Papa class submarine

The Soviet Union's Project 661 "Anchar" nuclear-powered attack submarine design is known in the west by its NATO reporting name "Papa" class. Only one vessel of this class was built: K-162, which was later renamed K-222.

The Papa class was designed as an extremely fast attack submarine equipped with anti-shipping cruise missiles. Its design included ten SS-N-9 missiles (P-120 Malakhit in Russian) in individual tubes forward of the sail, between the inner and outer hulls. It is regarded as a predecessor to the Alfa class submarine, and the single submarine of the Papa class may have tested technologies which were later used in the Alfa class.

K-222 was laid down on December 28, 1963, and commissioned on December 31, 1969, at Severodvinsk. She was assigned to the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet for the duration of her career. She was the world's fastest submarine, reaching a record speed of 44.7 knots (82.8 km/h) on trials. However, that speed came at the price of high costs during construction, and both excessive noise and significant damage to hull features when used.

On September 30, 1980, one of the nuclear reactors of the K-222 was damaged during maintenance in the shipyard. By 1988 the submarine was placed in reserve storage, moored at the Belomorsk Naval Base in Severodvinsk. The boat will be dismantled at Sevmash, the only facility capable of handling the titanium hull.

Papa class in fiction

The sole Papa class submarine appears in the Tom Clancy novel "Red Storm Rising" where she engages in a cat and mouse chase with the USN frigate Reuben James before ultimately being sunk.

External links

* [http://www.bellona.no/en/10106.html Project 661 (Anchar)] at Bellona.no