"You are a liar, Nam-Bok, for everyone knows that iron cannot float."
/Jack London/
Dear comrades, for sure, many of you have visited naval salons, climbed uncomfortable shaking gangways to the decks of huge ships. We wandered around the upper deck, examining missile launch containers, sprawling radar branches and other fantastic systems.
Even such simple things as the thickness of the anchor chain (each link is a pound weight) or the radius of the sweeping of the barrels of naval artillery (the size of more suburban "six hundred parts") can cause a sincere shock and bewilderment in an unprepared man in the street.
The dimensions of the ship's mechanisms are simply Huge. Such things do not occur in ordinary life - we learn about the existence of these cyclopean objects only during a visit to the ship on the next Navy Day (Victory Day, during the days of the St. Petersburg International Naval Salon, etc.).
Indeed, from the point of view of an individual taken, small or large ships do not exist. Marine engineering is striking in its dimensions - standing on the pier next to a moored corvette, a person looks like a grain of sand against the backdrop of a huge rock. The "tiny" 2500-ton corvette looks like a cruiser, while the "real" cruiser has generally paranormal dimensions and looks like a floating city.
The reason for this paradox is obvious:
An ordinary four-axle railway carriage (gondola car), loaded to the brim with iron ore, has a mass of about 90 tons. A very bulky and heavy piece.
In the case of the 11,000 tonne missile cruiser Moskva, we only have 11,000 tonnes of metal structures, cables and fuel. The equivalent is 120 railroad cars with ore, densely concentrated in a single massif.
Anchor of the submarine missile carrier pr. 941 "Shark"
How does the water hold IT ?! The conning tower of the battleship "New Jersey"
But the cruiser "Moskva" is not the limit - the American aircraft carrier "Nimitz" has a total displacement of more than 100 thousand tons.
Truly, great is Archimedes, whose immortal law allows these hulks to keep afloat!
A big difference
Unlike surface ships and vessels that can be seen in any port, the submarine component of the fleet has an increased degree of stealth. Submarines are difficult to see even when entering the base, largely due to the special status of the modern submarine fleet.
Nuclear technologies, hazardous area, state secrets, objects of strategic importance; closed cities with a special passport regime. All this does not add popularity to the "steel coffins" and their glorious crews. Nuclear boats quietly nest in secluded bays of the Arctic or hide from prying eyes on the coast of distant Kamchatka. Nothing is heard of the existence of boats in peacetime. They are not suitable for naval parades and the notorious "display of the flag". The only thing these sleek black ships can do is kill.
Baby S-189 against the background of the Mistral
What do the "Baton" or "Pike" look like? How big is the legendary Shark? Is it true that it does not fit in the ocean?
It is rather difficult to find out this issue - there are no visual aids on this score. Museum submarines K-21 (Severomorsk), S-189 (St. Petersburg) or S-56 (Vladivostok) are half a century old "diesel engines" of the Second World War * and do not give any idea about the real size of modern submarines.
The reader will surely learn a lot from the following illustration:
Comparative sizes of silhouettes of modern submarines on a single scale
The fattest "fish" is a Project 941 heavy missile submarine cruiser (code "Akula").
Below is an American Ohio-class SSBN.
Even lower - the underwater "aircraft carrier killer" of project 949A, the so-called. "Baton" (it was to this project that the deceased "Kursk" belonged).
In the lower left corner lurks a multipurpose Russian nuclear submarine of project 971 (code "Shchuka-B")
And the smallest of the boats shown in the illustration is the modern German diesel-electric submarine "Type 212".
Of course, the greatest public interest is associated with the "Shark" (it is also "Typhoon" according to NATO classification). The boat really amazes the imagination: the length of the hull is 173 meters, the height from the bottom to the roof of the wheelhouse is equal to a 9-storey building!
Surface displacement - 23,000 tons; underwater - 48,000 tons. The figures clearly point to the colossal buoyancy reserve - more than 20 thousand tons of water are pumped into the ballast tanks of the boat to immerse the Akula in the ballast tanks. As a result, the "Shark" got the funny nickname "water carrier" in the Navy.
For all the seeming irrationality of this decision (why the submarine has such a large buoyancy reserve ??), the "water carrier" has its own characteristics and even advantages: when on the surface, the draft of the monstrous monster is slightly larger than that of "ordinary" submarines - about 11 meters. This allows you to enter any home base, without the risk of running aground, and use the entire available infrastructure for servicing the nuclear submarine. In addition, a huge buoyancy reserve turns the Akula into a powerful icebreaker. When blowing through the cisterns, the boat, according to Archimedes' law, “rushes” upward with such force that even a 2-meter layer of Arctic ice, which is as strong as a stone, will not stop it. Thanks to this circumstance, the "Sharks" could carry out combat duty in the highest latitudes, up to the regions of the North Pole.
But even on the surface, the "Shark" surprises with its dimensions. How else? - the largest boat in world history!
You can admire the shark species for a long time:
"Shark" and one of the SSBNs of the 677 family
The boat is huge, there is nothing more to add here
Modern SSBN project 955 "Borey" against the backdrop of a gigantic fish
The reason is simple: two submarines are hidden under the light streamlined hull: "Shark" is made according to the "catamaran" scheme with two durable hulls made of titanium alloys. 19 isolated compartments, a duplicated power plant (each of the robust hulls has an independent nuclear steam generating unit OK-650 with a thermal capacity of 190 MW), as well as two pop-up rescue capsules designed for the entire crew …
Needless to say - in terms of survivability, safety and convenience of accommodation of personnel, this floating "Hilton" was out of competition.
Loading of a 90-ton "Kuz'ka mother"
In total, the submarine's ammunition consisted of 20 R-39 solid-propellant SLBMs.
