A submarine is what? Submarines of Russia

A submarine is a separate class of ships that are capable of sinking to great depths and being under water for a long time. Today, submarines are the main tactical weapon of the navy of any state. Their main advantage is secrecy. This makes submarines irreplaceable in a martial law.

History of creation: the beginning

For the first time the question of what a submarine is, gave a practical answer to Leonardo da Vinci. He described her military-tactical advantages and worked for a long time on the layout of the device, but eventually burned all her models, fearing for irreversible consequences.

In 1578 the English scientist W. Bourne in his report designated a certain underwater ship, which was seen by him in the abyss of the Black Sea. The described submarine is nothing more than the first submarine made in Greenland from leather and seal skins. The vessel had ballast tanks, and as a navigator a chimney protruded. Such a submarine could not stay under water for a long time, but even then it showed amazing results.

The official project for the creation of submarines was publicized only in 1620. The approval for construction was given by the English King James I. The Dutch engineer K. Drebbel undertook the design of the underwater vessel. Soon the boat was successfully tested in London. The engines of the first underwater ship of Great Britain worked on draft. In Russia, the idea of creating a hidden fleet was initiated by Peter I. However, with his death, the project died in embryo. In 1834, the first all-metal submarine submarine appeared. Its inventor was the Russian engineer K. Schilder. The propeller was propellers. The tests were successful, and at the end of the year the world's first launch of an underwater missile was carried out.

The American fleet could not stand aside. In the 1850s, the project was started under the leadership of L. Hanli. The boat was controlled from a separate compartment. As a motor, a large screw was used, which was untwisted by seven sailors. Observation passed through small protrusions in the body. In 1864, the first brainchild of Hanley sank the enemy ship. Subsequently, such successes could boast of Russia and France.

During the First World Submarines were equipped with diesel and electric engines. The Russian engineers played a major role in the design of the new generation submarines. During the war 600 deep-sea vessels participated in combat operations, which eventually sank about 200 ships and destroyers.

History of creation: a new era

By the time of the Second World War, most submarines were on the balance of the USSR (211 units). In second place was the flotilla of Italy - 115 submarines. Next were the United States, France, Britain, Japan and only then Germany with 57 deep-sea vessels. It should be noted that the submarine was considered the main combat unit of the fleet during the war. This is also proved by the fact that the USSR dominated the sea surface and under it until the end of World War II. The blame for everything was the submarines, which sank a total of more than 400 enemy ships. At that time, the submarines could dive to 150 meters, being under water for several hours. The average speed was about 6 knots. The revolution in underwater engineering was made by the famous scientist Walter. He designed a streamlined body and a hydrogen peroxide engine. This allowed the submarines to overcome the speed barrier of 25 knots.

Submarines today

A modern submarine is a deep-water ship that uses atomic power to obtain the necessary energy. Also, the power supplies of the submarines are accumulators, diesel engines, Stirling engines and other fuel cells. At the moment, such combat units are rich in fleets of 33 countries.

As early as the 1990s, 217 vessels were on service with NATO, including SSBNs and submarines. At that time, Russia had a little less than 100 units on its balance sheet. In 2004, the Russian Federation ordered the creation of a small submarine of a non-nuclear type in Italy. The project was named S1000. Nevertheless, in 2014 it was frozen by mutual consent. Today, one of the fastest and most universal submarines is hydrogen. These are deep-sea vessels of the U-212 class, which have been relatively recently produced in Germany. Such boats operate on the basis of hydrogen, due to which the maximum noiselessness of movement is achieved.

Classification of submarines

Submarines are divided into groups relative to categories:

1. By type of energy source: atomic, diesel, steam-gas, fuel, hydrogen.
2. By designation: multi-purpose, strategic, specialized.
3. In dimensions: cruising, medium, small.
4. By type of weapons: torpedo, ballistic, missile, mixed.

The most common deep-sea unit is an atomic submarine. This type of submarine has its own classification:

1. SSBN - nuclear submarines with ballistic weapons.
2. PLARK - nuclear submarines with cruise missiles.
3. MPLATRK - multipurpose missile-torpedo submarines, the main source of energy on which is the nuclear reactor.
4. DPLRK - diesel submarines with missile and torpedo armament.

