Yankee-class submarine
{{Short description|Soviet ballistic missile submarine class}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |sclass=2}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image=300px | Ship caption=Yankee class SSBN profile }} |
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| Ship image=File:Submarine Yankee I class.jpg | Ship caption=A Yankee I submarine underway. }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Yankee class |Builders=Severodvinsk and Komsomolsk |Operators={{navy|Soviet Union}} |Class before={{sclass2|Hotel|submarine|4}} |Class after={{sclass2|Delta|submarine|4}} |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range=1964–1974 |In service range= |In commission range=1967–1995 |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=34 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost=1 |Total ships retired=33 |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Ballistic missile submarine |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=*7,700 tons Surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|132|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|11.6|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|8|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=two pressurized water cooled reactors powering four steam turbines driving two shafts. |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed=*Surfaced: {{convert|13|kn}}
|Ship range=unlimited |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=120 |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*Yankee I/II:4 × {{convert|533|mm|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
The Yankee class, Soviet designations Project 667A Navaga (navaga) and Project 667AU Nalim (burbot) for the basic Yankee-I, were a family of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. In total, 34 units were built: 24 in Severodvinsk for the Northern Fleet and the remaining 10 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for the Pacific Fleet. Two Northern Fleet units were later transferred to the Pacific.
The Yankee-class were subject to a wide variety of modifications; these ships have a different designation to the original model.
Design
The Yankee-class nuclear submarines were the first class of Soviet ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) to have thermonuclear firepower comparable with that of their American and British Polaris submarine counterparts. The Yankee class were quieter in the ocean than were their {{sclass2|Hotel|submarine|0}} predecessors, and had better streamlining that improved their underwater performance. The Yankee class were actually quite similar to the Polaris submarines of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy. These boats were all armed with 16 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) with multiple nuclear warheads as nuclear deterrents during the Cold War, and their ballistic missiles had ranges from {{convert|1500|-|2500|nmi|lk=in}}.
General characteristics (Yankee I)
{{contradictory|date=November 2023}}
{{commons category|Yankee class submarines}}
- Length: {{convert|128|m|abbr=on|0}}
- Beam: {{convert|11.7|m|abbr=on|0}}
- Draught: {{convert|9|m|abbr=on|0}}
- Surface displacement: 7,760 tonnes
- Full (Diving) displacement: 11,500 tonnes
- Speed: {{convert|28|kn}}
- Power plant: 2 VM-4 reactors
- Hull: Low magnetic steel
- Crew: 114
- Compartments: 10
- Armament:
- 4 {{convert|21|in|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes for 14 Type 53 torpedoes or mines.
- 2 {{convert|16|in|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes for 4 Type 40 torpedoes
- 16 SS-N-6 liquid-fueled ballistic missiles
{{clear}}
Operational history
File:Submarine Yankee I damaged.jpg
The Yankee-class SSBNs served in the Soviet Navy in three oceans: the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean beginning in the 1960s. During the 1970s about three Yankee-class were continually on patrol in a so-called "patrol box" in the Atlantic Ocean just east of Bermuda{{cite news|url=http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051230/MIDOCEAN/112300121 |title=Title unknown |newspaper=The Royal Gazette |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060329044818/http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051230/MIDOCEAN/112300121 |archive-date=March 29, 2006 }} and off the US Pacific coast. This forward deployment of the SSBNs was seen to balance the presence of American, British, and French nuclear weapons kept in Western Europe and on warships (including nuclear submarines) in the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Atlantic.
The lead boat K-137 Leninets received its honorific name on 11 April 1970, two and one half years after being commissioned.
One Yankee-class submarine, {{ship|Soviet submarine|K-219||2}}, was lost on 6 October 1986 after an explosion and fire on board. This boat had been at sea near Bermuda, and she sank from loss of buoyancy because of flooding. Four of her sailors died before rescue ships arrived. The events surrounding the loss of this boat has continued to be controversial.
At least one other boat in this class was involved in a collision with a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine.{{Citation needed|reason=very strong source required|date=March 2019}}
Because of their increasing age, and as negotiated in the SALT I, START I and START II treaties that reduce nuclear armaments of the United States and the Soviet Union, all boats of Yankee class were disarmed, decommissioned and sent to the nuclear ship scrapyards.