Ohio
No less surprising is the comparison of the American submarine missile carrier "Ohio" and the domestic TRPKSN project "Shark" - unexpectedly it turns out that their dimensions are identical (length 171 meters, draft 11 meters) … while the displacement is significantly different! How so?
There is no secret here - "Ohio" is almost twice as wide as the Soviet monster - 23 against 13 meters. However, it would be unfair to call "Ohio" a small boat - 16,700 tons of steel structures and materials inspire respect. The Ohio's submarine displacement is even greater - 18,700 tons.
Aircraft Carrier Assassin
Another underwater monster, whose displacement surpassed the achievements of "Ohio" (in / and overwater - 14,700, underwater - 24,000 tons).
One of the most powerful and perfect boats of the Cold War. 24 supersonic cruise missiles with a launch weight of 7 tons; eight torpedo tubes; nine isolated compartments. The working depth range is over 500 meters. Submerged speed over 30 knots.
In order to accelerate the "baton" to such speeds, a two-reactor power plant was used on the boat - day and night, uranium assemblies in two OK-650 reactors burn with a terrible black fire. The total energy release of 380 Megawatts is enough to provide the city with electricity for 100,000 inhabitants.
"Baton" and Shark
Two "loaves"
But how justified was the construction of such monsters for solving tactical problems? According to a widespread legend, the cost of each of the 11 built boats reached half of the cost of the aircraft-carrying cruiser "Admiral Kuznetsov"! At the same time, the "baton" was focused on solving purely tactical tasks - the extermination of AUG, convoys, disruption of enemy communications …
Time has shown that multipurpose nuclear submarines are most effective for such operations, for example -
Pike-B
A series of Soviet nuclear-powered multipurpose submarines of the third generation. The most formidable underwater weapon before the appearance of the American submarine of the Seawulf class.
But, you do not think that Pike-B is so small and puny. Size is a relative value. Suffice it to say that the crumb does not fit on the football field. The boat is huge. Surface displacement - 8100, underwater - 12 800 tons (in the latest modifications it increased by another 1000 tons).
This time, the designers used one OK-650 reactor, one turbine, one shaft and one propeller. Excellent dynamics remained at the level of the 949th "baton". A modern sonar system and a luxurious set of weapons appeared: deep-sea and homing torpedoes, cruise missiles "Granat" (in the future - "Caliber"), missile-torpedoes "Shkval", PLUR "Waterfall", thick torpedoes 65-76, mines … at the same time, the huge ship is operated by a crew of only 73 people.
Why do I say "everything"? Just an example: a crew of 130 people is required to fly a modern American submarine, an analogue of the Pike, an unsurpassed Los Angeles-class submarine killer! At the same time, the American, as usual, is saturated to the limit with radio electronics and automation systems, and its size is 25% less (displacement - 6000/7000 tons).
By the way, an interesting question: why are American boats always smaller? Is it really the fault of "Soviet microcircuits - the largest microcircuits in the world" ?!
The answer will seem trivial - American boats have a single-hull design and, as a result, have a smaller buoyancy margin. That is why the "Los Angeles" and "Virginias" have so little difference in the values of surface and underwater displacement.
What is the difference between monohull and doublehull boats? In the first case, the ballast tanks are located inside a single robust body. This arrangement takes up part of the internal volume and, in a certain sense, negatively affects the survivability of the submarine. And, of course, single-hull nuclear submarines have a much smaller buoyancy reserve. At the same time, it makes the boat small (as small as a modern nuclear submarine can be) and quieter.
Domestic boats, traditionally, are built on a two-hull scheme. All ballast tanks and ancillary deep-water equipment (cables, antennas, towed by the GAS) are removed from the robust hull. The sturdy body also has ribs on the outside, saving valuable interior space. From above, all this is covered with a light "shell".
Advantages: the reserve of free space inside the robust case, allowing you to implement special layout solutions. More systems and weapons on board the boat, increased unsinkability and survivability (additional depreciation in case of nearby explosions, etc.).
Nuclear waste storage facility in Sayda Bay (Kola Peninsula)
Dozens of submarine reactor compartments are visible. Ugly "rings" are nothing more than stiffening ribs of a solid body (the light body has been previously removed)
There are also disadvantages of this scheme and there is no escape from them: large dimensions and area of wetted surfaces. The direct consequence is that the boat is louder. And if there is a resonance between a durable and lightweight body …
Do not flatter yourself when you hear about the above "reserve of free space". Inside the compartments of the Russian "Pike", as before, it is impossible to drive mopeds and play golf - the entire reserve was spent on the installation of numerous sealed bulkheads. The number of habitable compartments on Russian boats usually ranges from 7 to 9 units. The maximum was reached on the legendary "Sharks" - as many as 19 compartments, excluding the sealed technological modules in the space of the light hull.
For comparison, the sturdy hull of the American Los Angeles is divided by sealed bulkheads into only three compartments: central, reactor and turbine (of course, not counting the system of isolated decks). The Americans, traditionally, place their bets on high quality of hull construction, reliability of equipment and qualified personnel in submarine crews.
These are the key differences between submarine schools on different sides of the ocean. And the boats are still huge.
A whopping big fish. American multipurpose nuclear submarine "Seawulf"
Another comparison on the same scale. It turns out that the "Shark" is not so big in comparison with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the "Nimitz" type or the TAVKR "Admiral Kuznetsov" - the dimensions of the aircraft-carrying ships are completely paranormal. The victory of technology over common sense
Small fish on the left - diesel-electric submarine "Varshavyanka"
Transportation of cut out reactor compartments of nuclear submarines
The newest Russian multipurpose nuclear submarine K-329 "Severodvinsk" (admission to the Navy is scheduled for 2013).
In the background, two Sharks undergoing disposal are visible.
