Kapitan
07-02-17, 06:26 PM
Everyone knows about the famous American submarine USS Nautilus SSN571 being the first nuclear powered submarine to put to sea, in fact the first true nuclear-powered craft to put to sea, in 1954 she transmitted the now famous “Underway on nuclear power” and thus began the submarine race.
While Nautilus was proving her worth despite some initial issues such as the forward vibrations in her hull, the limited diving depth and speed, it was clear she was a true pure bred able to out run any ASW ship afloat and run rings around carrier groups, she could stay submerged for months eliminating the need to be vulnerable.
Lagging slightly behind was the Soviet Union, a fresh off the sheet design is what took the time, the soviet submarine wouldn’t look anything like a copied nautilus instead this was something very new.
Nautilus was merely evolutionary a nuclear reactor put inside a diesel submarines hull, whereas the K3 was completely new it has a cigar shaped hull and on paper at least it did look superior to Nautilus.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4238/35540447111_186fe7d1ca_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5Hv)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5Hv) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Capable of diving to 300 meters (with a test depth of 450 meters) the submarine could operate far deeper than the Nautilus what’s more the hull shape allowed for high underwater performance while the Nautilus could only maintain 23knots the K3 was racing ahead at 30 knots.
Like the Nautilus the K3 had twin screws but that’s about all they shared Nautilus single reactor was theoretically trumped by K3’s twin reactors which proved to be somewhat of a nuclear nightmare in the finish.
The first-generation soviet submarines were built in haste and the pressing need to have them at sea meant corners were cut and safety took a back seat unlike the rebellious Admiral Rickover who insisted on safety first.
Indeed, these submarines of the first generations were driven on luck rather than skill the most famous was the Project 658 boat K19 which was the Soviet Union’s first Nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine but all the others would have issues too mainly due to poor workmanship and later poor maintenance or experiments.
K3 was laid down in the Sevmash shipyard in 1954 the same year Nautilus put to sea, launched in 1957 and commissioned in 1958, she would be homeported at one of the country’s most secretes locations later home to the massive Typhoons Zapadnya Litsa (which is roughly 160km due east of the Norwegian border on the Kola Peninsula)
Her first commanding officer Leonid Osipenko would command her through trails or a few cruises and a ready or not she was in service, many issues would arise throughout the life of K3, although she reached some firsts for Russia, she did make it to the North Pole in 1962 after Osipenko was replaced by his XO now Captain Lev Zhiltsov.
After her polar exploit she was named Leninsky Komsomol, and then the downward turn started she was left practically idol until 1967 with only a few work up exercises and a few training missions, when a boat that was due to head to sea broke down the K3 was sent in its place, this time under a new 2nd rank commanded and a majority new crew, the consequences proved problematic, built for the colder waters a Mediterranean cruise was sure to cause some issues tasked with following American Nuclear Missile submarines it was to make for a good show for the Americans at least.
At first the air conditioning broke down which meant the temperatures soared past the 35*c mark then many other smaller malfunctions with steering and diving planes came about although easily repaired it did cause annoyance.
K3 successfully latched onto an American boomer which for a submarine like the K3 was a feat in itself these submarines are renowned for being extremely noisy, it is know the boomer did report back that she was being followed and not long after an American attack submarine did manage to pull K3 away from the Missile boat.
The K3 would return to sea in 1967 but on September 8th she suffered a fire while transiting the Norwegian sea she returned to port charred and damaged with 39 of her crew dead, the worst accident in her career it is believed the fire started in the hydraulic systems of the submarine spreading rapidly before finally being extinguished by the use of CO2 systems which had the grim responsibility of killing the crew by suffocation.
K3 was reduced from service becoming a second rank submarine by 1970 with the advent of the later Victor’s and the onset of quieter boats these submarines were kept back for anti-ship duties as the soviets knew against American submarines they wouldn’t fare to well, such was the policy of the soviet navy then under the command of Sergey Gorshkov every available asset despite its age remained in service.
K3 would still put to sea but mainly in home waters with a couple of runs out into the Atlantic every now and then, when she was launched she was fitted with the finest wood panelling and crew comforts many Russians had never seen such luxury, however by the 1980’s her age and usefulness were being called into question along with most of the First and second generation submarines and in 1988 she was paid off and laid up pending disposal at Gremikha.
She sat idle from 1988 to 2006 when she was moved from Gremikha to her current position near Sevdvinsk awaiting full restoration and conversion into a Museum ship, her reactor unit is being cut out and disposed of before much of this work can be completed she is still in a state of disrepair but she is on dry land and accessible to some degree.
A memorial to her dead crew was erected in 1991 at Zapadnya Litsa, in 2007 the Russian government issues a commemorative medal 50 years of leninsky Komsomol, there is also a 20 kopek stamp made in her honour.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4230/35631179086_64411b356b_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB7aU)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB7aU) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
K3 on the docks out of the water showing her cleaned off hull
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4092/35540447591_a45c2ea33e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5RM)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5RM) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
K3 In winter up here it is Night time for 43 straight 24 hour periods
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4115/35631178866_599f4b42eb_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB777)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB777) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
A peek inside this is where they are splitting the reactor compartment from the submarine
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/35540447431_fa1fd91293_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5P2)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5P2) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Her Hull shape and works are on show in the Summer
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4004/35631178656_1ea53d2bbf_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB73u)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB73u) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
After sitting idle for 25+ years there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of corrosion the arctic is not forgiving
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/34829757104_e906be42bc_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/V4MBkw)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/V4MBkw) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Another winter shot of a snow covered K3 shows her sail nicely looks like its taken from a German type XXIII
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4231/35631178276_d05736a9fc_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB6VW)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB6VW) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Up close showing the reactor compartment being cut out.
