Tango class submarine
Encyclopedia
- For the pre-1914 submarines also known as the Som class in Russia, see Som class submarineSom class submarineThe Som class were a series of submarines built for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1904-1907. They were designed by the Electric Boat Company and ordered in the 1904 emergency programme at the time of the Russo-Japanese War. The boats were designed to be transportable by train. The first boat, Som,...
.
The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Tango class submarines (Project 641B Som [Catfish]) were the successors to the Foxtrot class submarine
Foxtrot class submarine
The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641....
based in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and Northern Fleet areas. The first of the class was completed in 1972 at Gorky
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
. A total of 18 were built in two slightly different versions. The later type was several metres longer than the first possibly because of installation of ASW missile equipment.
The bow sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
installations appear to be similar to those fitted into Soviet nuclear attack submarines. The propulsion plant was the same as the last subgroup of the Foxtrot class submarine
Foxtrot class submarine
The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641....
. The Tango class had far more battery capacity, far higher than previous conventional submarine class in the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
. As a result, pressure hull volume increased. This allowed an underwater endurance in excess of a week before snorkeling
Submarine snorkel
A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort.-History:...
was required.
Coupled with new armament and sensor fit, the Tango class were ideal for ambush operations against Western nuclear submarines at natural chokepoints.
Because of its all-hull rubber coating, the sub class was nicknamed "rezinka" [rubber]
Construction of this class has now stopped. One unit remains in the Black Sea Fleet but it may have been decommissioned since 2010.
Museum ships
Three 641B class submarines operate as museum ships:- B-307, fully raised on ground - TogliattiTolyattiTolyatti , also known as Togliatti, is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Stavropolsky District, although it is administratively separate from it...
Museum of Technology, Samara, Russia - B-396, afloat in TushinoTushinoTushino is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the southern part of Tushino....
reservoir - MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Navy Museum - B-515 (U-434), afloat in Baakenhafen in Hamburg - museum in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
Conning towers of stricken B-319 and B-474 are on display in Polyarny
Polyarny
Polyarny is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the outermost western side of the Kola Bay. Population: -History:It was founded in 1896 and named Alexandrovsk in honor of Tsar Alexander III. Town status was granted to it on , 1899...
and Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...
.
