The R-13 was a submarine-launched ballistic missile

Submarine-launched ballistic missile

A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...

 (SLBM) developed by the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 starting around 1955. It was assigned the NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

 SS-N-4 Sark and carried the GRAU

Grau

Grau is a German word meaning "gray" and a Catalan word meaning "grade". It may refer to:* BAP Almirante Grau , a De Zeven Provinciën class cruiser in service with the Peruvian Navy* Grau Käse, Tyrolean grey cheese...

 index 4K50.

History

Development of the R-13 was authorised by the Soviet Supreme Council on 25 July 1955 for use on the Project 629 and Project 658 submarines. The design work was started by OKB-1

S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia

OAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia , also known as RKK Energiya, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components...

 under Sergei Korolev before being transferred to CB Miasskoe engineering / Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau

Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau

The Makeyev Design Bureau is a Russian missile design company located at in Miass, Russia. Opened in December 1947 as SKB-385, the company is the main designer of submarine-launched ballistic missiles in Russia. The organization was named in honor of Victor Makeyev. Its full official name is...

(chief designer - Viktor Makeyev). Final technical specifications was approved by 11 January 1956. Serial production was undertaken at Zlatoust Machinery 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

Scud

Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...

 missile, which caused some confusion in Western intelligence services during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

. The missiles were phased out from 1965 to 1975.

This missile was the first Soviet design to use a small set of rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 engines to perform course and trajectory alterations instead of aerodynamic control surface

Control surface

In the domain of digital audio, a control surface is a human interface device which allows the user to control a digital audio workstation or other digital audio application. Generally, a control surface will contain one or more controls that can be assigned to parameters in the software,...

s, although a set of four stabilizer

Stabilizer (aircraft)

In aviation, a stabilizer provides stability when the aircraft is flying straight, and the airfoil of the horizontal stabilizer balances the forces acting on the aircraft....

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.

Specifications

• Length: 11.8 m (38 ft 9 in)
• Diameter: 1.3 m (4 ft 3 in)
• Diameter (to stabilizers): 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in)
• Launch weight: 13.7 t
• Warhead: single nuclear: 1.2 to 2.0 Mt (perhaps as low as 1.0 Mt)
• Propulsion: liquid-fuel rocket, single stage
  • Fuel: AK-271
  • Oxidizer: TG-02
• Range: about 600 km (372.8 mi)
• Launching technique: surfaced
• CEP
  Circular error probable
  In the military science of ballistics, circular error probable is an intuitive measure of a weapon system's precision...
  
  : 1.8 to 4 km (1.1 to 2.5 miles)