It is notable that the first boat of the class is still in service, albeit as a weapons test platform, as she was designed for a ten-year lifetime between major refit. The submarines were powered by OK-650 pressurized-water nuclear reactors, two 50,000 horsepower steam turbines, and four 3,200 KW turbogenerators and this provides the boat with the ability to sail at a speed of up to 22.2 knots on the surface and 27 knots whilst submerged. By contrast, the Soviet Typhoons could carry a primary cache of 20 RSM-52 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), each of which contained up to 10 MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) warheads. The Typhoon-class subs were designed to counter the United States Navy’s Ohio-class subs, which were capable of carrying up to 192 100-kiloton nuclear warheads. The sheer size of the submarines was likely welcomed by the approximately 160 sailors who called the submarine home on voyages lasting 120 days or longer, oftentimes without surfacing for months at a time. It even was reported that there was a sauna on board as well as a small swimming pool for the crew. Developed with multiple pressure hulls, including five inner hulls situated inside a superstructure of two parallel main hulls, the Typhoon-class was also wider than any other submarine ever built.Įach contained nineteen compartments, including a strengthened module, which housed the main control room as well as an electronic equipment compartment above the main hulls and behind the missile launch tubes. With a displacement of 48,000 tons, a length of 175 meters (nearly 600 feet), a 23-meter beam, and a 12-meter draught, these were the largest submarines ever built. A total of seven of the submarines were planned, while six were completed. It was the size of a World War II aircraft carrier and armed with enough nuclear missiles to kill an entire country in just one strike: Just before Christmas last year, the Russian Navy celebrated the 40th anniversary of the commissioning of the Dmitriy Donskoy (TK-208), the lead boat in the Project 941 Akula (NATO reporting name Typhoon) class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines designed and built for the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The Typhoon was a submarine class built by the then Soviet Navy that was like no other.
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