Submarine "Zaporozhye" of the Naval Forces of Ukraine: description, history, prospects

Submarine "Zaporozhye" - a fragment of the era, an artifact of the disintegrated USSR. It went to Ukraine and was supposed to become the forerunner of the naval armada, but, like much in the Ukrainian statehood, the protocols remained from words, and amateurs engaged in the matter of restoring the submarine. So good intentions turn into a shameful fact, adding a negative to the treasury of the country.

Creature

The submarine "Zaporozhye" was laid at the Admiralty Shipyards in Leningrad on March 24, 1970, was lowered from the slipways on May 29 and went to sea on November 6 of the same year. A few months later, on January 20, 1971, was assigned to the Navy of the Northern Fleet of the USSR. As part of the Navy of the Union was listed under the code name B-435. In the NATO classification, this type of submarine is given the name "Foxtrot". A submarine was designed for long transitions across the ocean - this was the first type of submarine intended for export sales. The last specimen was launched in 1983. Most of the underwater battery boats have already been decommissioned and disposed of or represent museum exhibits.

On service in the Russian Navy, the submarine project 641 "Zaporozhye" spent 20 years full of sated. During this period, 14 long-distance transitions were made, Tunisia, Syria, Cuba, and Morocco appear among the ports. The main service was carried by the team in the waters of the Barents and Mediterranean seas, and the Atlantic Ocean was furrowed. The total number of trails covered by the submarine is 13,000 nautical miles.

The Black Sea Fleet entered August 27, 1990, for which it was transferred to a new destination by inland waterways. The base of accommodation was the Southern bay of Sevastopol. After the collapse of the USSR and the division of the Black Sea Fleet between Russia and Ukraine, the submarine B-435 went to the Ukrainian side, where it received the onboard number U01 and a new name - Zaporozhye.

Repair period of the USSR

The first overhaul of the submarine "Zaporozhye" took place after the Atlantic campaign in 1972. Current repair work was carried out on board from 1979 to 1981 in Kronstadt. After the transfer to the Black Sea Fleet, repairs were carried out in Sevastopol (Kilenbukhta). In connection with the lack of funding for the purchase of batteries was on the joke.

Life of the submarine in Ukrainian realities

The fate of the Zaporozhye submarine is a military melodrama, where laughter and tears merge, while militancy consists only in the name of the genre of history. Since the boat was dubbed the flagship of the Naval Forces and was considered a rudder of the great underwater armament, they created the appropriate entourage in the form of a battalion. It consisted of:

• Chief of Staff - captain of the 1st rank.
• Deputy captain for educational work.
• Specialists (doctor, miner, navigator, etc.).
• Assistants early. Staff in the rank of captains of the 2nd rank.

As part of the division there was a command post with the appropriate personnel, consisting of military seamen of high rank. Serving all had only one existing facility, which was a submarine "Zaporozhye." At the same time, replenishment of the fleet was foreseen - there were not and there are no professionals capable of building warships, the allocated financing was immediately lost in the pockets of officials.

Tired of the growing appetites of the mythical division, the leadership of the Naval Forces decided to abolish it, and the submarine was transferred to surface ships. In February 2001, the solemn celebration of the next anniversary of the submarine was held - the ship was 35 years old. The solemnity of the situation was diluted with a piquant detail: the Zaporozhye submarine was welded to the pier with steel cables, otherwise it would simply sink.

Greek incident of Ukrainian repair

After the transfer to Ukraine, the submarine Zaporozhye again went to repair, which was held in Balaklava. In 2003, after the dock work, the submarine was launched, but not operational. The fault is lack of rechargeable batteries. The leadership of the Ukrainian Navy decided to purchase new batteries from the Greek company Germanos SA. The amount of expenses was 3.5 million US dollars, while Russian companies offered to buy batteries cheaper, but the Ukrainian side refused.

The fact that the terminals on the batteries do not fit the Soviet submarine, it became clear already when they were going to be mounted, in addition, the overall dimensions of the batteries also did not fit. So the boat remained for another six years, and the batteries dusted nearby, on the shore under a canopy. The idea to restore the "entire submarine fleet of the country", consisting of a single boat, caught fire Yuri Yekhanurov, then the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. In 2009, the Ukrainian submarine "Zaporozhye" was removed from the pier and placed in a floating ship-repair dock.

Works without end

Work in the dock continued until January 2010, the submarine installed batteries, assembly work was done on the assembly of hydroacoustic, radar stations, communication systems. In the half-repaired state of the submarine, she took part in naval exercises "Fairway of the World", held in 2011. During the exercises, she worked on the task of saving a submarine lying to the bottom.

