Golf (class) / (Project 629)

History

The Golf class succeeded the successful Zulu class ships in service with the Soviet Navy, but was itself succeeded by the Hotel class (eight ships were built). Gulf vessels were in service from 1958 to 1990, with a total of 24 such vessels completed.

The squad found some, albeit limited, use overseas in the hands of the People's Liberation Army Navy (China) and the Korean People's Army Navy (North Korea).

At least 10 Gulf ships were reported to have been sold to North Koreans in or around 1993 (when the Soviets abandoned the series in 1990). When they were scrapped, it is believed that the Navy service attempted (or had attempted) to restore the lines of operational service.

As early as 1959, the Chinese obtained the design rights of the ship from the Soviet Union, but due to the split between China and the Soviet Union, only one (6631 and 031) was built in 1966.

The ex-Zulu class had several hulls for retrofitting missile launchers. This effectively made them the world's first ballistic missile submarines, and the Soviet Union didn't stop there, as the Golf class was intentionally designed as a ballistic missile submarine with three missile tubes for the R-11FM SCUD missiles (these The launch tube can be used as a boat class growth).

The launcher is mounted vertically aft of the sail (just ahead of the midship).

The Golf class has a displacement of 2,800 tons and a submerged displacement of 3,555 tons. The overall length is 323 feet, the beam is 27 feet, and the draft is up to 25.8 feet. Power comes from three 2,000 hp diesel engines and three 5,200 hp electric motors.

These push the triaxial arrangement in the stern. The speed on the water reached 17 knots and the speed below it reached 12 knots. The voyage was limited to 70 days at sea due to fuel and food supplies and crew fatigue (80 crew members). The hull has been tested at a depth of 300 meters (max).

In addition to the missile launch capability, the class retains the traditional torpedo launch mass: 6 x 533 mm torpedo tubes are mounted in the forward position of the bow.

By the mid-1950s, work on golf lessons had begun, although Zulu and whiskey lessons continued to come online. The Foxtrot class, followed by diesel-electric patrol attack submarines, laid the foundation for the Golf class, which borrowed much of its hull design and Zulus missile launch capabilities.

Like the Zulu, the Golf can only fire missiles when it's surfaced (although it can still maintain a slow forward speed during operations).

Both the Severodvinsk and Komsomolsk shipyards were involved in the construction of the Golf class, and the ships remained in service until the mid-1960s, before being converted to the "629A" standard in 1966 (NATO: "Golf II class"). The missile package was upgraded to support the R-21 series introduced in 1963, and these ships can now launch these missiles while they are underwater and moving steadily.

Other changes to the Type 629A include surface displacement (now registered between 2,300 and 2,800 tons) and overall length (to 324 feet) and draft (27.8 feet). Crew numbers also increased by three to 83.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-1991, these ships were removed from the active Soviet Navy inventory and decommissioned. Several other related forms also appeared in the Project 629 series, mostly one-off ships of the series used to test other weapons/components or to serve other important naval roles.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing