The Red October (sort of)...

[Maxymillion]

Came across these....how much do you think it would take to buy one (not that they'd let you) and do it up for your own private transport? £1 billion? Shame to see them rotting away...it says they're in reserve.


http://community.livejournal.com/ru_submarine/1748...

[DieselGriff]

Good find and very interesting. I had a look round an older and smaller Russian sub that was in Folkestone some years ago which certainly didn't have pool or a sauna!

[Lost soul]

First ,i am supprised they let people take pics inside

Second, i am amazed at the sheer size of the thing they are much bigger than i imagined

[perdu]

I get an almost pathologcal urge to chip away rust and paint the poor blooming things...

Staggering size, almost like a flight deck on the flatter bits

wow

[Smiler.]

That is huge.

I went aboard this Alfa Class sub when it was moored at the Thames barrier.

http://www.sovietsub.co.uk/about.html

Not in the same league, but I was amazed at how antiquated everything looked - and cramped.

[Conian]

brilliant!

1 ping only!

[bumblebee]

Severodvinsk



I can see 3 Typhoons..but i can't find the location of the 3 parallel jetties shown in the photos linked above. Might be an older image on Google maps.

[dowahdiddyman]

My god them things is damn big, still made with recycled Lada`s though judging by all the rust.

[tank slapper]

Smiler. said:

That is huge.

I went aboard this Alfa Class sub when it was moored at the Thames barrier.

http://www.sovietsub.co.uk/about.html

Not in the same league, but I was amazed at how antiquated everything looked - and cramped.

That isn't an Alfa, it's a Foxtrot class Diesel-Electric sub. Alfas were an altogether different beast. They were powered by a liquid metal cooled reactor and were the fastest and deepest diving submarines in service - they could do over 40 knots and dive extremely deep due to their titanium hulls.

The Foxtrot was contemporary to the Oberon class subs in the Royal Navy, of which there is one you can visit at the historic docks at Chatham.

That Typhoon in the first link looks a bit of a mess.

Edited by tank slapper on Sunday 7th February 17:17

[Maxymillion]

Was the Kursk a Typhoon class? I was surprised to see it looking in that state, if its in reserve surely it needs to be in better order than that?

[Mojocvh]

Ship shape and Bristol fashion, NOT

[tank slapper]

Maxymillion said:

Was the Kursk a Typhoon class? I was surprised to see it looking in that state, if its in reserve surely it needs to be in better order than that?

Kursk was an Oscar II class, which is a cruise missile carrier rather than a ballistic missile boat, although they are still quite large. They are of comparable size to our Vanguard class SSBNs. They were designed to attack American carrier battle groups.



You can see the missile tubes running down the sides of the boat, under the open hatches.

[rhinochopig]

Very cool good find. It doesn't look like they were allowed in the manoeuvring room though. The control panels shown don't seem to display any NSRP systems - could be ship's systems but I can't read Russia. If anyone can, can they translate.

[rhinochopig]

tank slapper said:

Smiler. said:

That is huge.

I went aboard this Alfa Class sub when it was moored at the Thames barrier.

http://www.sovietsub.co.uk/about.html

Not in the same league, but I was amazed at how antiquated everything looked - and cramped.

That isn't an Alfa, it's a Foxtrot class Diesel-Electric sub. Alfas were an altogether different beast. They were powered by a liquid metal cooled reactor and were the fastest and deepest diving submarines in service - they could do over 40 knots and dive extremely deep due to their titanium hulls.

The Foxtrot was contemporary to the Oberon class subs in the Royal Navy, of which there is one you can visit at the historic docks at Chatham.

That Typhoon in the first link looks a bit of a mess.

Edited by tank slapper on Sunday 7th February 17:17

Alpha's were the navy's equivalent of the Russian airforces Nuclear powered bomber. They were never going to work operationally but they created a ststorm in the west. We ended up with the spearfish torp as a result of the ensuing panic.

The liquid metal used was a lead bizmuth-alloy, which although in theory is an ideal primary coolant / heat exchange medium it has a couple of fatal flaws. The reactor could not be shut down unless it was connected to a shore side steam plant. Without these shore-side services the core would freeze writing off the plant if the reactor was shut down. There were also void problems in the coolant channels which could lead to cladding damage.

Like a lot of cold war era projects - 'twas good in theory.

[theironduke]

IIRC the Typhoon class boats are the biggest submarines ever built, bigger than the Ohio class boats in the US.

I know one probably shouldn't get sentimental about such a thing but looking through those pics (excellent find BTW!!!!) i couldn't help but feel a little sad. I really can't see that boat ever putting to sea again, quite sad. The Russian navy does have at least one operational Typhoon though doesn't it? sure i've read that somewhere.

Oh and Hunt for Red October is one of my top 5 films....off the back of it i bought a Russian Naval Officers greatcoat, exactly as our Marco wears!! the thing must weigh 5 or 6 kilos!! Brilliant coat!

[tank slapper]

rhinochopig said:

The liquid metal used was a lead bizmuth-alloy, which although in theory is an ideal primary coolant / heat exchange medium it has a couple of fatal flaws. The reactor could not be shut down unless it was connected to a shore side steam plant. Without these shore-side services the core would freeze writing off the plant if the reactor was shut down. There were also void problems in the coolant channels which could lead to cladding damage.

They could never make the shore side plants work properly, so they ended up having to have the reactors powered up all the time which made maintenance a lot harder. Several of them ended up being decommissioned because their reactors froze accidentally.

[Z06George]

I know someone who can speak/read some Russian if no one does it by tomorrow afternoon/evening I'll get them to have a look. Great finds BTW.

[MartG]

tank slapper said:

That Typhoon in the first link looks a bit of a mess.

I think all the rusty bits are inside the conning tower - that isn't part of the pressure hull and is allowed to flood when the submarine dives, hence the condition of the paintwork etc.

[tank slapper]

MartG said:

tank slapper said:

That Typhoon in the first link looks a bit of a mess.

I think all the rusty bits are inside the conning tower - that isn't part of the pressure hull and is allowed to flood when the submarine dives, hence the condition of the paintwork etc.

Yeah, but it obviously isn't being maintained very well. Exposure to a marine environment requires constant upkeep - ask anyone who has a boat. The external hull is also quite messed up.

[steve_amv8]

bumblebee said:

Severodvinsk



I can see 3 Typhoons..but i can't find the location of the 3 parallel jetties shown in the photos linked above. Might be an older image on Google maps.

I'd suggest it is here, north west of Murmansk ...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&a...