Long-term repair of the pride of the Ukrainian fleet was continued in 2012 in the territory of the Shipyard of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia. Parts of the shell of the hull, torpedo tubes were replaced, the steering system was audited, the hull painted and other works were done, including the notorious Greek battery batteries.

Not everything was as smooth as we would have liked, and financial issues overshadowed the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In 2014, there was a trial between the design office "Chernomorets" (submarine repair contractor) and the military, where the first demanded payment for services rendered in the amount of 3 million hryvnia. The lawsuit was satisfied in favor of the bureau, but the money was never listed.

Service under the flag of Ukraine

In March 2012, the submarine Zaporizhzhya finally set off on its first training assignment as part of the Ukrainian fleet. In the open sea, she managed to get out in April of the same year. The total amount spent on repairing the submarine is about 60 million hryvnia.

Checking of hydroacoustic, sonar, diesel, battery systems was carried out in June 2012. The first dive after repair took place in the same year in July. The submarine descended to periscope depth, which is 14 meters. The last joint exercises and celebrations with the participation of the Ukrainian and Russian fleets took place in Sevastopol in the same 2012.

In 2013, the submarine "Zaporizhzhya" was solemnly accepted into the Ukrainian Navy and moored in the Streletskaya bay.

Prerequisites for exodus from Ukraine

The coup d'état in Ukraine in 2014 put all the country's citizens, including the military, ahead of the choice. Someone managed to do it right away, someone is still in the expectation that the situation will return to a sensible channel, but the chances are getting smaller. The inhabitants of the Crimea peninsula had to make a decision at lightning speed, and it was not difficult, considering the events that took place at that time in Kiev.

Ukraine planned to begin the growth of its fleet with the appearance of the submarine "Zaporozhye" in the arsenal. But it is much easier to pronounce fiery speeches than to fulfill strategic tasks. Ukrainian presidents, defense ministers, and "uninhabited" politicians promised many sailors, but did not do the least thing either. The submarine "Zaporozhye" during the years of being a part of the Ukrainian Navy has never received a full-fledged repair, the crew has never been able to conduct exercises or to march on a submarine capable of surfing the ocean, the Ukrainian authorities have not bothered to equip the submarine with modern weapons, although it Was declared as a fighting unit.

Only thanks to the efforts of the crew and the ship's captains, the submarine "Zaporozhye" of the Naval Forces of Ukraine remained afloat. In March 2014, the crew, like the whole country, split into two camps: some wanted to remain in the "Nenka", which did not promise any prospects, others decided to take a chance and stay in the profession, but under the Russian Andreevsky flag.

Chronicle of the transition

Negotiations with the crew in March 2014 occurred in a tense situation, eight times from the Russian side were made proposals for the transfer of all combat personnel along with the ship to the side of the Russian Navy. March 11 sailors supported the chefs from the city of Zaporozhye and sent the besieged crew food.

March 25 Russian attack aircraft managed to capture the submarine. The crew of the ship was in a split: some of the sailors refused to surrender and were inside the ship, the rest decided to surrender the ship. The decision on the transfer was taken by the commander of the second crew R. Shageev. On the submarine "Zaporizhzhya" the Ukrainian naval flag was lowered, the emblem, the tablets with the name of the ship were dismantled.

Part of the crew, led by Captain D. Klochan, who wanted to remain in the Ukrainian Navy, left the ship. But after a while, the captain of the first line crossed the submarine to Russia. Above the artefact of the Ukrainian fleet was raised Andreevsky banner, which was symbolic, but the practical use of the submarine as a combat unit, alas, is impossible. Having made an independent transition, the submarine of Ukraine "Zaporozhye" docked in the Southern Bay of Sevastopol.

What's next?

March 29, 2014 the submarine "Zaporozhye" from the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation passed a verdict on the impossibility of its use. The administration of Balaklava proposed to make a submarine project 641 as an exhibit in the Museum of the Cold War. A little later, in July 2014, the military said that they would transfer the submarine to Ukraine only after the cessation of the civil war in the east of the country.

In 2015, the design office "Chernomorets", with which the Ukrainian side did not pay, dismantled the batteries, and the leadership of the KB made a proposal to create a museum on the base of the submarine. In 2016, Admiral Vitko, commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, made the final decision that the submarine Zaporozhye will never be a part of the combat fleet.

Where is the failed flagship of the Ukrainian fleet now? She moored in the South Bay. The submarine is under supervision, preventive works of systems and mechanisms are carried out. The last proposal for its use was made by the authorized representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Crimea O. Belaventsev. According to him, the submarine could become a museum or an exhibit: "On this issue one must talk with veterans. It's still a submarine built by the Soviet Union, "he said.