From the experimental species one can distinguish: a flying, winged and a river uninhabited submarine.

Basics of construction

Submarines consist of 2 buildings: light and durable. The first is designed to give the ship improved hydrodynamic properties, and the second - to protect against large water pressure. A rugged case is mounted in alloy steel, but titanium alloys are often found. On the submarine there are special tanks for controlling the differential and ballast. Diving is carried out by means of seaplanes. Surfacing is determined by the displacement of water by compressed air from the ballast tanks. The vessel is driven by diesel or nuclear installations. Small submarines run on batteries and electricity. For recharging, special diesel generators are used. The propeller is used as an engine .

Types of weapons

The purpose of submarines is to fulfill certain tasks:

- Destruction of warships,
- liquidation of multipurpose ships,
- Destruction of enemy strategic objects.

Depending on the purposes on the submarines, appropriate types of weapons are installed: mines, torpedoes, missiles, artillery installations, radio electronics. For defense, many deep-sea ships use portable air defense systems.

Russian submarines

One of the last to receive weapons in the fleet of Russia received underwater ships, "Paltus." The construction of 24 units lasted about 20 years, since 1982. Today, Russia has 18 submarines "Paltus" at Russia's disposal. The boats were built as part of project 877. These deep-sea ships became prototypes of the so-called "Varshavianok". In 2004, a new generation submarine, Lada, operated on an electrodiesel installation. The vessel is designed to destroy any enemy objects. These submarines of Russia have spread due to the minimum level of noise. Because of the high cost of the project was quickly curtailed.

The main strike force of the Russian flotilla is the nuclear submarine "Pike-B". The project lasted more than 20 years until 2004. Today, there are 11 submarines of this type in service with the Russian Federation. "Pike-B" is capable of reaching a speed of 33 knots, diving at 600 meters and being in autonomous navigation for up to 100 days. Capacity - 73 people. The construction of one unit cost the treasury about 785 million dollars.

Also in the arsenal of the fleet are such nuclear submarines of Russia as "Shark", "Dolphin", "Barracuda", "Kalmar", "Antey" and others.

The newest submarines

In the near future, the Russian Navy will be replenished with new units of the Varshavianka series. This will be the newest submarines "Krasnodar" and "Stary Oskol". Boats will go into service in the second half of 2015. In the docks are the deep-sea ships Kolpino and Veliky Novgorod, but their construction will end only by the end of 2016. As a result, the balance of the Black Sea Fleet will be 6 units of the Varshavianka project. Representatives of this series are designed to counter hostile attacks, that is, to protect naval bases, communications, and the coast. Submarines "Varshavyanka" refer to the type of noiseless. They work on an electric diesel engine.

The length of such a submarine is 74 m, and the width is 10 m. Under water, the ship can reach a speed of 20 knots. The immersion threshold is 300 m. The sailing time is up to 45 days.

Missing and sunken submarines

Until the 1940s, submarines now and then were lost in the abyss of the seas and oceans. The reasons for this were the shortcomings of the design, the oversight of the commander, and the secret military actions of the opponents.

After the Second World, the missing submarines are numbered in units. Over the past 50 years, engineering has reached its peak. Since the beginning of the 1950s the submarines were no longer considered dangerous for the life of the crew, and any contact with the enemy is immediately fixed by the military base. That is why in the last decades so few lost submarines. The most famous missing ships are "Scorpion" (USA), "Dakkar" (Israel) and "Minerva" (France). It is noteworthy that all three sunken submarines crashed under strange circumstances during 2 weeks of 1968. In reports on all three catastrophes, an unidentified object was mentioned, after contact with which the connection with the crew was lost forever.

In total, over the past 60 years, 8 sunken nuclear submarines have been officially recorded, including 6 Russian and 2 American submarines. The first was the vessel "Tresher" (USA), on board of which there were 129 people. The disaster occurred as a result of the enemy attack in 1963. The whole crew died.

The most sensational and tragic is the fate of the Kursk submarine. In the summer of 2000, due to a torpedo explosion in the first compartment, the ship sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea. As a result, 118 people died.