by James Jinks
Alfa Class SSN (third generation)
Units: 8 (in 1972 the first K-64 suffered a major reactor incident and was taken out of service). Displacement: 2,324 surfaced / 3,210 tons submerged Dimensions: 261 ft, 2 in × 31 ft, 2 in × 23 ft, 3.5-in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × lead-bismuth liquid cooled fast reactor / single turbine; 40,000 hp Speed: 12 kn surfaced / 41 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: 29 In Service: 1977–1990
Sierra Class SSN (third generation)
Units: 4 (2 × Sierra 1 / 2 × Sierra 11) Displacement: 6,300 tons surfaced / 8,300 tons submerged Dimensions: 351 ft × 40 ft × 31 ft, 2 in Armament: 8 × bow torpedo tubes / Reactors: 1 × OK-650a pressurized water reactor Speed: 35 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,970 ft Complement: 59 In Service: 1984 – present
Akula Class SSN (third generation)
Units: 15 (7 × Akula 1 / 8 × Akula 11) Displacement: 8,140 tons surfaced / 10,700 tons submerged Dimensions: 361 ft, 9 in × 44 ft, 7 in × 31 ft, 9 in Armament: 8 × bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × OK-650a pressurized water reactor Speed: 13 kn surfaced / 33 kn submerged Range: Unknown Diving Depth: 1,970 ft Complement: 73 In Service: 1984 – present
Kilo Class SSK
Units: 24 Displacement: 2,350 tons surfaced / 3,126 tons submerged Dimensions: 242 ft, 1 in × 32 ft, 6 in × 20 ft, 4 in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes Machinery: 3 diesel engines / 1 × electric motor Speed: 11 kn surfaced / 19 kn submerged Range: 6,000 nm on snorkel at 7 kn / 400 nm submerged at 3 kn Diving Depth: 820 ft Complement: 52 In Service: 1980 – present
Typhoon Class SSBN (third generation)
Units: 6 Displacement: 23,200 tons surfaced / 48,000 tons submerged Dimensions: 564 ft, 3 in × 76 ft, 1 in × 36 ft Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes / 20 × SLBM tubes Ractors: 2 × pressurized water reactors / two steam turbines; 50,000 hp each Speed: 12–16 kn surfaced / 25–26 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: 160 In Service: 1981 – present (as of 2015 one Typhoon remains in service with the Russian Navy)
Delta IV Class SSBN (third generation)
Units: 7 Displacement: 11,740 tons surfaced / 18,200 tons submerged Dimensions: 547 ft, 9 in × 38 ft, 4 in × 28 ft, 10 in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes / 16 × SLBM tubes Reactors: 2 × pressurized water reactors Speed: 14 kn surfaced / 24 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: 135 In Service: 1984 – present
Yasen Class SSN (fourth generation)
Units: 1 (7 planned) Displacement: 5,900–9,500 surfaced / 8,600–11,800 submerged Dimensions: 436.4 ft × 37.7 ft × 27.6 ft Armament: 8 × bow torpedo tubes (30 ASW missiles and/or torpedoes) / 8 × SLCM tubes (24 missiles) Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: 17 kn surfaced / 28–31 submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: Unknown Complement: 80–85 officers In Service: 2012 – present
Borei Class SSBN (fourth generation)
Units: 3 (8 planned) Displacement: 11,750–14,720 surfaced / 16,750–24,000 submerged Dimensions: 557 ft, 7 in × 44 ft, 3 in × 32 ft, 8 in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes / 12 × SLBM tubes Reactors: 2 × pressurized water reactors / 2 diesel generators; 3,400 hp Speed: 15 kn surfaced / 26 – 29 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,250–1,475 ft Complement: 107–130 In Service: 2013 – present
UNITED STATES NAVY 1945 – Today
USS Albacore
Units: 1 Displacement: 1,517 tons surfaced / 1,810 tons submerged Dimensions: 203 ft, 10 in × 29 ft, 4 in × 18 ft, 7 in Armament: None Machinery: 2 × diesel engines Speed: 15 kn surfaced / 27.4 kn submerged Range: Unknown Diving Depth: 600 ft Complement: 37 In Service: 1953–1980