Variants
There were eight different versions of the Yankee-class submarines:
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Yankee-class submarines{{cite web |title=DEEPSTORM.RU |url=http://www.deepstorm.ru/DeepStorm.files/45-92/nbrs/667A/list.htm |publisher=Deep Storm |access-date=23 November 2023}} !Image !Class !Main Payload !Numbers built !Notes |
| 1967
|Yankee-I |667А "Навага" |SSBN |16 x Р-27 Зыбь |34 |Baseline; first Soviet sub to carry SLBMs in hull, as opposed to the sail. Some were later disarmed and operated as SSNs; sometimes classed as SSNX |
| 1975
|Improved Yankee-I |667АУ "Налим" | |SSBN |16 x Р-27У |13 converted |У/U for Improved ({{Langx|ru|Улучшен}}; Uluchshen) |
| 1977
|Yankee-II |667АМ "Навага-М" |SSBN |12 x Р-31 |1 converted |First Soviet sub to carry solid-fueled SLBMs. Subsequently theorized as emergency satellite-launcher or to strike ships in aircraft carrier battle groups |
| 1987
|Yankee Notch |667АТ "Груша" |32-40 x РК-55 Гранат (SS-N-21 Sampson) |3 converted + 4 unfinished |Lengthened by {{convert|12|m|ft|1}} to {{convert|141.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}; 8 more torpedo tubes in waist |
| 1989 (program cancelled)
|Yankee Sidecar |667М "Андромеда" |SSGN |12 x П-750 Метеорит (SS-NX-24 Scorpion) |1 converted |Delivered as an attack sub due to missile program cancellation. {{convert|153|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, 13,650 tons full displacement |
| 1984
|Yankee Pod |667АК "Аксон-1" |SSAN |Towed array sonar, pod, other sensor systems |1 converted |K-403 Kazan. The tailfin-pod is similar to those of the Щука- and Щука-Б SSNs |
| 1996
|Yankee Big Nose |09780 "Аксон-2" |SSAN |Towed array sonar, Irtysh-Amphora spherical sonar array |1 converted + 1 unfinished (K-415) |Further modified K-403 Kazan. Tail now resembles those of the 667BDRM and 949А submarines. The Irtysh-Amphora would later equip the lead boat of the Yasen-class |
| 1991
|Yankee Stretch |09774/667АН |"Research" Submarine |Палтус-class midget submarine |1 converted (K-411) |{{convert|160|m|ft|abbr=on}} long. Stated to be an oceanographic vessel, but believed to be a spy sub similar to USS Jimmy Carter |
File:A Soviet Yankee Notch Class submarine.jpg|Yankee Notch
File:Submarine Yankee II class.jpg|Yankee II
File:KS-403 Kazan as Akson-2.jpg|Yankee Big Nose
In addition, Soviet/Russian classification includes the Delta-class submarines within the same family of Project 667; Deltas being Project 667B onwards.
