58 years ago, on January 21, 1954, the nuclear submarine Nautilus was launched. It was the first submarine with a nuclear reactor, allowing months to be in autonomous navigation without rising to the surface. A new page was being opened in the history of the Cold War...
The idea to use a nuclear reactor as a power plant for submarines originated in the Third Reich. Professor Heisenberg's oxygen-free "uranium machines" (as nuclear reactors were then called) were intended primarily for the "underwater wolves" of the Kriegsmarine. However, the German physicists failed to bring the work to its logical conclusion and the initiative passed to the United States, which for some time was the only country in a world with nuclear reactors and bombs.
In the early years of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA as carriers atomic bomb long-range bombers were conceived by American strategists. The United States had extensive experience in the combat use of this type of weapon, American strategic aviation had a reputation as the most powerful in the world, and finally, the territory of the United States was considered largely invulnerable to enemy retaliation.
However, the use of aircraft required their basing in close proximity to the borders of the USSR. As a result of the diplomatic efforts undertaken, already in July 1948, the Labor government agreed to deploy 60 B-29 bombers with atomic bombs on board in Great Britain. After the signing of the North Atlantic Pact in April 1949, all Western Europe became involved in the US nuclear strategy, and the number of American bases abroad by the end of the 1960s reached 3400!
However, over time, the US military and politicians have come to understand that the presence of strategic aviation in foreign territories is associated with the risk of changing political situation in one country or another, so the fleet was increasingly seen as the carrier of atomic weapons in a future war. Finally, this trend was strengthened after the convincing tests of atomic bombs near Bikini Atoll.
In 1948, American designers completed the development of a nuclear power plant project and began designing and building an experimental reactor. Thus, there were all the prerequisites for creating a fleet of nuclear submarines, which not only had to carry nuclear weapons, but also have a nuclear reactor as a power plant.
The construction of the first such boat, named after the fantastic submarine, invented by Jules Verne, "Nautilus" and having the designation SSN-571, began on June 14, 1952 in the presence of US President Harry Truman at the shipyard in Groton.
On January 21, 1954, in the presence of US President Eisenhower, the Nautilus was launched, and eight months later, on September 30, 1954, it was adopted by the US Navy. January 17, 1955 "Nautilus" went on sea trials in open ocean, and its first commander, Eugene Wilkinson, broadcast in plain text: "We are going under an atomic engine."
Apart from the completely new Mark-2 power plant, the boat had a conventional design. With a displacement of Nautilus of about 4,000 tons, a two-shaft nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 9,860 kilowatts provided a speed of more than 20 knots. The submerged cruising range was 25,000 miles at a flow rate of 450 grams of U235 per month.. Thus, the duration of the voyage depended only on the correct operation of the air regeneration facilities, food supplies and the endurance of the personnel.
At the same time, however, the specific gravity of the nuclear plant turned out to be very large, because of this, it was not possible to install part of the weapons and equipment provided for by the project on Nautilus. The main reason for the weighting was biological protection, which includes lead, steel and other materials (about 740 tons). As a result, all the weapons of the Nautilus were 6 bow torpedo tubes with 24 torpedoes.
As with any new business, it was not without its problems. Even during the construction of the Nautilus, and specifically during the testing of the power plant, there was a rupture of the pipeline of the second circuit, through which saturated steam with a temperature of about 220 ° C and under a pressure of 18 atmospheres came from the steam generator to the turbine. Fortunately, this was not the main, but an auxiliary steam pipeline.
The cause of the accident, as established during the investigation, was a manufacturing defect: instead of pipes made of high-quality carbon steel grade A-106, pipes made of less durable material A-53 were included in the steam pipeline. The accident caused American designers to question the feasibility of using welded pipes in pressurized submarine systems. The elimination of the consequences of the accident and the replacement of already assembled welded pipes with seamless ones delayed the completion of the construction of the Nautilus for several months.
After the entry of the boat into service within its means mass media rumors began to circulate that the personnel of the Nautilus had received serious doses of radiation due to flaws in the design of bioprotection. It was reported that the naval command had to hastily make a partial replacement of the crew, and dock the submarine to make the necessary changes to the protection design. How true this information is is not known so far.
On May 4, 1958, a fire broke out in the turbine compartment of the Nautilus, en route from Panama to San Francisco. The ignition of the port side turbine's oil-soaked insulation was found to have started a few days before the fire, but its signs were ignored.
The slight smell of smoke was mistaken for the smell of fresh paint. The fire was discovered only when the presence of personnel in the compartment became impossible due to smoke. There was so much smoke in the compartment that the submariners in smoke masks could not find its source.
Without finding out the reasons for the appearance of smoke, the ship's commander gave the order to stop the turbine, ascend to the periscope depth and try to ventilate the compartment through the snorkel. However, these measures did not help, and the boat was forced to float to the surface. Enhanced ventilation of the compartment through an open hatch with the help of an auxiliary diesel generator finally brought results. The amount of smoke in the compartment decreased, and the crew managed to find the place of ignition.
