Interestingly, before entering WWII (1939-1945), the Soviet Union managed more submarine fleets than Germany. However, in a conflict that began in June 1941 between the two adversaries against each other, the communist state did relatively little with this underwater force.
After the war, in the arms race with the West, Soviet authorities focused more on the submarine forcesubmarines became the vanguard of the Soviet Navy, and many of its early forms were heavily influenced by captured German wartime designs. As such, they generally fell behind their contemporaries in performance and technology until around the 1970s, when more and more designs began to emerge that began to eclipse anything in the West.
Shortly after the war, the Soviet Navy embarked on a massive construction program for a large group of submarines known as "Project 613" (NATO codename "Whiskey-class"). By then, during the Soviet reorganization of the 1930s, the Navy had completed about 56 S-class speedboats and even 88 Shchuka-class speedboats.
There are 215 ships in the whisky class (an increase of 21 to the total, also locally produced in China), and there are five main variants although they are a far cry from the 340 ships originally sought by the Soviet authorities.
Design work on the new group began in 1946 and involved modifications to the German Kriegsboot Type XXI (detailed elsewhere on this site). Construction of this class spanned from 1949 to 1958, and when completed, the ships displace 1,080 tons when surfaced and 1,350 tons underwater, and measure 76 meters long, 6.3 meters wide, and 6.3 meters deep. , covering 4.9 meters.
A standard crew consists of 54 people (in some later versions this was added).
Propulsion is conventional and includes a diesel-electric combination, with the diesel unit supporting the vessel during surface travel, and the electric motor propelling the vessel underwater. To do this, the boat must surface to charge the batteries and vent the accumulated carbon dioxide gas. Surface speed reached 18 knots and submerged speed dropped to 7 knots - a common feature of early submarines (later submarines reversed this trend by offering higher underwater speeds and reduced surface speeds). The operational range is 13,500 nautical miles surface and 6,000 nautical miles underwater - enough to supply the crew for 40-45 days of patrolling.
By design, the Whiskey Grade is primarily used for coastal patrols, although her role is intended to extend her entire service career.
In terms of armament, the Whiskey class continues the established attack submarine tradition with 6 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes on four bow mounts (forward) and carries two 12 torpedoes The loader, although replaced with 22 mines if necessary. Like other WWII-era attack submarines, the Whiskey-class carries surface guns, which initially consisted of a single 25mm gun.
Later models of the group introduced the 57mm naval gun, and later versions still supported the SS-N-3 family of cruise missiles, when the technology became available to Soviet submarines - a shift that occurred mainly in the 1950s and 1960s.
The main variants of the whisky category are called 'Whiskey I', 'Whiskey II', 'Whiskey III', 'Whiskey IV' and 'Whiskey V'. The Whiskey I was initially the Whiskey Boat with a 25mm deck weapon, followed by the Whiskey II with a 57mm rifled gun.
The Whiskey III batch removed all deck weapons, and the Whiskey IV brought snorkeling. Whiskey V-boats have no deck arms, but are equipped with snorkels and feature more streamlined sails.
While there were thoroughly conventional ships at the start of the Cold War, it wasn't until the line expanded to include missile launchers (Type 644) that the Whiskey class became a significant threat to the West. Refit work began in 1956 with a boat as a prototype. Between 1958 and 1960, a launch tube was added to the rear of the conning tower housing 1 x SS-N-3 cruise missile, and six ships followed this standard - the main difference from this group was the two rocket launch tubes, This makes them known as whisky. Two-cylinder submarine. Despite the launch tube configuration, the modified submarine must still surface to fire missile guns at land-based targets (a requirement no longer met by modern missile attack submarines).
The line was maintained again from 1960 to 1963 when the ship's sails were lengthened to accommodate up to four cruise missiles. Its expansion has earned it the title of "Long Bin" (Project 655) whisky in the West.
Other special mission submarines are built on demand, including a form modified for use in special forces insertion/extraction operations.
The whisky grade was sold to various countries allied with the Soviet Union, including Albania, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Indonesia, North Korea, and Poland - about 45 of them are said to be operating under non-Soviet flags and have all owned since that article Writing (2015) since retirement. The Chinese version includes five and twenty-one locally produced boats received directly from the Soviet Union - the model is known as the "Type 03".
Soviet Whiskey-class ships were used until the end of the Cold War (1991), after which they were all abandoned in the post-Soviet chaos, with their various service branches suffering little or no funding for modernization or replacement.
The Whiskey class was eventually replaced by two new groups in the Romeo and Juliet classes, arriving in the 1950s and 1960s respectively - the former to replace the standard Whiskey patrol boats and the latter to replace the Whiskey missile carrier.
- Blue Water Operations
- Fleet Support
- Hunter
- direct attack
249.3 ft (75.99 m)
6.31m
16 feet (4.88 m)
1,080 tons
1,350 tons
19 kn (21 mph)
13 knots (14.96 miles)
13,499 nautical miles (15,534 miles; 25,000 km)
4 x 533 mm (21 in) bow-facing torpedo tubes (12 reloads or 22 mines).
2 x 533 mm (21") torpedo tubes (later removed).
1 x 25mm deck gun (Whiskey I, II and IV)
Post conversion:
1 x 57mm Deck Gun (Whiskey II)
2 or 3 x SS-N-3 cruise missiles ("Whiskey Twins" and Whiskey "Longbins" respectively).
No.