{{Further|Delta-class submarine}}
{{clear}}
= Units =
{{Update|inaccurate=yes|table|date=August 2012}}
| class="wikitable"
|+Yankee class — significant dates !# !Project !Shipyard !Laid down !Launched !Commissioned !Status |
| K-137
!667A, 667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |November 4, 1964 |September 11, 1966 |November 6, 1967 |Decommissioned April 3, 1994 for scrappingKorabli VMF SSSR, Vol. 1, Part 1, Yu. Apalkov, Sankt Peterburg, 2003, {{ISBN|5-8172-0069-4}} |
| K-140
!667A, 667AM |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |September 19, 1965 |August 23, 1967 |December 30, 1967 |
| K-26
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |December 30, 1965 |December 23, 1967 |September 3, 1968 |
| K-32
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |February 25, 1966 |April 25, 1968 |October 26, 1968 |
| K-216
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |June 6, 1966 |August 6, 1968 |December 27, 1968 |
| K-207
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |November 4, 1966 |September 20, 1968 |May 30, 1968 |
| K-210
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |December 16, 1966 |December 29, 1968 |August 6, 1969 |
| K-249
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |March 18, 1967 |March 30, 1969 |September 27, 1969 |
| K-253
!667A, 667AT |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |June 26, 1967 |June 5, 1969 |November 28, 1969 |
| K-395
!667A, 667AT |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |September 8, 1967 |July 28, 1969 |December 5, 1969 |
| K-339
!667A |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |February 23, 1968 |June 23, 1969 |December 24, 1969 |
| K-408
!667A, 667AT |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |January 20, 1968 |September 10, 1969 |December 25, 1969 |
| K-411
!667A, 667AN |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |May 25, 1968 |January 16, 1970 |August 31, 1970 |
| K-418
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |June 29, 1968 |March 14, 1970 |September 22, 1970 |
| K-420
!667A, 667M |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |October 12, 1968 |April 25, 1970 |October 29, 1970 |
| K-423
!667A, 667AT |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |January 13, 1969 |April 7, 1970 |November 13, 1970 |
| K-434
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |February 23, 1969 |May 29, 1970 |November 30, 1970 |
| K-426
!667A |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |April 17, 1969 |August 28, 1970 |December 22, 1970 |
| K-236
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |November 6, 1969 |August 4, 1970 |December 27, 1970 |
| K-415
!667A, 667AK-2 |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |July 4, 1969 |September 26, 1970 |December 30, 1970 |
| K-403
!667A, 667AK-1 |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |August 18, 1969 |March 25, 1971 |Decommissioned – Scrapping underway in 2010 {{Coord|64.586|39.8187|type:landmark}}{{failed verification|date=August 2012}} |
| K-389
!667A |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |July 26, 1970 |June 27, 1971 |November 25, 1971 |
| K-245
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |October 16, 1969 |August 9, 1971 |December 16, 1971 |
| K-219
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |May 28, 1970 |October 8, 1971 |Lost October 3, 1986 |
| K-252
!667A |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |December 25, 1970 |September 12, 1971 |December 31, 1971 |
| K-214
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |February 19, 1970 |September 1, 1971 |February 8, 1972 |
| K-228
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |September 4, 1970 |May 3, 1972 |September 30, 1972 |
| K-258
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |March 30, 1971 |May 26, 1972 |September 30, 1972 |
| K-241
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |December 24, 1970 |June 9, 1972 |October 23, 1972 |
| K-444
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |April 8, 1971 |August 1, 1972 |December 23, 1972 |
| K-446
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |November 7, 1971 |August 8, 1972 |January 22, 1973 |
| K-451
!667AU |SEVMASH, Severodvinsk |February 23, 1972 |April 29, 1973 |September 7, 1971 |
| K-436
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |November 7, 1972 |July 25, 1973 |December 5, 1973 |
| K-430
!667AU |Leninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk |July 27, 1973 |July 28, 1974 |December 25, 1974 |
= Popular culture =
In Tom Clancy's 1986 techno-thriller Red Storm Rising, the entire Yankee-class of SSBNs are proposed to be taken out of service and scrapped by the Soviet Union as part of the Maskirovka I, in part to have the United States to do likewise with its own first-generation George Washington class, Ethan Allen class and Lafayette class SSBNs, and allay NATO misgivings of the USSR's intentions.
= References =
{{Reflist}}
= External links =
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20020708140050/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/k19/sub_detail_sov4.html National Geographic: Yankee class] accessed March 14, 2004.
- [http://www.ais.org/~schnars/aero/nato-shp.htm NATO Code Names for Submarines and Ships] accessed March 14, 2004.
- [https://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/667A.htm Federation of American Scientists: Yankee class] accessed June 11, 2006.
- [http://www.bellona.org/reports/The_Russian_Northern_Fleet_report_chapters/1176144563.17 Bellona Report: Project 667 A (Nalim, Navaga) – Yankee Class] accessed June 11, 2006.
- [http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/russia/submar.htm World Navies Today: Russian Submarines] accessed June 11, 2006.
- Jane's Fighting Ships of the World, 1994.
{{Yankee class submarine}}
{{Soviet and Russian submarines after 1945}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yankee Class Submarine}}