USS Nautilus
Units: 1 Displacement: 3,180 ton surfaced / 3,500 tons submerged Dimensions: 323 ft, 8.5 in × 27 ft, 8 in × 21 ft, 9 in Armament: 6 × 21-in bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: 22 kn surfaced / 23.3 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 700 ft Complement: 104 In Service: 1955–1980
Skate Class SSN
Units: 4 Displacement: 2,550 tons surfaced / 2,848 tons submerged Dimensions: 267 ft, 8 in × 25 ft × 20 ft, 6 in Armament: 6 × 21-in bow torpedo tubes / 2 × 21-in stern torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × S3W pressurized water reactor Speed: 15.5 kn surfaced / 18 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 700 ft Complement: 95 In Service: 1957–1989
Skipjack Class SSN
Units: 6 Displacement: 3,070 tons surfaced / 3,500 tons submerged Dimensions: 252 ft × 32 ft × 25 ft Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: 15 kn surfaced / 33 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 700 ft Complement: 90 In Service: 1959–1990
George Washington Class SSBN
Units: 5 Displacement: 5,900 tons surfaced / 6,700 tons submerged Dimensions: 381 ft, 8 in × 33 ft × 26 ft, 8 in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes / 16 × SLBM tubes Reactors: 1 × S5W pressurized water reactor Speed: 16.5 kn surfaced / 22 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 700 ft Complement: 136 (2 crews) In Service: 1960–1985
Ethan Allen Class SSBN
Units: 5 Displacement: 6,900 tons surfaced / 7,900 tons submerged Dimensions: 410 ft, 5 in × 33 ft × 27 ft, 6 in Armament: 4 × bow torpedo tubes / 16 × SLBM tubes Reactors: 1 × S5W pressurized water reactor Speed: 16 kn surfaced / 21 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: 136 (2 crews) In Service: 1961–1992
Lafayette Class SSBN
Units: 19 Displacement: 7,250 tons surfaced / 8,250 tons submerged Dimensions: 425 ft × 33 ft × 27 ft, 9 in Armament: 4 × bow torpedo tubes / 16 × SLBM tubes Reactors: 1 × S5W pressurized water reactor Speed: 16 kn surfaced / 21 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: 136 (2 crews) In Service: 1963–1994
Permit Class SSN
Units: 14 Displacement: 3,750 tons surfaced / 3,410 tons submerged Dimensions: 278 ft, 6 in × 31 ft, 8 in × 26 ft Armament: 4 × bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × S5W pressurized water reactor Speed: 15 kn surfaced / 27–28 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: Approximately 88 In Service: 1967–1996
Sturgeon Class SSN
Units: 37 Displacement: 4,250 tons surfaced / 4,780 tons submerged Dimensions: 292 ft × 31 ft, 8 in × 28 ft, 10 in Armament: 4 × bow torpedo tubes Reactors: 1 × S5W pressurized water reactor Speed: 15 kn surfaced / 26–27kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 1,300 ft Complement: Approximately 99 In Service: 1967–2004
Los Angeles Class SSN
Units: 62 Displacement: 6,080 tons surfaced / 6,927 tons submerged Dimensions: 362 ft × 33 ft × 32 ft Armament: 4 × bow torpedo tubes / 30 units equipped with 12 × vertical SLCM tubes Reactors: 1 × S6G pressurized water reactor Speed: 33 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 950 ft Complement: 141 In Service: 1976 – present
Ohio Class SSBN
Units: 18 (14 × SSBN / 4 × SSGN) Displacement: 16,764 tons surfaced / 18,750 tons submerged Dimensions: 560 ft × 42 ft × 36 ft, 6 in Armament: 4 × 533mm / 24 × SLBM tubes / first 4 of the class converted to SSGNs equipped with 22 × vertical SLCM tubes each carrying up to 7 Tomahawk land attack missiles Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: 25 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: 985 ft Complement: 165 (2 crews) In Service: 1981 – present
