Foxtrot class submarine (Picture Heavy)

[Kapitan]

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

In 1957 the first of a class of 74 boats was laid down and launched, known to the Soviets as Project 641 these would become known to NATO as the Foxtrot class.
Designed to replace the now ageing Zulu as pictured IMG_0267 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Whiskey and the Experimental Quebec class submarines these submarines were to be a lot larger in size and have much greater range, in fact such was the range of these submarines that at a steady 7 to 8 knots they could almost circumnavigate the globe at the equator, some 20,000 nautical miles.

The Foxtrot was and still is to me a nice looking boat, despite its flaws and obsolescence these boats became the most widely used and encountered conventional boats of the cold war, the submarine is large on the outside to give you some idea it is actually longer than the British Trafalgar class SSN and yet despite the size inside is a whole new story.

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

The foxtrots would come to fame when four of the boats were sent secretly to Cuba in 1962 to bolster the Cuban government after it feared an invasion by the United States it was code named Anadyr.

Each of the four submarines were armed with a nuclear tipped torpedo each submarine captain Nikolai Shumkov, Ryurik Ketov, Alexei Dubivko, and Igor Savitsky had independent authority to fire these weapons provided they had full agreement with the Political officer and the 2nd in command, onboard the submarine B59 the Captain and Political officer wanted to fire it however one man Vasili Arkhipov refused to order the firing and thus stopped the situation from becoming war.

Foxtrot Class submarine B821 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

I start the free range tour in the Torpedo compartment, today a single torpedo is on display and there is a fair amount of room here although when this submarine was operational it would have had all its tubes loaded with up to another 22 torpedoes ready to be reloaded into the bow and stern tubes.
This is no mean feat getting into one of the tubes is quite a task in itself something of a novelty in reality.

Inside the Foxtrot by Blair shaw, on Flickr

These submarines were built with operations in cold north Atlantic waters in mind, these submarines were never built to endure the tropical heat of the Caribbean, yet these submarines and their 80 man crews all had to face temperatures in excess of 110*F while submerged for 3 or 4 days at a time relying on snorkelling to remain undetected.
Despite their best efforts they had been followed not by another submarine but by SOSUS, the foxtrot with their triple screw arrangement made for one heck of a noisy submarine, and as many of us know he who makes a sound first dies first.

As I move closer to the rear of the submarine we come in contact with the various stations such as the sonar Radar and officers cabins and crews mess the layout looks almost like a straight out German U boat, and at the end we enter the control room now a quiet relic but in its day a full time Hussle and bustle of men and activity.

Foxtrot Class submarine B821 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Up to 30 men could work in the space of an average size bedroom 24 hours a day for the length of the patrol, if you wanted privacy this wasn’t the place for it, the amount of valves wheels and levers gives you some idea that in all honesty it would take some brain power to remember everything it must have been a mission in itself to just dive and trim the submarine let alone anything else.

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

I took the opportunity to look through the scope and target the light ship west hinder and the apartment building behind.

Foxtrot Class submarine B821 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

With a crew of 80 the foxtrots would be very cramped hot bunking was in place and having a shower was perhaps for some a weekly occurrence, fresh water was limited so only the necessaries was done everything else had to wait.

Moving backwards we come to the engineering spaces and the three 2,000shp diesel engine giving the Foxtrot a top speed of 15 knots on the surface, what is noticeable is that the three engines are slightly offset to allow passage through the compartment and I am guessing these engines wouldn’t be the easiest to work on given the position especially the starboard inner engine tucked in the corner.

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Despite the short comings of the boats being noisy and by the 60’s obsolete production pressed on with the last one commissioning in 1971 a total of 74 were built some 58 saw service with the Soviet navies others were exported to other nations such as India, Algeria and Cuba later during the collapse of the Soviet Union some boats would pass down to the now freed Warsaw pact countries notable Ukraine and Poland.

Despite the age of the design the Foxtrots still saw service into the new millennium nearly 50 years since the first one launched and in 2003 saw the last Polish submarine the Dzilk decommission from service after 37 years active service, but wait !

