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69-660: Project 629 was started in the mid-1950s along with the D-2 missile launch system, which it was to carry, and was based on the Foxtrot-class submarine . The design task was assigned to OKB-16, one of the two predecessors (the other being SKB-143) of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau , which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with the Rubin Design Bureau and

138-420: A cruise missile ); and covert insertion of frogmen or special forces . Their civilian uses include: marine science ; salvage ; exploration; and facility inspection and maintenance. Submarines can be modified for specialized functions such as search-and-rescue missions and undersea cable repair. They are also used in the tourism industry and in undersea archaeology . Modern deep-diving submarines derive from

207-407: A carrying capacity of 50 to 100 passengers. In a typical operation a surface vessel carries passengers to an offshore operating area and loads them into the submarine. The submarine then visits underwater points of interest such as natural or artificial reef structures. To surface safely without danger of collision the location of the submarine is marked with an air release and movement to the surface

276-465: A hand-powered acorn-shaped device designed by the American David Bushnell to accommodate a single person. It was the first verified submarine capable of independent underwater operation and movement, and the first to use screws for propulsion. In 1800, France built Nautilus , a human-powered submarine designed by American Robert Fulton . They gave up on the experiment in 1804, as did

345-636: A noun it generally refers to a vessel that can travel underwater. The term is a contraction of submarine boat . and occurs as such in several languages, e.g. French ( sous-marin ), and Spanish ( submarino ), although others retain the original term, such as Dutch ( Onderzeeboot ), German ( Unterseeboot ), Swedish ( Undervattensbåt ), and Russian ( подводная лодка : podvodnaya lodka ), all of which mean 'submarine boat'. By naval tradition , submarines are usually referred to as boats rather than as ships , regardless of their size. Although referred to informally as boats , U.S. submarines employ

414-502: A pivotal time in submarine development, and several important technologies appeared. A number of nations built and used submarines. Diesel electric propulsion became the dominant power system and equipment such as the periscope became standardized. Countries conducted many experiments on effective tactics and weapons for submarines, which led to their large impact in World War I . The first submarine not relying on human power for propulsion

483-419: A report in 2016 entitled "North Korea's Nuclear and WMD Assessment". In that report, North Korean defector Kim Heung-kwang said a 3,500-ton, nuclear-powered submarine, one of a pair, was due for launch before 2018. It was described as having four missile launch silos in the sail, and is generally thought to refer to a repowered Golf II-class vessel. In 1959, the project technology was sold to China , which built

552-824: A single torpedo , in 1885. A reliable means of propulsion for the submerged vessel was only made possible in the 1880s with the advent of the necessary electric battery technology. The first electrically powered boats were built by Isaac Peral y Caballero in Spain (who built Peral ), Dupuy de Lôme (who built Gymnote ) and Gustave Zédé (who built Sirène ) in France, and James Franklin Waddington (who built Porpoise ) in England. Peral's design featured torpedoes and other systems that later became standard in submarines. Commissioned in June 1900,

621-627: A single modified example in 1966, which is still in service. On March 8, 1968, 1,560 nautical miles (2,890 km) northwest of Oahu in the Pacific Ocean , the Golf II-class submarine K-129 sank due to an explosion brought on by unknown cause, the accident being registered by the SOSUS network. The entire crew of 98 was lost and the vessel sank with three ballistic nuclear missiles as well as two nuclear torpedoes. The United States recovered parts of

690-527: A spar as a torpedo charge. The Hunley also sank. The explosion's shock waves may have killed its crew instantly, preventing them from pumping the bilge or propelling the submarine. In 1866, Sub Marine Explorer was the first submarine to successfully dive, cruise underwater, and resurface under the crew's control. The design by German American Julius H. Kroehl (in German, Kröhl ) incorporated elements that are still used in modern submarines. In 1866, Flach

759-447: A submarine lies in its ability to remain concealed in the depths of the ocean. Early submarines could be detected by the sound they made. Water is an excellent conductor of sound (much better than air), and submarines can detect and track comparatively noisy surface ships from long distances. Modern submarines are built with an emphasis on stealth . Advanced propeller designs, extensive sound-reducing insulation, and special machinery help

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828-422: A submarine remain as quiet as ambient ocean noise, making them difficult to detect. It takes specialized technology to find and attack modern submarines. Active sonar uses the reflection of sound emitted from the search equipment to detect submarines. It has been used since WWII by surface ships, submarines and aircraft (via dropped buoys and helicopter "dipping" arrays), but it reveals the emitter's position, and

