was mainly spent on high-quality gold products for wives and women's haberdashery.
The situation in the port was tense, constantly carrying anti-sabotage watch, feared Israeli submarine saboteurs. Therefore, the "famous" with the incident. Outnumbered by the monotony, the junior navigator, lieutenant, decided to have fun, to recall his experience in scuba diving, since the boat had a 2 LAN kit. Developed a whole secret plan: he persuaded the miner to insure him with the end of the logging fence, warned two of our boat watch PDSS, who with machine guns stood in the stern and in the nose, so that they were silent, dragged the LAN kit through the flap under the light body, and identified time - lunch and afternoon rest until 14.45. At this time, undressed under the light hull, put on scuba gear and ploped into the water behind the boat. He did not find anything interesting in the water, only snags, besides, the water was very muddy, with a yellow suspension. He made a circle around the boat, but air bubbles began to emit it, and he did not take into account that not only the alerted watch of the watch, but also the watch of the PM would observe them. One of them noticed this trace, shouted at the boat watch, he gestured to him - keep quiet, they say. But the PM watchman did not understand him (the Kazakh was), and raised the alarm. Miner understood the danger and pulled the end, get out, that's enough. The lieutenant quietly got out, dived into the hatch and changed clothes. The aqualung had to be left in place, but now only wet hair could give out the diver. But he normally crossed over to the PM-ku and began to observe the development of events from the PM deck.
At this time, the watch of PM-ki reported on command about the trail of an underwater saboteur, a superfight assistant commander of the PM jumped out onto the deck, gave several bursts of water rifles. Ineffective. Then the assistant ordered to bring grenades, but they were left without fuses. The fuses were locked under the key of a midshipman-gunsmith, who at that time went to the beach by bus. After any lengthy fuss, the fuses still got out, and the assistant threw the first grenade into the water, then the second, the commotion began. The nearby saboteur lieutenant laughed, and when asked by the assistant what the matter was, he was glad that the boat would be delayed for repairs in Tartus, since the rulers had already blown off the grenades from the boat. The assistant turned pale and ran to the commander of the detachment at the command post, from which the command had already been received to stop firing and grenade throwing, and all those present were summoned for questioning. By this time the detachment commander had already managed to report to the Navy General Staff about the detection of underwater saboteurs. The squadron, conducting the investigation, could not understand anything, until he came across the watchman PM-ki - a Kazakh, and in persistent conversation did not find out what he saw on the deck of the boat officer’s boat and recognized the lieutenant by sight. Sasha's hair is not completely dry yet. Then a purposeful interrogation with the involvement of a special person went, I had to admit everything. The poor lieutenant (fun, a joker, a good specialist) was sent by plane to the Soviet Union, another group of CU-1 came to us.
After Syria, we had a little bit to carry the BS, but as a punishment for breaching discipline, the further transfer of the Mediterranean to Gibraltar and then home was given to us by the brigade chief, who was supposed to "restore order" on the ship. Personally, I and the navigator, he exhausted the last nerves. In addition, at the end we had a very meager food ration, the food did not go down the throat, despite the hunger. Then, on land, I determined that I had lost weight on 20 kg, was thin as a sliver. On the way back, we again fell into a storm, but everything worked out. Well, that even on the way I began to print reports for a year's BS, it was great for me to help me then deliver them on time.
Returned to the base 8 in October 1974, i.e. in 388 days. It was snowing, we were ordered to build up on the pier in clothing in the form of 3 in jackets. They barely found them, there were few ties, they put on all sorts of rags and moldy crumpled caps, many in slippers. Before the formation, V.Chernavin read the speech of the commander of the fleet for a long time; I don’t remember what it was, it was incredibly banging me out of the cold, for the first time in my life I felt an involuntary clanging of teeth - my jaws were beating. The position was saved by some sailor who threw a greatcoat over me from a junior mechanic, who noticed my condition. After official speeches, we were allowed to have wives, and I felt - BACK.
----------------------------------------------
Answers to questions
Conscripts served then on 3 year. On the eve of the autonomous car, those who remained to serve less than a year mysteriously disappeared from the boat, under various pretexts, they were quietly transferred to other submarines or a berbasa. So the rest, in principle, fit in time for DMB.
We had anti-ship torpedoes oxygen 53-65K. Training shots at the BS were performed only once, somewhere at the end of the autonomous system, when the 5-th OPESK was already commanded by V.Ikimov. ("Red Kurt"). The target was the 68-encore cruiser, but the attack somehow didn’t work out, was delayed, because the board already had a senior commander in charge, and the loss of command was worse. In addition, the miner had a nuisance - some spindle soured, as a result, the omega did not work, and instead of + 58 the torpedo went to the old -8 gr. About neotrabotka spindle learned, of course, after the "PI". On the analysis, Akimov arranged for a dressing out to our chief of staff, well, and then he won back at us.