In 2014 the sole submarine of the Ukrainian navy was handed over to the Russian navy during the ongoing Crimean crisis in Sevastopol she too was a Foxtrot named Zaporizhzhia launched in 1970 she had served out 44 years of duty the longest of any Foxtrot and today remains in the Hands of the Black sea fleet although not in active service I might add.

Coming to the end of the submarine you pass by the electric motors and the control equipment it is a little odd and yes playing with the wheel and buttons are a must, these motors drive 3 propellers, each outer motor is rated to 1300hp (1,000kw) while the centre shaft has a more powerful 2700hp (2000kw) motor diving the centre shaft and propeller.

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

Now we realise it is time to enter the very last aft compartment home to four torpedo tubes and likely a mess area for the engineers a lot of the auxiliary equipment is here and this is probably one of the nosiest places on the boats other than the diesel engines, it’s a cramped room full of all odds and ends its clear as you walk through the boat is built for one purpose its no cruise ship with luxury cabins its clear the crew are of secondary importance and as such are afforded little or no comfort that we see on the later nuclear boats.

Foxtrot Class submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

What strikes me is the simplicity of the vessel its almost the same as what I saw in Laboe on the U995 her hull is of similar shape minus the deck guns and the interior layout looks almost like a German U boat would.

I like the Foxtrot class they would be good for hunting merchant shipping against something of similar vintage like the British Oberon class I don’t think they would have had a lot of chance, despite this some of these boats saw service into the mid 1990’s under the Russian navy the last one bowed out of service in 2014 giving it over half a century of service it even outlasted its replacement the Project 641B Tango but that’s another time.

The submarine I am on is known as B-143 although sources differ, what is known is that she was laid down in the Leningrad yard 196 in 1959, launched in 1960 and decommissioned in 1991 serving her time mainly with the Baltic fleet.

Another submarine is nearby my house also of the Foxtrot class B49 laid up in Rochester Kent she is in somewhat a state of decay.

Soviet foxtrot class Submarine by Blair shaw, on Flickr

[Mr Quatro]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

Whiskey and the Experimental Quebec class submarines these submarines were to be a lot larger in size and have much greater range, in fact such was the range of these submarines that at a steady 7 to 8 knots they could almost circumnavigate the globe at the equator, some 20,000 nautical miles.

Foxtrot Class submarine B821 by Blair shaw, on Flickr

I start the free range tour in the Torpedo compartment, today a single torpedo is on display and there is a fair amount of room here although when this submarine was operational it would have had all its tubes loaded with up to another 22 torpedoes ready to be reloaded into the bow and stern tubes.
This is no mean feat getting into one of the tubes is quite a task in itself something of a novelty in reality.

Inside the Foxtrot by Blair shaw, on Flickr

I noticed the cone shape on the torpedo tube's outer door instead of the normal small curved door's on other submarine's. I wonder if this was to accommodate the actual screw of the fish itself, which of course is tampered at that end, meaning that the tube's design would not have to be the full length of the fish.

Surely at one time or another even the Russian Navy had to experience a torpedo hot in the tube that did not complete it's firing sequence. This would've made for a very interesting sea story I'm sure.

in fact such was the range of these submarines that at a steady 7 to 8 knots they could almost circumnavigate the globe at the equator, some 20,000 nautical miles.

In theory, but not reality yes!

Good reporting and documentation Kapitan ... you would come in handy for any future movies about the Cold War for sure

[Jimbuna]

Another quality, detailed and welcome presentation

[Commander Wallace]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Another quality, detailed and welcome presentation

I couldn't say it any better. Thanks for posting the pictures and narrative.

[Kapitan]

Thanks guys have a new one for you too.

[speed150mph]

Very nice, wish I could make it down to one if these subs.

One minor correction: when you were talking about the cuban missile crisis it should be noted that on most of the submarines, only the captain and political officer needed to authorize the use of the nuclear torpedo. B59 was a special case as Arkhipov, in addition to being the XO of B59, was actually the designated flotilla commander. This gave him joint authority with the captain in all tactical matters including nuclear weapon use.

Scary to think that if the same thing happened on any one of the other 3 submarines the weapon would have been used as only the CO and PO needed to agree. This happened on the only submarine in the crisis that needed 3 people to agree.

[Kapitan]

Indeed prior to leaving port the officers made a pact that's according to Ketov