897-539: A successful firing solution against a three-dimensionally maneuvering target using techniques which became the basis of modern torpedo computer targeting systems. Seventy-four British submarines were lost, the majority, forty-two, in the Mediterranean. The first launch of a cruise missile ( SSM-N-8 Regulus ) from a submarine occurred in July 1953, from the deck of USS  Tunny , a World War II fleet boat modified to carry

966-663: A test dive while at its operational limit, and USS  Scorpion due to unknown causes. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 , the Pakistan Navy 's Hangor sank the Indian frigate INS  Khukri . This was the first sinking by a submarine since World War II. During the same war, Ghazi , a Tench -class submarine on loan to Pakistan from the US, was sunk by the Indian Navy . It

1035-524: A total of 74 submarines, though of mixed effectiveness. In August 1914, a flotilla of ten U-boats sailed from their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea in the first submarine war patrol in history. The U-boats' ability to function as practical war machines relied on new tactics, their numbers, and submarine technologies such as combination diesel–electric power system developed in

1104-560: A wide range of types and capabilities. They range from small, autonomous examples, such as one- or two-person subs that operate for a few hours, to vessels that can remain submerged for six months, such as the Russian Typhoon class , (the biggest submarines ever built). Submarines can work at depths that are greater than what is practicable (or even survivable) for human divers . The word submarine means 'underwater' or 'under-sea' (as in submarine canyon , submarine pipeline ) though as

1173-518: Is susceptible to counter-measures. A concealed military submarine is a real threat, and because of its stealth, can force an enemy navy to waste resources searching large areas of ocean and protecting ships against attack. This advantage was vividly demonstrated in the 1982 Falklands War when the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS  Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano . After

1242-471: The Gato , Balao , and Tench classes were commissioned during the war. During the war, 52 US submarines were lost to all causes, with 48 directly due to hostilities. US submarines sank 1,560 enemy vessels, a total tonnage of 5.3 million tons (55% of the total sunk). The Royal Navy Submarine Service was used primarily in the classic Axis blockade . Its major operating areas were around Norway, in

1311-507: The Holland Torpedo Boat Company from 1901 to 1903. Construction of the boats took longer than anticipated, with the first only ready for a diving trial at sea on 6 April 1902. Although the design had been purchased entirely from the US company, the actual design used was an untested improvement to the original Holland design using a new 180 horsepower (130 kW) petrol engine. These types of submarines were first used during

1380-506: The Lazurit Central Design Bureau . The submarine was originally designed to carry three R-11FM ballistic missiles with a range around 150 km. These were carried in three silos fitted in the rear of the large sail behind the bridge. They could only be fired with the submarine surfaced and the missile raised above the sail, but the submarine could be underway at the time. Only the first three boats were equipped with these;

1449-634: The Mediterranean (against the Axis supply routes to North Africa), and in the Far East. In that war, British submarines sank 2 million tons of enemy shipping and 57 major warships, the latter including 35 submarines. Among these is the only documented instance of a submarine sinking another submarine while both were submerged. This occurred when HMS  Venturer engaged U-864 ; the Venturer crew manually computed

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1518-525: The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. Due to the blockade at Port Arthur , the Russians sent their submarines to Vladivostok , where by 1 January 1905 there were seven boats, enough to create the world's first "operational submarine fleet". The new submarine fleet began patrols on 14 February, usually lasting for about 24 hours each. The first confrontation with Japanese warships occurred on 29 April 1905 when

1587-511: The bathyscaphe , which evolved from the diving bell . Most large submarines consist of a cylindrical body with hemispherical (or conical) ends and a vertical structure, usually located amidships, which houses communications and sensing devices as well as periscopes . In modern submarines, this structure is called the " sail " in American usage and "fin" in European usage. A feature of earlier designs

1656-731: The wet sub ). Submarines are referred to as boats rather than ships regardless of their size. Although experimental submarines had been built earlier, submarine design took off during the 19th century, and submarines were adopted by several navies. They were first used widely during World War I (1914–1918), and are now used in many navies , large and small. Their military uses include: attacking enemy surface ships (merchant and military) or other submarines; aircraft carrier protection; blockade running ; nuclear deterrence ; stealth operations in denied areas when gathering intelligence and doing reconnaissance ; denying or influencing enemy movements; conventional land attacks (for example, launching

1725-635: The British, when they reconsidered Fulton's submarine design. In 1850, Wilhelm Bauer 's Brandtaucher was built in Germany. It remains the oldest known surviving submarine in the world. In 1864, late in the American Civil War , the Confederate navy 's H. L. Hunley became the first military submarine to sink an enemy vessel, the Union sloop-of-war USS  Housatonic , using a gun-powder-filled keg on

1794-501: The English clergyman and inventor George Garrett and the Swedish industrialist Thorsten Nordenfelt led to the first practical steam-powered submarines, armed with torpedoes and ready for military use. The first was Nordenfelt I , a 56-tonne, 19.5-metre (64 ft) vessel similar to Garrett's ill-fated Resurgam (1879), with a range of 240 kilometres (130 nmi; 150 mi), armed with

1863-599: The French steam and electric Narval employed the now typical double-hull design, with a pressure hull inside the outer shell. These 200-ton ships had a range of over 160 km (100 mi) underwater. The French submarine Aigrette in 1904 further improved the concept by using a diesel rather than a gasoline engine for surface power. Large numbers of these submarines were built, with seventy-six completed before 1914. The Royal Navy commissioned five Holland-class submarines from Vickers , Barrow-in-Furness , under licence from

1932-736: The German developments in submarine technology with the creation of the K-class submarines . However, these submarines were notoriously dangerous to operate due to their various design flaws and poor maneuverability. During World War II , Germany used submarines to devastating effect in the Battle of the Atlantic , where it attempted to cut Britain's supply routes by sinking more merchant ships than Britain could replace. These merchant ships were vital to supply Britain's population with food, industry with raw material, and armed forces with fuel and armaments. Although

2001-762: The Pacific War destroyed more Japanese shipping than all other weapons combined. This feat was considerably aided by the Imperial Japanese Navy's failure to provide adequate escort forces for the nation's merchant fleet. During World War II, 314 submarines served in the US Navy, of which nearly 260 were deployed to the Pacific. When the Japanese attacked Hawaii in December 1941, 111 boats were in commission; 203 submarines from

2070-462: The Pacific in World War II. Mine -laying submarines were developed in the early part of the 20th century. The facility was used in both World Wars. Submarines were also used for inserting and removing covert agents and military forces in special operations , for intelligence gathering, and to rescue aircrew during air attacks on islands, where the airmen would be told of safe places to crash-land so

2139-672: The Pearl Harbor, a mechanical claw descended 17,000 feet (5,200 m) to the bottom of the Pacific, and guided by computers on board the Glomar Explorer , clamped onto the mass of twisted, rusting steel and began slowly raising it to the surface. How successful the effort was is unclear, but the United States has admitted to recovering a portion of K-129 , which included six bodies of Soviet sailors who were buried at sea with full honors. Foxtrot-class submarine The Foxtrot class

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2208-567: The Russian submarine Som was fired upon by Japanese torpedo boats, but then withdrew. Military submarines first made a significant impact in World War I . Forces such as the U-boats of Germany saw action in the First Battle of the Atlantic , and were responsible for sinking RMS  Lusitania , which was sunk as a result of unrestricted submarine warfare and is often cited among the reasons for

2277-572: The Soviet Project 641, at Yard 196, Leningrad. Sold for scrap 2022 Most saw service in the Soviet Navy . Foxtrots were also built for the Indian Navy (eight units, from 1967 to 1974), Libyan (six units, from 1978 to 1980), and Cuban (six units, from 1978 to 1983) navies. Some Soviet Foxtrots later saw service in the Polish and Ukrainian navies. Several Foxtrots are on display as museums around

2346-548: The Soviet Sixty-Ninth Submarine Brigade. US Navy destroyers dropped practice depth charges near Project 641 subs near Cuba in efforts to force them to surface and be identified. Three of the four Project 641 submarines were forced to surface, however one eluded US forces. All four boats were later ordered to return to port in Russia. Following is a list of 58 of the 75 Foxtrot-class submarines built during

2415-608: The U-boats had been updated in the interwar years, the major innovation was improved communications, encrypted using the Enigma cipher machine . This allowed for mass-attack naval tactics ( Rudeltaktik , commonly known as " wolfpack "), which ultimately ceased to be effective when the U-boat's Enigma was cracked . By the end of the war, almost 3,000 Allied ships (175 warships, 2,825 merchantmen) had been sunk by U-boats. Although successful early in

2484-724: The US, the Soviet Union (now Russia), the UK, and France have been powered by a nuclear reactor . In 1959–1960, the first ballistic missile submarines were put into service by both the United States ( George Washington class ) and the Soviet Union ( Golf class ) as part of the Cold War nuclear deterrent strategy. During the Cold War, the US and the Soviet Union maintained large submarine fleets that engaged in cat-and-mouse games. The Soviet Union lost at least four submarines during this period: K-129

2553-420: The batteries taking up 2 decks, onboard conditions were crowded, with space being relatively small even when compared to older submarines such as the much older American Balao -class submarine . The Foxtrot class was completely obsolete by the time the last submarine was launched. The Russian Navy retired its last Foxtrots between 1995 and 2000; units were scrapped and disposed of for museum purposes. During

2622-654: The belief that the vessel was evacuating anti-Israeli militias. The ship was hit by two torpedoes, managed to run aground but eventually sank. There were 25 dead, including her captain. The Israeli Navy disclosed the incident in November 2018. Before and during World War II , the primary role of the submarine was anti-surface ship warfare. Submarines would attack either on the surface using deck guns, or submerged using torpedoes . They were particularly effective in sinking Allied transatlantic shipping in both World Wars, and in disrupting Japanese supply routes and naval operations in

2691-458: The craft. A mechanism was used to twist the water out of the bags and cause the boat to resurface. In 1749, the Gentlemen's Magazine reported that a similar design had initially been proposed by Giovanni Borelli in 1680. Further design improvement stagnated for over a century, until application of new technologies for propulsion and stability. The first military submersible was Turtle (1775),

2760-556: The designation USS ( United States Ship ) at the beginning of their names, such as USS  Alabama . In the Royal Navy, the designation HMS can refer to "His Majesty's Ship" or "His Majesty's Submarine", though the latter is sometimes rendered "HMS/m" and submarines are generally referred to as boats rather than ships . According to a report in Opusculum Taisnieri published in 1562: Two Greeks submerged and surfaced in

2829-441: The development of the homing torpedo, better sonar systems, and nuclear propulsion , submarines also became able to hunt each other effectively. The development of submarine-launched ballistic missile and submarine-launched cruise missiles gave submarines a substantial and long-ranged ability to attack both land and sea targets with a variety of weapons ranging from cluster bombs to nuclear weapons . The primary defense of

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2898-574: The division of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, in 1997 one Foxtrot class submarine (later renamed as Zaporizhzhia ) was passed to Ukraine as it was not operational since 1991. The ship never effectively served in the Ukrainian Navy and was under repair. In 2005 Ukrainian Ministry of Defence wanted to sell it, but was unsuccessful. Following successful post-repair trials in June 2013, it was recognised as operational. However, on 22 March 2014 it

2967-673: The enemyes by the Grace of God and worke of expert Craftsmen I hope to perform." It is unclear whether he carried out his idea. Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont (1553–1613) created detailed designs for two types of air-renovated submersible vehicles. They were equipped with oars, autonomous floating snorkels worked by inner pumps, portholes and gloves used for the crew to manipulate underwater objects. Ayanaz planned to use them for warfare, using them to approach enemy ships undetected and set up timed gunpowder charges on their hulls. The first submersible of whose construction there exists reliable information

3036-402: The entry of the United States into the war. At the outbreak of the war, Germany had only twenty submarines available for combat, although these included vessels of the diesel-engined U-19 class, which had a sufficient range of 5,000 miles (8,000 km) and speed of 8 knots (15 km/h) to allow them to operate effectively around the entire British coast., By contrast, the Royal Navy had

3105-535: The first practical self-propelled or "locomotive" torpedo. The spar torpedo that had been developed earlier by the Confederate States Navy was considered to be impracticable, as it was believed to have sunk both its intended target, and H. L. Hunley , the submarine that deployed it. The Irish inventor John Philip Holland built a model submarine in 1876 and in 1878 demonstrated the Holland I prototype. This

3174-521: The highest submerged speeds during World War II ( I-201 -class submarines) and submarines that could carry multiple aircraft ( I-400 -class submarines). They were also equipped with one of the most advanced torpedoes of the conflict, the oxygen-propelled Type 95 . Nevertheless, despite their technical prowess, Japan chose to use its submarines for fleet warfare, and consequently were relatively unsuccessful, as warships were fast, maneuverable and well-defended compared to merchant ships. The submarine force

3243-627: The last was completed in 1983. A total of 58 were built for the Soviet Navy at the Sudomekh division of the Admiralty Shipyard (now Admiralty Wharves), Saint Petersburg. Additional hulls were built for other countries. The Foxtrot class was comparable in performance and armament to most contemporary designs. However, its three screws made it noisier than most Western designs. Moreover, the Foxtrot class

3312-435: The missile with a nuclear warhead . Tunny and its sister boat, Barbero , were the United States' first nuclear deterrent patrol submarines. In the 1950s, nuclear power partially replaced diesel–electric propulsion. Equipment was also developed to extract oxygen from sea water. These two innovations gave submarines the ability to remain submerged for weeks or months. Most of the naval submarines built since that time in

3381-405: The preceding years. More submersibles than true submarines, U-boats operated primarily on the surface using regular engines, submerging occasionally to attack under battery power. They were roughly triangular in cross-section, with a distinct keel to control rolling while surfaced, and a distinct bow. During World War I more than 5,000 Allied ships were sunk by U-boats. The British responded to

3450-602: The remaining ones were equipped with the longer-range R-13 missiles. The first boats were commissioned in 1958 and the last in 1962. The boats were built at two shipyards — 16 in Severodvinsk and 7 in Komsomolsk-na-Amure in the Far East. An eighth in the Far East went to China. Fourteen were extensively modified in 1966–1972 and became known as 629A by the Soviet Navy and "Golf II" by NATO (the original version having been designated "Golf I"). The major changes were

3519-685: The river Tagus near the City of Toledo several times in the presence of The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , without getting wet and with the flame they carried in their hands still alight. In 1578, the English mathematician William Bourne recorded in his book Inventions or Devises one of the first plans for an underwater navigation vehicle. A few years later the Scottish mathematician and theologian John Napier wrote in his Secret Inventions (1596) that "These inventions besides devises of sayling under water with divers, other devises and strategems for harming of

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3588-624: The sinking the Argentine Navy recognized that they had no effective defense against submarine attack, and the Argentine surface fleet withdrew to port for the remainder of the war. An Argentine submarine remained at sea, however. Although the majority of the world's submarines are military, there are some civilian submarines, which are used for tourism, exploration, oil and gas platform inspections, and pipeline surveys. Some are also used in illegal activities. The Submarine Voyage ride opened at Disneyland in 1959, but although it ran under water it

3657-633: The submarine in July 1974 from a depth around 5 km, in an operation named Project Azorian . Two nuclear submarines that had been facing retirement, USS  Halibut  (SSGN-587) and USS  Seawolf  (SSN-575) , were rebuilt and pressed into service as deep-sea search vehicles. After Halibut discovered a sunken Soviet submarine containing at least one intact ballistic missile complete with nuclear warhead, Melvin Laird , United States Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon , approved Azorian. Six years later, 1560 nautical miles north of

3726-473: The submarines could rescue them. Submarines could carry cargo through hostile waters or act as supply vessels for other submarines. Submarines could usually locate and attack other submarines only on the surface, although HMS  Venturer managed to sink U-864 with a four torpedo spread while both were submerged. The British developed a specialized anti-submarine submarine in WWI, the R class . After WWII, with

3795-586: The upgrade of the missile system to carry R-21 missiles, which could be launched from inside their tubes with the submarine submerged, and increased speed. In later years, a few were converted to test new missiles and others had different conversions. All boats had left Soviet service by 1990. In 1993, 10 were sold to North Korea for scrap. According to some sources, the North Koreans were attempting to get these boats back into service. An organization of defectors from North Korea, named In-Kook Yantai, published

3864-466: The war, Germany's U-boat fleet suffered heavy casualties, losing 793 U-boats and about 28,000 submariners out of 41,000, a casualty rate of about 70%. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated the most varied fleet of submarines of any navy, including Kaiten crewed torpedoes, midget submarines ( Type A Ko-hyoteki and Kairyu classes ), medium-range submarines, purpose-built supply submarines and long-range fleet submarines . They also had submarines with

3933-415: The world, including: Submarine A submarine (or sub ) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible , which has more limited underwater capability.) The term “submarine” is also sometimes used historically or informally to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots , or to medium-sized or smaller vessels (such as the midget submarine and

4002-613: Was built at the Chilean government's request by Karl Flach , a German engineer and immigrant. It was the fifth submarine built in the world and, along with a second submarine, was intended to defend the port of Valparaiso against attack by the Spanish Navy during the Chincha Islands War . Submarines could not be put into widespread or routine service use by navies until suitable engines were developed. The era from 1863 to 1904 marked