Two sailors in smoke masks (there were only four such masks on the boat) with the help of knives and pliers began to rip off the smoldering insulation from the turbine casing. A column of flame about a meter high burst out from under the torn piece of insulation. Foam fire extinguishers were used. The flame was put out and work to remove the insulation continued. People had to be changed every 10-15 minutes, as acrid smoke penetrated even masks. Only four hours later, all the insulation from the turbine was removed and the fire was extinguished.
After the boat arrived in San Francisco, its commander carried out a number of measures aimed at improving the fire safety of the ship. In particular, the old insulation was removed from the second turbine. All personnel of the submarine were provided with self-contained breathing apparatus.
In May 1958, during the preparation of the Nautilus for a trip to North Pole on the boat there was a leakage of the main condenser of the steam turbine plant. Outboard water seeping into the condensate-feed system could cause salinization of the secondary circuit and lead to the failure of the entire power system of the ship.
Repeated attempts to find the place of the leak were unsuccessful, and the submarine commander made an original decision. After the arrival of the Nautilus in Seattle, sailors in civilian clothes - the preparations for the campaign were kept in strict confidence - bought up all the proprietary liquid in automobile stores to fill in car radiators in order to stop the leak.
Half of this liquid (about 80 liters) was poured into the condenser, after which the problem of condenser salinization did not arise either in Seattle or later during the trip. Probably, the leak was in the space between the double tube plates of the condenser and stopped after filling this space with a self-hardening mixture.
On November 10, 1966, during a NATO naval exercise in the North Atlantic, the Nautilus, which was attacking in a periscope position on the American aircraft carrier Essex (displacement of 33,000 tons), collided with it. As a result of the collision, the aircraft carrier received an underwater hole, and the fencing of retractable devices was destroyed on the boat. Accompanied by the destroyer, the Nautilus reached under its own power at a speed of about 10 knots to the naval base in New London, USA, covering a distance of about 360 miles.
On July 22, 1958, the Nautilus, under the command of William Andersen, left Pearl Harbor with the goal of reaching the North Pole. It all started with the fact that at the end of 1956, the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Burke, received a letter from Senator Jackson. The senator was interested in the possibility of nuclear submarines operating under the Arctic pack ice.
This letter was the first sign that forced the command of the American Navy to seriously think about organizing a campaign to the North Pole. True, some of the American admirals considered the idea reckless and were categorically against it. Despite this, the commander of the submarine forces of the Atlantic Fleet considered the polar campaign a done deal.
Anderson began to prepare for the upcoming campaign with triple zeal. Special equipment was installed on the Nautilus, which made it possible to determine the state of the ice, and a new MK-19 compass, which, unlike conventional magnetic compasses operated at high latitudes. Before the very trip, Anderson got hold of the latest maps and sailing directions with the depths of the Arctic and even made an air flight, the route of which coincided with the planned route of the Nautilus.
On August 19, 1957, the Nautilus headed for the area between Greenland and Svalbard. The first test exit of the submarine under the pack ice was unsuccessful. When the echometer recorded zero ice thickness, the boat tried to surface. Instead of the expected polynya, the Nautilus encountered a drifting ice floe. From a collision with her, the boat severely damaged the only periscope, and the commander of the Nautilus decided to return back to the edge of the packs.
The mangled periscope was repaired in field conditions. Anderson was rather skeptical about how stainless steel welders work - even in ideal factory conditions, such welding required a lot of experience. Nevertheless, the crack formed in the periscope was repaired, and the device began to operate again.
The second attempt to reach the Pole did not bring results either.. A couple of hours after the Nautilus crossed the 86th parallel, both gyrocompasses failed. Anderson decided not to tempt fate and gave the order to turn - in high latitudes, even a meager deviation from the correct course could be fatal and lead the ship to a foreign shore.
At the end of October 1957, Anderson made a short presentation at the White House, which he devoted to a recent campaign under the Arctic ice. The report was listened to with indifference, and William was disappointed. The stronger became the desire of the commander of the Nautilus to go to the pole again.
Thinking about this voyage, Anderson prepared a letter to the White House, in which he convincingly argued that the passage through the pole would become a reality as early as next year. From the presidential administration they made it clear that the commander of the Nautilus could count on support. The Pentagon was also interested in the idea. Shortly thereafter, Admiral Burke reported on the upcoming campaign to the president himself, who reacted to Anderson's plans with great enthusiasm.
The operation was to be carried out in an atmosphere of strict secrecy - the command was afraid of a new failure. Only a small group of people in the government knew about the details of the campaign. To hide the true reason for the installation of additional navigation equipment on the Nautilus, it was announced that the ship was participating in joint training maneuvers along with the Skate and Halfbeak boats.
On June 9, 1958, the Nautilus set off on its second polar voyage.. When Seattle was far behind, Anderson ordered that the number of the submarine on the cabin fence be painted over to preserve incognito. On the fourth day of the journey, the Nautilus approached the Aleutian Islands.