Unfortunately, I don’t remember the circumstances of getting a practical torpedo, sorry, because almost 40 years have passed. But the preparation itself was some kind of transient, emergency. I suppose that energetic Akimov, who came to the command of 5 OPEC at this time, decided to "shake up" the squadron and quickly and quickly organize practical shooting. Where did they get this torpedo and who checked it - God knows it. I did not remember any preparation.
In our base, in a hurry, we took on board MG-24, MG-34 and GPA devices. Then, in the process of sailing, I opened their battery compartments and made sure that all the batteries were hopelessly leaking, I took them out, but there was already nothing to replace, especially since the Mars elements needed to be replaced and soldered. Therefore, neither MG-24 nor MG-34 could be used. Actually, the anti-submarines did not pursue us, and the effectiveness of these devices was still very low (from the experience of previous voyages). The main salvation from antisubmarine remained maneuver, speed and invention of the commander.
ShPS MG-10M was 2-x band, but, of course, it was best of all enough at low frequencies. There were no problems with its operation, but at the end of the autonomous circuit there was a need to change the preamplifier blocks, where transistors became noisy. There was some reserve, but they could not replace everything. Much worse was the fact that they discovered the zeroing of the insulation of a dozen antenna receivers. It turned out that the streams of water between the strong and lightweight body broke off the metal covers of the “carrot” cable entries from the fastening, and they dangled and cut the insulation of the cables. They cut off these covers and threw them away; no new zeroing was observed.
The lamp MG-200 turned out to be practically useless, the SSBN either did not hear at all, or very little, but it was heated like a samovar. She had problems with the hydraulics system - the antenna sagged on the angle of inclination. Constantly because of the high humidity, its explosive part of the generator broke down, then there was a breakdown, then there were transformers, other elements. GL was used on SSBNs once, 2 packages were given, the echoes were weak, blurred, the distance was of the order of 20 kb, but the American jerked as if he had been splashed in the backside.
Of the troubles, the instability of sealing the feeder nodes at great depths - from 200 m and below - was the most annoying. The feeder connection of Willow flowed with water (on the deck under the casing), and we immediately lost our long-range antenna, it was necessary to disassemble and drain the connection, of course, only in the surface position. The “Chestnut” receiving and transmitting device flowed on the bridge, and in the NP the watch officer had to shout down commands and through an intermediary in the conning tower until the radio operator opened and drained the “pedal” Chestnut on the bridge. But the pin was always flooded in general, and it was not possible to fix it to work on the transfer, it only worked for the reception.
AB charging was performed, as a rule, after three days at night before dawn, if before that only went to the EC. The main thing at this time was not to get caught on the appearance of the anti-submarine Orion, otherwise it was necessary to interrupt and dive it, which is, of course, undesirable for AB. During the same time, garbage was thrown through the upper bunker.
The service was carried in the usual way according to BG No. 2, in three shifts, 1 change on watch, 2 others either sleep, or are engaged in a planned power supply and maintenance. "Dormant" were deputy. com p / h, doctor, head of the RTS - com. BC-4, OSNAZ group, chemist-medical instructor. During the course under the RDP, all officers were involved in the periscope watch. 2-x-shift was the navigators and Kokov, it is, of course, hard. With the report acoustics about the detection of an underwater target, BT was announced, switched to BG No. 1.
Free time, oddly enough, it was a little, and it was spent, as a rule, on dop.son, the game of backgammon, washing up, reading, self-training in the specialty. Special training sessions were constantly held, once a week - a holy political lesson, cap tortured officers with tactical training lessons. The main entertainment was the enslavement with the onset of darkness, smokers rushed upstairs, the sailors threw away all the accumulated filth, the boat was ventilated with fresh air. After that, the free gamblers played backgammon.
Of the additional DDs were paid underwater (in my opinion, 20%), behind the North Cape-Bear Sea ND line in the amount of 50%, of which some are in currency, if an order was received to call at a foreign port, + sea ration in kind. In the 5 year of service, I am in the rank of lieutenant commander and positions com. BC PL received about 750 rubles. ("Brezhnev"), which today roughly corresponds to 75 thousand rubles.
