BACKGROUND

Russian open sources provide detailed design and performance characteristics that answer the long-standing question: “How fast were the NOVEMBER Class Soviet SSNs?”

SUMMARY

The lead hull of the NOVEMBER Class, the LENINSKY KOMSOMOL (K-3), Project 627 – laid down on 24 Sep 1955 and underway on nuclear power on 4 July 1958 - had a maximum speed of 30 knots. The next 14 NOVEMBERs, Project 627A, with modified hull forms that significantly increased drag, had maximum speeds of 28 knots. One NOVEMBER, Project 645, was a test-bed for the Liquid Metal Cooled (LMC) nuclear reactor used by the ALFA Class SSN. All other NOVEMBERS had two Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). An improved (more hydrodynamically efficient) “cone-shaped” bow allowed the Project 645 NOVEMBER to achieve 30.2 knots.

TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS

Between 1958 and 1964, the Soviet Navy commissioned a total of 16 NOVEMBER Class SSNs: one Project 627 with two VM-A PWRs, 14 Project 627A hulls, also with two VM-A PWRs, and one Project 645 hull with two VT-1 LMC reactors.

Each VM-A PWR, rated at 70 MW, delivered 17,500 shaft horsepower (shp) to a 60-D (GTZA-601) “turbo-gear assembly” and also powered a GPM-21 dc turbo-generator rated at 1,875 hp for a total propulsion capability of 35,000 hp plus a total electrical output of 3,750 hp for both Project 627 and 627A hulls. These values equate to a conversion (efficiency) of 20.7 percent of the reactor output to useful power, most of the rest, nearly 80 percent, was lost in the primary-secondary steam loop heat exchangers.

Each VT-1 LMC (lead-bismuth eutectic) reactor rated at 73 MW, delivered an estimated 18,000 shp to a 60-D turbo-gear assembly and also powered am ATG-610 turbo-generator rated at 2145 hp. (One source states: the Project 645 “added ship-service turbo-generators, like those of Western nuclear submarines;” hence, the 645 was the only NOVEMBER Class unit whose primary electrical system was ac. All other NOVEMBERs used dc power. Collateral data supports this Project 645 assessment.

The hull-form modification to the 14 Project 627A NOVEMBERs that resulted in the loss of two knots involved the addition of a bow-area sonar dome – a “chin-mount” – that significantly increased the cross-sectional area of those submarines and the resulting drag. Project 627A hulls also were lengthened by eight feet to 360 feet.

It is assessed that an even more extreme bow-area modification of the NOVEMBER Class hull that attempted to intercept the USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN 65) in January 1969 reduced the speed during its 37.4 hour flank-speed run to 25-26 knots. Conjectures that this NOVEMBER operated at speeds as high as 31 knots were not supported by detailed collateral data.

All NOVEMBERs also had a turbo-electric propulsion mode that involved the use of shaft-mounted 450 hp PG-116 dc motors for an estimated maximum speed in that mode of about eight knots. Note: all NOVEMBERs except the Project 645 unit, had two DG-400, 460 hp diesel generators. The Project 645 hull did not have diesel-generators. This probably was a space issue.

COMMENTS

See linked site to learn how the “USSR's first-ever nuclear (the LENINSKY KOMSOMOL) sub was destroyed by beer bottle cap.”

Also see the writers' archived article entitled “Unconventional Soviet Submarines” for discussions of the long-delayed USN decision to acknowledge the Soviets had operational nuclear submarines. It was System data that finally moved the Navy to make that admission about 1966, eight years after the NOVEMBER had become “more or less” operational.

Several Russian sources refer to use by NOVEMBERs of “low-vibration, silent propellers.” The Walker data inforned them otherwise.

The thought of a November running at 30 knots is arousing....in an acoustic sense, of course :)

Randy:

The joke during pre-vacuum days was that the stench was so powerful you knew what was going on when you entered the display room, even if you didn't see the sparks.

Hard to believe some of those events occurred half a century ago.

Bruce

Blowing your nose and your wife yelling at you to CHANGE YOUR clothes when u came in the door!!!

Bruce, About the only thing more impressive than a 30 knot Type I was Nautilus making a direct CPA. You could follow the carbon dust smoke cloud to know when a bearing report was due. :)

Randy:

That's a truly great memory; thanks.

I'm sure there are many more like it lurking in the collective memory banks of this site, at least a few of which should pass the "OK to tell" criteria.

At Eleuthera - at least during the 59-60 period - we occasionally held the "Galloping Ghost of the Cape Verde Islands" which resembled an ancient "tin-can" but more probably was an inter-island ferry that occasionally passed over a bathymetric feature that "funneled" a lot of energy into the axis. Other down-range stations also held it.

Bruce

Bruce, I remember the Galloping Ghost well from my '65-'66 tour at Grand Turk. If memory serves we always had to flash initial contact, which was as about as much excitement as Grand Turk ever got! LOL

As I read this thread, I am, as many probably are, transported back in time. I was stationed at COSP, Bldg 1, Treasure Island, Sept/Oct 67 - Nov/Dec 68, and made the move to Ford Island. Memory says the high speed run by the NOV occurred prior to our move to Hawaii. The unit originally made the first known transit north of the Aleutian Islands and transited the Unimak Pass. Made runs in towards each array on the west coast (plus one in towards San Francisco), then transited to the northwest to await the Enterprise on her way to Japan. Enterprise instead made for Hawaii, resulting in the chase. Smokey, comments?

Paul Banks,
I am impressed with your Acoustic Mid-Watch knowledge. I did not know.
CEC

Chuck, I know enough to be dangerous. I have some tales from SURTASS ship tech days, too!

Mr. Rule, the SOA of that unit, as you said, was about 26kts at max shaft speed. Also, did you ever visit COSP (Ford Island) in 1969, and bring acoustic recordings of the Scorpion loss?

Paul:

My only visit to Ford Island was in the very early 1970s (Aug 1972?) after three weeks at Adak for CNO Op-095.

I never had any SCORPION acoustic data until 2008 when Dan McMillin, then retired from WECO/BTL provided me with the Canary Island tape, a copy of which I gave to ONI in Oct 2009. All we now know about the loss of SCORPION is due to Dan whom we lost earlier this year.

Had George Miller and I gotten that tape in 1968, I like to think we could have withstood the misinformation assault launched by John Craven who convinced the Court of Inquiry to ignore their own experts and put forth the completely erroneous conclusion that SCORPION was lost because of an explosive event external to the pressure hull - bum dope that was directly responsible for the conspiracy theories that a Soviet torpedo sank SCORPION.

As discussed in Section VII of my long THRESHER article archived on this site, the Court of Inquiry drew 17 conclusions about the loss of SCORPION from the acoustic data, 14 of which were wrong. That's an 82% error-rate or, in baseball parlance, they batted .176. Who the Court of Inquiry ignored is also archived on this site.

Best,

Bruce

Paul:

Some images stay in your mind forever - like the IC of the ENTERPRISE chase when one side was nearly dropped before stabilizing.

As previously stated, that event was a constant flat-out evolution. Too bad others tried to make it faster than it was.

I often wonder how such misinformation gets started. It is incredibly hard to kill.

Bruce