4071-440: Was designed and built in 1620 by Cornelis Drebbel , a Dutchman in the service of James I of England . It was propelled by means of oars. By the mid-18th century, over a dozen patents for submarines/submersible boats had been granted in England. In 1747, Nathaniel Symons patented and built the first known working example of the use of a ballast tank for submersion. His design used leather bags that could fill with water to submerge

4140-696: Was followed by a number of unsuccessful designs. In 1896, he designed the Holland Type VI submarine, which used internal combustion engine power on the surface and electric battery power underwater. Launched on 17 May 1897 at Navy Lt. Lewis Nixon 's Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey , Holland VI was purchased by the United States Navy on 11 April 1900, becoming the Navy's first commissioned submarine, christened USS  Holland . Discussions between

4209-565: Was lost in 1968 (a part of which the CIA retrieved from the ocean floor with the Howard Hughes -designed ship Glomar Explorer ), K-8 in 1970, K-219 in 1986, and Komsomolets in 1989 (which held a depth record among military submarines—1,000 m (3,300 ft)). Many other Soviet subs, such as K-19 (the first Soviet nuclear submarine, and the first Soviet sub to reach the North Pole) were badly damaged by fire or radiation leaks. The US lost two nuclear submarines during this time: USS  Thresher due to equipment failure during

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4278-443: Was not a true submarine, as it ran on tracks and was open to the atmosphere. The first tourist submarine was Auguste Piccard , which went into service in 1964 at Expo64 . By 1997, there were 45 tourist submarines operating around the world. Submarines with a crush depth in the range of 400–500 feet (120–150 m) are operated in several areas worldwide, typically with bottom depths around 100 to 120 feet (30 to 37 m), with

4347-457: Was one of the last designs introduced before the adoption of the teardrop hull , which offered much better underwater performance. Also, although the Foxtrot was larger than a Zulu class submarine, the Foxtrot class had 2 of its 3 decks dedicated to batteries. This gave it an underwater endurance of 10 days, but the weight of the batteries made the Foxtrot's average speed a slow 2 knots (3.7 km/h) at its maximum submerged time capability. Due to

4416-402: Was surrendered to or captured by Russia as part of the Russian annexation of Crimea . Russia decided not to accept it due to its age and operational unsuitability. Its subsequent status is unknown. Project 641s played a central role in some of the most dramatic incidents of the Cuban Missile Crisis . The Soviet Navy deployed four Project 641 submarines to Cuba: B-4, B-36, B-59 , and B-130 of

4485-446: Was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union . The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641 . The Foxtrot class was designed to replace the earlier Zulu class , which suffered from structural weaknesses and harmonic vibration problems that limited its operational depth and submerged speed. The first Foxtrot keel was laid down in 1957 and commissioned in 1958 and

4554-488: Was the " conning tower ": a separate pressure hull above the main body of the boat that enabled the use of shorter periscopes. There is a propeller (or pump jet) at the rear, and various hydrodynamic control fins. Smaller, deep-diving, and specialty submarines may deviate significantly from this traditional design. Submarines dive and resurface by using diving planes and by changing the amount of water and air in ballast tanks to affect their buoyancy . Submarines encompass

4623-437: Was the French Plongeur ( Diver ), launched in 1863, which used compressed air at 1,200  kPa (180  psi ). Narcís Monturiol designed the first air-independent and combustion -powered submarine, Ictíneo II , which was launched in Barcelona , Spain in 1864. The submarine became feasible as potential weapon with the development of the Whitehead torpedo , designed in 1866 by British engineer Robert Whitehead ,

4692-449: Was the first submarine combat loss since World War II. In 1982 during the Falklands War , the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was sunk by the British submarine HMS  Conqueror , the first sinking by a nuclear-powered submarine in war. Some weeks later, on 16 June, during the Lebanon War , an unnamed Israeli submarine torpedoed and sank the Lebanese coaster Transit , which was carrying 56 Palestinian refugees to Cyprus , in

4761-413: Was the most effective anti-ship weapon in the American arsenal. Submarines, though only about 2 percent of the U.S. Navy, destroyed over 30 percent of the Japanese Navy, including 8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship and 11 cruisers. US submarines also destroyed over 60 percent of the Japanese merchant fleet, crippling Japan's ability to supply its military forces and industrial war effort. Allied submarines in

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