Once we were given a go-ahead for the mooring to the NK for washing l / s. The weather was calm, the sun was shining, moored without problems, I don’t remember what kind of ship it was - not a destroyer, not a cruiser, but it had a large shower chamber without cabins, with sprinklers at the top of the pipes. We managed to wash with fresh water. More such an opportunity is not provided. The second case of mooring at sea occurred already on the return route, when they were on a warrant, somewhere abeam the Bay of Biscay. We had to be transplanted to the floating base of the chief of staff, whom the brigade commander had requested to compile a report of the brigade for the BS. Stormy, and we took the ladder with great difficulty, trying to quickly dispatch the chieftain who was "stupid" and with a hidden chill of horror from "throwing" the boat on the waves, God forbid hit the board of the PB. But everything turned out, in addition, the chief of staff on the ladder broke his leg when crossing.
Were at the board for long, but we thought it was a whole eternity.
At the PM, they were only in the base in Tartus, they lived in her cabins and ate in her canteen.
Of the features of the existence of a durable housing under water on the diesel-electric submarines I will note such a negative factor as the vile air quality on the second - third day. The assistant saved the regeneration plates (when they still have to replenish their supply) and did not order to replace them until the last, when they were already “floating” in the RDU. The concentration of CO2 reached 3 - 4%, he forbade the chemist to report the results of measurements with a gas analyzer, but the chemist informed me "secretly". And so it was clear - breathing was becoming difficult. If we consider that there were other harmful gases in the air (from AB and other devices), as well as sweaty evaporation of 80-ti crew bodies, the harmfulness of this atmosphere can not be overestimated. The nose gets used to the constant stench, and it was only possible to assess the degree of this high stinkiness when surfacing and starting the forced ventilation system. Blow stinky sledgehammer on the nose.
From accidents with l / s forever crashed into the memory of a case with a shock of the radiometrist. In the PC, he decided to examine the ICT CRT's approach to the ICT, pulled the CRT block up and reached down with his hand, which with its inner forearm fell on the pins of the built-in 220 B socket, which remained under power, even when the radar was off. The metrist hung from the electric shock and began to shake. Fortunately, there was a second number next to it, which was not for the body, but for the T-shirt that pulled it away from the device case. The metrist was unconscious. Immediately he was taken to the saloon by the doctor, laid on the table. The foreman stopped breathing, and our thin doctor heroically did artificial respiration for him for almost 40 minutes! We have already lost all hope, but the doctor stubbornly pushed and blew, pushed and blew, all in sweat and exhaustion. And the metrist came to life, breathing, then regained consciousness. The doctor began to nurse him. On the victim's hand, a necrotic funnel with an area of 3-hopy coin was formed, which threatened the defeat of the tendons and further necrosis. Doc stubbornly put a bandage on him with Shostakovsky balm until he achieved a wound cleansing. In general, there was a man.
Here we would have such doctors as Sergei Kirillov.
In general, boats pr.641 proved to be a successful project, reliable in general operation. If you do not take into account the explosion of torpedoes on the B-37 in 1962 (i.e. the reason is not in the boat) and fire on B-31 to 1967 g. (due to the negligence of the foreman, who filled the canister with a gasoline lighter and struck it), all the other boats of this project did not have major accidents with casualties. We were able to make sure of the reliability of the hull when the submarine suddenly failed in depth. I was at that time in the 3 compartment (CPU) and managed to notice that the depth gauge needle jerked over the 300 mark. The boat hull cracked like a compressible walnut (it was deformed by the inner skin), the sliding doors of the rooms jammed. I did not even look for my IDA, I thought, death will be instantaneous. The position was saved by the watch mechanic Ivan Kaminsky, who instantly made the decision to ascend and take the most complete turn. The boat trembled and huddled with the whole body, and we together with it, never had to feel this again. And we jumped out of this failed trap. That's where I had to cross!
The B-440 had quiet and low compact diesel engines 2Д42, a remarkable product; reliable long-range radio transmitter, good radio receivers, but with an unimportant voice recorder; very good PSS MG-10M (albeit with one ASC, but acoustics were preferred by RU), but the Comet tape recorder for recording noises was lousy, and the recording was a mandatory confirmation of the contact; good old search "Nakat", we monitored the cleanliness of the enclosure and therefore there was always a good isolation of the reception detectors, and did not allow Orion to burn the detectors with a strong signal; The Albatross radar was used only for navigation purposes, at times it was capricious, but with current repairs they corrected the situation. The powerful 17-meter Willow antenna proved resistant to storms, but only in the raised position. On a nearby boat on the crossing during a wild storm, a recumbent willow blew off the stoppers and hit the hull.
In general, this submarine proved to be reliable - the brainchild of Soviet shipbuilding, and I am grateful for this to our shipbuilders. But like any technical work, of course, she demanded conscientious and competent operators, and we tried to be like that, for which she saved our lives.
Information