Seawolf Class SSN
Units: 3 Displacement: 9,100 tons submerged Dimensions: 353 ft × 40 ft (SSN 23 453 ft × 40 ft) Armament: 4 × torpedo tubes / 12 × vertical SLCM tubes Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: >
25 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: >800 ft Complement: 140 In Service: 1997 – present
Virginia Class SSN
Units: 12 (as of 2015 – at least 30 planned) Displacement: 7,800 tons submerged Dimensions: 377 ft × 33 ft Armament: 4 × torpedo tubes / 12 × vertical SLCM tubes Reactors: 1 × pressurized water reactor Speed: >25 kn submerged Range: Dependent on reactor core life and crew supplies Diving Depth: >800 ft Complement: 132 In Service: 2004 – present
GERMAN NAVY
Type XXI U Boat
Units: 170 ordered / over 130 completed Displacement: 1,621 tons surfaced / 1,819 tons submerged Dimensions: 251 ft, 7 in × 21 ft, 8 in × 20 ft, 8 in Armament: 6 × bow torpedo tubes / 4 × 20mm gun Machinery: 2 diesel engines Speed: 15.6 kn surfaced / 17.2 kn submerged Range: 11,150 nm surfaced at 12 kn / 285 nmi submerged at 6 kn Diving Depth: 440 ft Complement: 57 In Service: 1945
Type XVIIB
Units: U-1405, U-1406, U-1407 Displacement: 312 tons surfaced / 337 tons submerged Dimensions: 136 ft, 2 in × 10 ft, 10 in × 14 ft, 1 in Armament: 2 × bow torpedo tubes Machinery: 1 × Walter HTP drive Speed: 8.5 kn surfaced / 21.5 kn submerged Range: 3,000 nm surfaced at 8 kn / 150 nm submerged at 20 kn Diving Depth: 395 ft Complement: 19 In Service: 1945
Notes
INTRODUCTION
1. Conversation with Rear Admiral Simon Lister, Stanton St John, Wiltshire, 20 December 2011 during a session with industrial colleagues on ‘Submarine Britain’.
1 THE FRANCHISE OF THE DEEP: PERISHER
1. Edward Young, One of Our Submarines (Hart-Davis, 1952), p. 115. 2. Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October (Naval Institute Press, 1984). Now most readily available in the UK from HarperCollins (1993); Tom Clancy, Submarine (Berkley Books, 1993), p. 152. 3. Conversation with Commander Rémy Thomas, French Navy, 15 April 2012, after spending the weekend on board HMS Tireless during the inshore phase of the Perisher course. 4. Alan Bennett, Forty Years On and Other Plays (Faber, 1991), p. 55. 5. Conversation with Sir Rodric Braithwaite, 30 August 2012. 6. Commander Hywel (‘Griff’) Griffiths, CO of HMS Tireless, somewhere off the Isle of Arran, 8.15 a.m., Saturday, 14 April 2012.
A Private War Has been Arranged
7. Anthony Preston, The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History (Conway Maritime Press, 2001), p. 49. 8. Martin Macpherson, ‘ “Perisher”: The Making of a Submarine Commander’, in Martin Edmonds (ed.), 100 Years of the Trade: Royal Navy Submarines Past, Present and Future (Centre for Defence and International Security Studies, 2001), p. 116. 9. Ibid., p. 119. 10. Northwood is the location of the Commander Task Force 345, from which the Trident patrols are controlled. 11. The notion of the ‘master-noun’ is Tim Blanning’s. See his The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648–1815 (Penguin Books, 2008), p. 305. 12. The Times, ‘Britain must build on success of Olympics’, 9 August 2012. 13. Ibid. 14. Edwin Blackburn, ‘Scram!’, ORNL Reporter, No. 19, 2000, p. 6. 15. Conversation with Commander Hywel Griffiths, 13 July 2012. 16. Conversation with Captain Andy McKendrick, 22 May 2012. 17. Conversation with Rear Admiral Ian Corder, 17 September 2012.
2 ‘THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL THE SERVICES’: FROM WORLD WAR TO COLD WAR
1. Hansard, House of Commons Debates, 9 September 1941, Vol. 374, Cols. 67–156. 2. Alfred Roake, ‘Cold War Warrior’, Naval Review, Vol. 82, No. 4, October 1994, pp. 363–72.
