This happened in an era of great achievements and tremendous breakthroughs in all spheres of human existence. Faster, higher, stronger! On land, under water and in the air.
On February 16, 1960, the nuclear submarine Triton left the pier of the naval base New London (Connecticut). The ship went to sea with a fantastic mission - to repeat the route of the great Magellan, remaining submerged throughout the entire voyage. Passing an invisible shadow through the seas and oceans of the planet and circling the globe without a single surfacing or entering a port, "Triton" was to become a direct proof of the technical superiority of the US Navy's nuclear submarine fleet.
There was a little secret behind the loud propaganda. The general public is unaware that the Triton is the only American submarine capable of making an underwater round-the-world cruise. All other first generation submarines - Skate, Nautilus, Seawulf - are too slow and weak to participate in round the world operations.
The submarine ship USS Triton (SSN-586) was specially designed for long ocean voyages. The largest, fastest and most expensive submarine in the world ($ 109 million, including nuclear fuel), designed to perform the functions of a radar patrol and command the combat groups of naval aviation. In the post-war years, long-range radar detection in the American fleet was provided by specially trained destroyers, however, as the practice of World War II showed, such a decision meant a high risk for the crews of surface ships. The submarine was devoid of this drawback - when detected by the enemy, "Triton" deftly dived under the water and disappeared into the depths of the sea. Special abilities required special skills, hence the solid size *, two-reactor layout and high underwater speed (27+ knots). And also six torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber - in case of danger, the newt turned into an evil poisonous lizard.
… Meanwhile, "Triton" boldly walked into the middle of the Atlantic, shaking the whole body on a steep ocean wave. On February 24, the boat arrived at the rocks of Peter and Paul, where her historic voyage was to begin. After ventilating the compartments for the last time and throwing the accumulated household debris overboard, the submarine buried itself in the piercing blue waves in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean.
Descending into the Southern Hemisphere, "Triton" rounded Cape Horn and headed west, crossing the immense Pacific Ocean obliquely. Having passed the narrow straits between the islands of the Philippines and Indonesia, the boat got out into the vastness of the Indian Ocean, then, circled Africa around the Cape of Good Hope and returned to the control point of the route to the rocks of Peter and Paul 60 days and 21 hours after the start of the expedition. Behind the stern of "Triton" were 23,723 nautical miles (49,500 km - more than the length of the earth's equator).
Cape Horn. Photo taken through Triton's periscope
Official history shows that the "clean" record did not work out - the submarine had to once rise to the surface off the coast of Uruguay. During a short rendezvous with the American cruiser Macon, one sick sailor from the submarine's crew was transported aboard the cruiser. In addition, evil tongues insist that the Triton has repeatedly violated the conditions of the "marathon", having entered the base on the island of Guam to eliminate the malfunctions that have arisen on board. Of course, there is no official confirmation of this event, and all this is nothing more than vile slander …
During the campaign (dubbed Operation Sandblast), in addition to purely propaganda tasks, American sailors carried out numerous studies in the interests of the US Navy. The technique of covert survey of the coast was worked out (the crew surveyed the British Falkland Islands and Guam's own naval base), exercises were carried out to combat the damage of the boat (during one of them, the situation with a drop in the power of both reactors was worked out - was it a planned training or a consequence of a real accident, the question remained unanswered). In addition, the powerful Triton sonar was used to continuously scan the topography of the ocean floor along the entire route of the American submarine.
The trip was accompanied by major technical problems, each time endangering the fate of the expedition. There were leaks and smoke in the compartments more than once, the reactor alarm was triggered. On March 12, 1960, the main echo sounder was "covered" on the boat, and on the last day of the journey, the entire hydraulic control system of the aft rudders was out of order - the Triton returned to base on reserve control.
It is worth noting that there was absolutely no secrecy around the Triton expedition. During the cruise, there were two dozen civilians on board the boat, including a photojournalist for National Geographic magazine. The Yankees turned the strategic round-the-world raid into a spectacular PR show and tried to "spin up" the achievement of the US Navy to the maximum, raising the notorious "prestige of the nation."
Combat information center on board the nuclear submarine "Triton"
As for the "record holder" himself, "Triton" was never used for its intended purpose - as a command center for monitoring the situation in the air. Since the early 1960s, the functions of early warning radar detection were taken over by specialized AWACS aircraft, and the unique submarine, the only one in its class, was retrained into a multipurpose boat with a torpedo weapon.
In total, the USS Triton served under the Stars and Stripes for 27 years and was dropped from the US Navy in 1986. The once formidable underwater hitman was finally cut to metal by November 2009.
Route "Triton"
Pretentious outing on a circumnavigation
The gluttonous Yankees are filling the Triton's holds with sacks of potatoes.
In total, during the "around the world", two hundred people from the crew of the submarine "destroyed" 35 tons of food
Despite all sorts of discussions around the "white spots" in the history of the Triton's circumnavigation, and the occasional accusations of violations of the "swim" conditions, the 1960s round-the-world underwater expedition was another proof of the unique capabilities of nuclear submarines. The Triton campaign had a powerful influence on the escalation of the "arms race" and contributed to the rapid development of the nuclear submarine fleet on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. The General Staff of the USSR Navy was quite worried - the Triton's underwater march was regarded as a direct challenge from the United States.
