Victor-class Nuclear Attack Submarine

The Project 671 Victor-class is the NATO reporting name for a type of nuclear-powered submarine that was originally put into service by the Soviet Union around 1967. In the USSR, they were produced as Project 671 (Russian: Проект 671). Victor-class subs featured a teardrop shape, which allowed them to travel at high speed. These vessels were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack American ballistic missile submarines. Project 671 begun in 1959 and design task was assigned to SKB-143, one of the two predecessors (the other being OKB-16) of the famous Malachite Central Design Bureau, which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with Rubin Design Bureau and Lazurit Central Design Bureau.

Victor-I
Soviet designation Project 671 Yorsh (Ruffe) - was the initial type that entered service in 1967; Sixteen were produced. Each had six torpedo tubes for launching Type 53 torpedoes and SS-N-15 cruise missiles and mines could also be released. Subs had a capacity of 24 tube-launched weapons or 48 mines (a combination would require fewer of each). They were 303 feet (92.35 meters) long. All are disposed.

Victor-II
Soviet designation Project 671RT Syomga (Atlantic Salmon)- entered service in 1972; seven were produced in the 1970s. These were originally designated Uniform-class by NATO. They had similar armament to the Victor I-class. The Soviet Union discovered through its spy network that Americans could easily track Victor II-class subs and subsequently halted production of this type to design the Victor III class. They were 334 feet (101.8 meters) long. All were disposed.

Victor-III
Soviet designation Project 671RTM/RTMK Shchuka (Pike) - entered service in 1979; twenty-five were produced until 1991. Quieter than previous Soviet submarines, these ships had four tubes for launching SS-N-21 or SS-N-15 missiles and Type 53 torpedoes, plus another two tubes for launching SS-N-16 missiles and Type 65 torpedoes. Twenty-four tube-launched weapons or thirty-six mines could be on board. The Victor III-class caused a minor furor in NATO intelligence agencies at its introduction because of the distinctive pod on the vertical stern-plane. Speculation immediately mounted that the pod was the housing for some sort of exotic silent propulsion system, possibly a magnetohydrodynamic drive unit. Another theory proposed that it was some sort of weapon system. In the end, the pod was identified as a hydrodynamic housing for a reelable towed passive sonar array; the system was subsequently incorporated into the Sierra and Akula-class SSNs. In October 1983 the towed array of K-324, a Victor III operating west of Bermuda, became tangled with the towed array of US frigate USS McCloy. K-324 was forced to surface, allowing NATO forces to photograph the pod in its deployed state. The Victor III class was continuously improved during construction and late production models have a superior acoustic performance. They were 348 feet (106.07 meters) long. Twenty-one were disposed.