Victory
3. Sir Arthur Hezlet, British and Allied Submarine Operations in World War II (Royal Navy Submarine Museum, 2002), p. 352. 4. Tim Clayton, Sea Wolves: The Extraordinary Story of Britain’s WW2 Submarines (Abacus, 2012), p. 389. 5. TNA/ADM/1/19610, Admiral Submarines, 8 August 1945; Michael A. Simpson, A Life of Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Cunningham: A Twentieth-Century Naval Leader (Routledge, 2004), p. 91. 6. TNA/ADM/1/19610, Director of Plans, Minute, 2 September 1945. 7. TNA/ADM/1/19610, Memo, 5 April 1946; TNA/ADM/1/19301, meeting held by VCNS to consider the number of submarines that could be kept in service in the post-war Fleet, 28 December 1945. 8. A number of ‘U’ class submarines were recommissioned in the 1950s. See p. 129. 9. TNA/ADM/1/19610, A. C. Goodall, Minute, 3 August 1945. 10. Edward Young, One of Our Submarines (Hart-Davis, 1952), pp. 304–5. 11. Winston Churchill, The Second World War, Vol. II: Their Finest Hour (Cassell, 1950), p. 598. 12. TNA/ADM/1/18604, ‘The Future Development of the Submarine’, 22 December 1944. 13. TNA/ADM/1/16396, Director of Anti-U-Boat Division, 29 November, 1944. 14. See Paul Kennedy, Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War (Allen Lane, 2013). 15. TNA/ADM/1/16396, Admiral Submarine to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘ “SCHNORKEL” – Future Policy with Regard to Use in British Submarines’, 1 November 1944. 16. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Creasy to Secretary of the Admiralty, 19 January 1945. 17. TNA/ADM/1/16396, Admiral Submarine to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘ “SCHNORKEL” – Future Policy with Regard to Use in British Submarines’, 1 November 1944. 18. TNA/ADM/1/18604, ‘The Future Development of the Submarine’, 22 December 1944. 19. Ibid. 20. Ibid. 21. See Harry Hinsley and Edward Thomas, ‘The End of the War at Sea’, in F. H. Hinsley et al. (eds.), British Intelligence in the Second World War (HMSO, 1979–88), Ch. 59, p. 625. 22. Norman Polmar and Jurrien Noot, Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718–1990 (Naval Institute Press, 1991), p. 137. 23. See David Grier, Hitler, Dönitz, and the Baltic Sea: The Third Reich’s Last Hope, 1944–1945 (Naval Institute Press, 2007), pp. 172–4. 24. Sir Charles S. Lillicrap, Vice President of the Institute of Naval Architects, comments in J. F. Starks, ‘German “U”-Boat Design and Production’, lecture to the Spring Meeting of the Eighty-Ninth Session of the Institution of Naval Architects, 18 March 1948; for an analysis of how the British evolved anti-submarine measures to deal with the Type XXI, see Malcolm Llewellyn Jones, ‘The Challenge of the Fast Submarine, 1944–1954: Innovation or Evolution?’, in Richard Harding (ed.), The Royal Navy 1930–2000: Innovation and Defence (Frank Cass, 2005), pp. 135–60. 25. Malcolm Llewellyn Jones, The Royal Navy and Anti-Submarine Warfare, 1917–49 (Routledge, 2006), pp. 81–4.
The Spoils of War
26. TNA/ADM/199/2434, ‘Report on the History of the Occupation by the Allies from 5 May to 25 Nov 1945 and the General Activities of the Walterwerke, Kiel, 12 December 1945’. 27. Ibid. 28. Ibid. 29. TNA/ADM/281/143, ‘Second Report of Visit to Germany, RE Submarine Construction, July–August, 1945 by Constructor Captain A. J. Sims, D.N.C. Department, Admiralty, Part I’. 30. Ibid. 31. Norman Polmar and Kenneth Moore, Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of US and Soviet Submarines (Potomac Books, 2005), p. 34. 32. Paul Kemp, The T-Class: The Classic British Design (Naval Institute Press, 1990), p. 128; TNA/ADM/1/20045, Minute by Admiral Submarines, 17 July 1945. 33. TNA/ADM/1/27774, Engineer-in-Chief, 30 January 1947. 34. TNA/ADM/1/27774, Ingolin Underwater Propulsion Project, Minutes of a meeting, 15 February 1946. 35. Michael Simpson (ed.), The Cunningham Papers: Selections from the Private and Official Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, Vol. 2: The Triumph of Allied Sea Power 1942–1946 (Ashgate, 2006), p. 267. 36. Polmar and Moore, Cold War Submarines, p. 39. 37. TNA/ADM/167/27, Memorandum by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Development of High Speed Submarines, 29 July 1946.