And, as you know, Soviet sailors are used to answering a challenge with an even tougher answer …
Survival race
In the spring of 1960, the Americans showed who is the boss in the oceans. A year later, the Russian guy Yura Gagarin will show the presumptuous Yankees who is the master in Space.
But the Triton Premier League record remained unbeaten. Frankly, the USSR Navy was not faced with the task of conducting round-the-world cruises of nuclear submarines. Soviet sailors had neither the strength nor the means to carry out large-scale PR campaigns like the Triton campaign - it was an unaffordable luxury to remove nuclear-powered ships from combat duty for the sake of "chasing records". The oceans were plied by a gigantic fleet of a "potential enemy" of thousands of warships - the Soviet Navy had enough adrenaline in pursuit of the elusive American AUG and missile carriers of the "George Washington" class. Instead of posing for National Geographic magazine, our sailors were busy securing the delivery of ballistic missiles to Cuba and putting up anti-submarine barriers in the path of four dozen "city killers" who threatened to unleash a thermonuclear downpour of 656 Polaris missiles on Soviet cities.
And yet, a few years later, the North Sea sailors had a good opportunity to get even with the American seafarers. In 1966, it became necessary to transfer the nuclear submarines K-133 and K-116 from the Northern Fleet to the Pacific Ocean. And if so, all that remains is to approve the route, pick up the crews, load the supplies and food and … Full speed ahead, on a long hike!
By this time, Soviet submariners had accumulated solid experience of long voyages to remote regions of the World Ocean - back in 1962, the K-21 submarine made a 50-day combat campaign at full autonomy, having covered 10124 nautical miles (of which 8648 miles were submerged). For a more comfortable perception, this is equivalent to the distance from St. Petersburg to Antarctica.
Nuclear submarine of project 627 (A), similar to K-133
The situation with the transfer of K-133 and K-116 from the North to the Far East was quite obvious. K-133 belonged to the firstborn of the Soviet submarine shipbuilding, the project 627 (A) boat is the same age as the American "Skate" and "Triton". But unlike American boats of the first generation, which were largely experimental designs for developing new technologies. At the same time, the first Soviet nuclear submarines were full-fledged warships - armed to the teeth, with a wide range of working depths and high underwater speed. Our 627 (A) is as fast as the legendary Triton, thanks to its optimized teardrop hull for scuba diving. In terms of reliability, this was equally bad on both sides of the ocean. The mechanisms, layout and reactors of the first generation nuclear submarines did not differ in perfection and safety.
But if "Triton" was able, then … the road will be mastered by the one walking!
The situation was similar with the second boat. K-116 is a nuclear-powered cruiser with cruise missiles. Belongs to project 675, belongs to the first generation of Soviet nuclear submarines. The submarine is fast enough and autonomous for cruises around the world. In addition to torpedo weapons, the K-116 carries eight P-6 anti-ship missiles in its womb.
Unlike the experimental "Triton", which, although it was a powerful boat, existed in a single copy, the K-116 is a completely serial design, one of 29 built nuclear-powered ships of Project 675.
Nuclear submarine with cruise missiles (SSGN) of project 675, similar to K-116
In the icy cold, on February 2, 1966, the K-133 multipurpose nuclear submarine and the K-116 SSGN left the base in Zapadnaya Litsa and headed for the open sea. This is how an unprecedented group trip of the Soviet Navy's nuclear-powered ships to the other end of the Earth began. Having got out to the vastness of the Atlantic, the boats crossed the ocean at full speed from North to South. Like two shadows, the steel "pikes" passed the Drake Passage and rose along the western coast of South America, then, following one after the other, the submarines crossed the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean from East to West.
On March 26, a month and a half after leaving Zapadnaya Litsa, both boats safely moored at the pier in Krasheninnikov Bay in Kamchatka.
For 52 sailing days, the nuclear-powered ships covered 21,000 miles (a distance almost equal to the famous Triton route). The North Sea people faced an extremely difficult task - to cross two great oceans diagonally, without ever rising to the surface. At the same time, do not lag behind, nor break away, do not lose sight of each other. And, most importantly, to remain unnoticed by the anti-submarine forces of other states. The route ran through areas of the ocean little studied by hydrographers, in southern latitudes unusual for us, through the Drake Passage, which is famous for its violent storms and difficult navigational conditions.
The entire campaign took place with the maximum observance of measures to ensure secrecy - as a result, not a single anti-submarine ship or NATO deep-sea tracking station detected a detachment of Soviet submarines - the appearance of new nuclear-powered ships in Krasheninnikov Bay was a real surprise for foreign naval intelligence agencies.
Sailors from the crew of the nuclear submarine K-133 kept a handwritten journal "Chronicle of the campaign, or 25,000 miles under water" throughout the entire expedition. Here are collected poems, sketches, drawings of submariners - the best masterpieces created by the talent of naval poets, artists and writers during the legendary voyage. At the moment, the rare magazine is kept in the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg.
Afterword. By the time the nuclear submarine K-133 was excluded from the Navy in 1989, the submarine had covered 168,000 miles in 21,926 sailing hours.
The fate of the K-116 turned out to be much more tragic - a radiation accident that broke out on board forced the submarine to be withdrawn into reserve back in 1982. She did not go out to sea again. In total, over twenty years of operation, the K-116 managed to cover 136 thousand nautical miles in 19,965 running hours.