While Nautilus was proving her worth despite some initial issues such as the forward vibrations in her hull, the limited diving depth and speed, it was clear she was a true pure bred able to out run any ASW ship afloat and run rings around carrier groups, she could stay submerged for months eliminating the need to be vulnerable.
Lagging slightly behind was the Soviet Union, a fresh off the sheet design is what took the time, the soviet submarine wouldn’t look anything like a copied nautilus instead this was something very new.
Nautilus was merely evolutionary a nuclear reactor put inside a diesel submarines hull, whereas the K3 was completely new it has a cigar shaped hull and on paper at least it did look superior to Nautilus.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4238/35540447111_186fe7d1ca_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5Hv)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5Hv) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Capable of diving to 300 meters (with a test depth of 450 meters) the submarine could operate far deeper than the Nautilus what’s more the hull shape allowed for high underwater performance while the Nautilus could only maintain 23knots the K3 was racing ahead at 30 knots.
Like the Nautilus the K3 had twin screws but that’s about all they shared Nautilus single reactor was theoretically trumped by K3’s twin reactors which proved to be somewhat of a nuclear nightmare in the finish.
The first-generation soviet submarines were built in haste and the pressing need to have them at sea meant corners were cut and safety took a back seat unlike the rebellious Admiral Rickover who insisted on safety first.
Indeed, these submarines of the first generations were driven on luck rather than skill the most famous was the Project 658 boat K19 which was the Soviet Union’s first Nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine but all the others would have issues too mainly due to poor workmanship and later poor maintenance or experiments.
K3 was laid down in the Sevmash shipyard in 1954 the same year Nautilus put to sea, launched in 1957 and commissioned in 1958, she would be homeported at one of the country’s most secretes locations later home to the massive Typhoons Zapadnya Litsa (which is roughly 160km due east of the Norwegian border on the Kola Peninsula)
Her first commanding officer Leonid Osipenko would command her through trails or a few cruises and a ready or not she was in service, many issues would arise throughout the life of K3, although she reached some firsts for Russia, she did make it to the North Pole in 1962 after Osipenko was replaced by his XO now Captain Lev Zhiltsov.
After her polar exploit she was named Leninsky Komsomol, and then the downward turn started she was left practically idol until 1967 with only a few work up exercises and a few training missions, when a boat that was due to head to sea broke down the K3 was sent in its place, this time under a new 2nd rank commanded and a majority new crew, the consequences proved problematic, built for the colder waters a Mediterranean cruise was sure to cause some issues tasked with following American Nuclear Missile submarines it was to make for a good show for the Americans at least.
At first the air conditioning broke down which meant the temperatures soared past the 35*c mark then many other smaller malfunctions with steering and diving planes came about although easily repaired it did cause annoyance.
K3 successfully latched onto an American boomer which for a submarine like the K3 was a feat in itself these submarines are renowned for being extremely noisy, it is know the boomer did report back that she was being followed and not long after an American attack submarine did manage to pull K3 away from the Missile boat.
The K3 would return to sea in 1967 but on September 8th she suffered a fire while transiting the Norwegian sea she returned to port charred and damaged with 39 of her crew dead, the worst accident in her career it is believed the fire started in the hydraulic systems of the submarine spreading rapidly before finally being extinguished by the use of CO2 systems which had the grim responsibility of killing the crew by suffocation.
K3 was reduced from service becoming a second rank submarine by 1970 with the advent of the later Victor’s and the onset of quieter boats these submarines were kept back for anti-ship duties as the soviets knew against American submarines they wouldn’t fare to well, such was the policy of the soviet navy then under the command of Sergey Gorshkov every available asset despite its age remained in service.
K3 would still put to sea but mainly in home waters with a couple of runs out into the Atlantic every now and then, when she was launched she was fitted with the finest wood panelling and crew comforts many Russians had never seen such luxury, however by the 1980’s her age and usefulness were being called into question along with most of the First and second generation submarines and in 1988 she was paid off and laid up pending disposal at Gremikha.
She sat idle from 1988 to 2006 when she was moved from Gremikha to her current position near Sevdvinsk awaiting full restoration and conversion into a Museum ship, her reactor unit is being cut out and disposed of before much of this work can be completed she is still in a state of disrepair but she is on dry land and accessible to some degree.
A memorial to her dead crew was erected in 1991 at Zapadnya Litsa, in 2007 the Russian government issues a commemorative medal 50 years of leninsky Komsomol, there is also a 20 kopek stamp made in her honour.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4230/35631179086_64411b356b_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB7aU)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB7aU) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
K3 on the docks out of the water showing her cleaned off hull
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4092/35540447591_a45c2ea33e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5RM)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5RM) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
K3 In winter up here it is Night time for 43 straight 24 hour periods
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4115/35631178866_599f4b42eb_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB777)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB777) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
A peek inside this is where they are splitting the reactor compartment from the submarine
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4124/35540447431_fa1fd91293_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5P2)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/W9A5P2) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Her Hull shape and works are on show in the Summer
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4004/35631178656_1ea53d2bbf_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB73u)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB73u) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
After sitting idle for 25+ years there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of corrosion the arctic is not forgiving
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4289/34829757104_e906be42bc_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/V4MBkw)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/V4MBkw) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Another winter shot of a snow covered K3 shows her sail nicely looks like its taken from a German type XXIII
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4231/35631178276_d05736a9fc_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/WhB6VW)K3 (https://flic.kr/p/WhB6VW) by Blair shaw (https://www.flickr.com/photos/131313936@N03/), on Flickr
Up close showing the reactor compartment being cut out.