Modernizing the Wartime Fleet
38. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Director of Naval Construction, Memo, 3 February 1945. 39. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Creasy to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘Revised Staff Requirements for the Three Operational Submarines of the 1945 Building Programme’, 23 August 1945. 40. Ibid. 41. TNA/ADM/116/5632, ‘Development of Machinery for Fast Underwater Propulsion of Submarines: Naval Staff Answers to Points Raised by E. in C.’, 1 September 1949. 42. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Creasy to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘Revised Staff Requirements for the Three Operational Submarines of the 1945 Building Programme’, 23 August 1945. 43. Royal Navy Submarine Museum (RNSM)/A1944/12, Creasy to Bryant, 12 December 1944. 44. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Creasy to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘Revised Staff Requirements for the Three Operational Submarines of the 1945 Buildin
g Programme’, 23 August 1945. 45. Ibid. 46. Jack Daniel, ‘The Royal Navy and Nuclear Power’, lecture to the Spring Meeting of the Eighty-Ninth Session of the Institution of Naval Architects, 18 March 1948. 47. TNA/ADM/1/26860, ‘Note on the Development of Nuclear Fuelled Submarines’, 5 July 1951. 48. TNA/ADM/1/27215, ‘Submarine Development’, 1947. 49. Ibid. 50. TNA/ADM/1/18604, Creasy to Secretary of the Admiralty, ‘Revised Staff Requirements for the Three Operational Submarines of the 1945 Building Programme’, 23 August 1945. 51. TNA/ADM/1/27774, Engineer-in-Chief, 30 January 1947. 52. TNA/ADM/1/27774, Ingolin Underwater Propulsion Project, Minutes of a meeting, 15 February 1946. 53. TNA/ADM/167/27, Memorandum by the First Lord of the Admiralty, ‘Development of High Speed Submarines’, 29 July 1946. 54. TNA/ADM/213/1060, CO HMS Meteorite to Captain (S/M), Third Submarine Flotilla, ‘Report of Proceedings from 17 March, 1949 to 30 April, 1949’. 55. TNA/ADM/116/5632, Memorandum on the Development of Machinery for the Fast Underwater Propulsion of Submarines, 1 September 1949. 56. TNA/ADM/167/134, ‘Naval New Construction Programme, 1949/1950’, Memorandum by the First Lord of the Admiralty. 57. TNA/ADM/116/5632, Memorandum on the Development of Machinery for the Fast Underwater Propulsion of Submarines, 1 September 1949. 58. TNA/DEFE/10/37, D. R.P. (50)123, Submarine Propulsion Development, 31 October 1950. 59. TNA/ADM/1/23729, The Requirements for an HTP Operational Submarine, 8 September 1952. 60. John Wise, ‘The Royal Navy and the Evolution of the “True Submarine”, 1945–1963’, in John Jordan (ed.), Warship 2009 (Conway Maritime Press, 2009). 61. TNA/ADM/116/5632, Memorandum on the Development of Machinery for the Fast Underwater Propulsion of Submarines, 1 September 1949. 62. Rodney Carlisle, Where the Fleet Begins: A History of the David Taylor Research Center, 1898–1998 (University Press of the Pacific, 2003), pp. 250–54; TNA/ADM/116/5632, Memorandum on the Development of Machinery for the Fast Underwater Propulsion of Submarines, 1 September 1949. 63. Ibid. 64. TNA/ADM/116/5632, Working Party on Submarine Propulsion, 24 November 1949. 65. For the best account of the early US nuclear-submarine programme see Richard G. Hewlett and Francis Duncan, Nuclear Navy 1946–1962 (University of Chicago Press, 1974).
