Typhoon class submarine

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Career
Typhoon class submarine at sea -->
Ordered:	?
Laid down:	March 3, 1977
Launched:	September 23, 1980
Commissioned:	December 12 1981
General Characteristics
Length:
Beam:
Draft:
Displacement:	Surfaced: 23,200-24,500 tonnes Submerged: 33,800-48,000 tonnes
Propulsion:	OK-650 pressurized-water nuclear reactors → each 2×VV-type steam turbines →37 megawatt each 2 propellers
Complement:	163 men
Armament:	1×9K38 Igla SAM 4×650 mm torpedo tubes →RPK-7 Vodopad AShMs →Type 65K torpedoes 2×533 mm torpedo tubes →RPK-2 Viyoga cruise missiles →Type 53 torpedoes^{[#endnote_Armament]} D-19 launch system →20×RSM-52 SLBMs
Speed:	Submerged: 27 knots
Maximum depth:

The Typhoon class submarine was a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. With a maximum displacement of 48,000 tonnes, Typhoons are the largest class of submarine ever built. The NATO reporting name stems from the use of the word "typhoon" (тайфун) by Leonid Brezhnev in a 1974 speech while describing a new type of nuclear ballistic missile submarine. The Typhoon class was developed under Project 941 as the Russian Akula class (Акула), meaning shark. It is sometimed mixed up with other submarines, as Akula is the name NATO uses to designate the Russian Project 971 Shooka-B (Щука-Б) class attack submarines.

Typhoon submarines are one of the quietest sea vessels in operation, being quieter and yet more maneuverable than their predecessors. This is partly due to the vessels' large size, which allows them to minimize noise caused by water. Besides their missile armament, the Typhoon class features six torpedo tubes; two are designed to handle RPK-2 (SS-N-15) missiles or Type 53 torpedoes, and the other four are designed to launch RPK-7 (SS-N-16) missiles, Type 65 torpedoes, or mines. A Typhoon class submarine can stay submerged for periods up to 180 days in normal conditions, and potentially more if necessity arises (e.g. nuclear war).

Typhoon class submarines feature multiple pressure hulls that simplify internal design while making the vessel much wider than a normal submarine. In the main body of the sub, two Delta class titanium pressure hulls lie parallel with a third, smaller pressure hull above them (which protrudes just below the sail), and two other pressure hulls for torpedoes and steering gear. This also greatly increases their survivability - even if one pressure hull is breached, the crew members in the other are safe and there is less potential for flooding. High internal volume also allows Typhoon class submarines to provide good conditions for their crews, including sport facilities, sauna, swimming pool and a smoking room.

Six Typhoon class submarines were built, with each carrying 20 R-39 missiles (SS-N-20) with a maximum of 10 MIRV nuclear warheads each. Originally, the submarines were designated by hull numbers only. Names were later assigned to the four vessels retained by the Russian Navy, which were sponsored by either a city or company. The construction of an additional vessel (hull number TK-210) was cancelled and never completed. Only the first of these submarines to be constructed, the Dmitry Donskoi, is still in service with the Russian Navy, serving as a test platform for the Bulava (SS-NX-30) missile currently under development. All the R-39 missiles have been retired. The Typhoons are slated to be replaced with the Borei class starting in 2007.

Contents

1 Vessels
2 Typhoon-based cargo vessel
3 Typhoon class submarines in fiction
4 See also
5 External links
6 Notes

Vessels

*Typhoon* class — significant dates
#	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
TK-208	March 3, 1977	September 23, 1980	December 12, 1981
TK-202	October 1, 1980	April 26, 1982	December 28, 1983
TK-12	April 27, 1982	December 17, 1983	December 27, 1984
TK-13	January 5, 1984	February 21, 1985	December 29, 1985
TK-17	February 24, 1985	August 1986	November 6, 1987
TK-20	January 6, 1987	June 1988	September 1989
TK-210	Cancelled

Typhoon-based cargo vessel

The Submarine Cargo Vessel is a proposed idea by the Rubin Design Bureau where a Typhoon has its missile launchers removed and replaced with cargo holds. The projected cargo capacity of this configuration is 15,000 tonnes.

Typhoon class submarines in fiction

Typhoon class submarine, covered with ice

A fictional Typhoon class submarine called Красный Октябрь (Red October), with enlarged size and fictional silent propulsion system using a Magnetohydrodynamic drive, is the subject of the Tom Clancy novel and movie The Hunt for Red October.

Typhoon submarines are also the subject of a fictional novel, Typhoon, written by Mark Joseph, which is about an attempted takeover of the Soviet Union by rebellious officers using Typhoon submarines to threaten nuclear missile launches on their own country of Russia.

Typhoon class submarines are available as naval units when playing the Soviet faction in the [[Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2]] strategy game - however these were armed only with torpedoes, and were not ballistic missile submarines.

A fictional Typhoon class submarine named the Nikodim is mentioned in [[Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident]] as the drop zone for Artemis Fowl senior on the Kola Peninsula, although this submarine is one of over a hundred in the stretch of coast near Sevoromorsk.

The Typhoon class submarines are the largest and best armed in the shareware game SinkSub Pro. [link]

External links

Notes

↑ Only 20 torpedoes and/or AShMs can be loaded.
↑ TK-208 received the name Dmitri Donskoi.
↑ TK-12 received the name Simbirsk in 2001.
↑ TK-17 received the name Arkhangelsk on November 18, 2002.
↑ TK-20 received the name Severstal.