Knowing that they would have to go further in shallow water, the ship's commander ordered the ascent. "Nautilus" maneuvered in this area for a long time - looking for a convenient gap in the chain of islands in order to get to the north. Finally, navigator Jenkins discovered a fairly deep passage between the islands. Having overcome the first obstacle, the submarine entered the Bering Sea.
Now the Nautilus had to slip through the narrow and ice-covered Bering Strait. The path to the west of St. Lawrence Island was completely closed by pack ice. The draft of some icebergs exceeded ten meters. They could easily crush the Nautilus, pinning the submarine to the bottom. Despite the fact that a significant part of the path was completed, Anderson gave the order to follow the reverse course.
The commander of the Nautilus did not despair - perhaps the eastern passage through the strait would be more friendly to rare guests. The boat left the Siberian ice and headed south from the island of St. Lawrence, intending to pass into deep water past Alaska. The next few days of the campaign passed without incident, and on the morning of June 17 the submarine reached the Chukchi Sea.
And then Anderson's bright expectations collapsed. The first alarm signal was the appearance of a nineteen-meter-thick ice floe, which went straight to the submarine. Collisions with her were avoided, but the recorders of the instruments warned that there was an even more serious obstacle in the way of the boat.
Pressing close to the very bottom, the Nautilus slipped under a huge ice floe at a distance of only one and a half meters from it. It was only by a miracle that he escaped death. When the recorder pen finally went up, indicating that the boat had missed the ice floe, Anderson realized that the operation had failed completely ...
The captain sent his ship to Pearl Harbor. There was still hope that at the end of the summer the ice boundary would move to deeper regions, and it would be possible to make another attempt to get close to the pole. But who will give her permission after so many failures?
The reaction of the highest US military department was immediate - Anderson was summoned to Washington for an explanation. The commander of the "Nautilus" behaved well, showing perseverance. His report to senior Pentagon officers expressed his firm conviction that the next, July, campaign would undoubtedly be crowned with success. And they gave him another chance.
Anderson immediately began to act. To monitor the ice situation, he sent his navigator Jenks to Alaska. A legend was made up for Jenks, according to which he was a Pentagon officer with special powers. Arriving in Alaska, Jenks lifted into the air almost the entire patrol aircraft, which daily conducted observations in the area of \u200b\u200bthe future route of the Nautilus. In mid-July, Anderson, still at Pearl Harbor, received the long-awaited news from his navigator: the ice conditions had become favorable for the transpolar transition, the main thing was not to miss the moment.
On July 22, a nuclear submarine with overwritten numbers left Pearl Harbor.. The Nautilus was moving at top speed. On the night of July 27, Anderson took the ship to the Bering Sea. Two days later, having made a 2900-mile journey from Pearl Harbor, the Nautilus was already cutting through the waters of the Chukchi Sea.
On August 1, the submarine sank under the pack arctic ice, in some places going into the water to a depth of twenty meters. It was not easy to navigate the Nautilus under them. Almost all the time Anderson himself was on watch. The crew of the ship was excited about the upcoming event, which they wanted to celebrate properly. Some, for example, proposed to describe twenty-five small circles around the pole. Then the Nautilus could enter the Guinness Book of Records as the ship that was the first in the history of navigation to make 25 around the world travel in one trip.
Anderson rightly believed that such maneuvers were out of the question - the probability of going astray was too high. The commander of the Nautilus was worried about completely different problems. In order to cross the pole as accurately as possible, Anderson did not take his eyes off the pointers of the electric navigation instruments. On August 3, at twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes, the goal of the campaign - the North Geographic Pole of the Earth - was reached.
Not staying in the Pole longer than required by the collection of statistical information on the state of ice and outboard water, Anderson sent a submarine to the Greenland Sea. The Nautilus was to arrive in the Reykjavik area, where a secret meeting was to take place. The helicopter, which was waiting for the submarine at the rendezvous point, removed only one person from the submarine - Commander Anderson.
Fifteen minutes later, the helicopter landed in Keflavik next to a transport aircraft ready to depart. When the wheels of the plane touched the runway of the airfield in Washington, Anderson was already waiting for a car sent from the White House - the president of the Nautilus wanted to see the president. After the report on the operation, Anderson was again returned to the boat, which in the meantime managed to reach Portland. Six days later, the Nautilus and its commander entered New York with honors. A military parade was held in their honor...
On March 3, 1980, the Nautilus, after 25 years of service, was removed from the Navy and declared a National Historic Landmark. Plans were made to convert the submarine into a museum for public display. After decontamination is completed and a large volume preparatory work On July 6, 1985, the Nautilus was towed to Groton, Connecticut. Here at the US Submarine Museum, the world's first nuclear submarine is open to the public.
In the book "Pioneers of the Russian submarine fleet" (Lavrov V.N. Publishing house "Sudostroenie". St. Petersburg. 2013), the seventh chapter is devoted to the first Soviet nuclear submarine, its creators, the first crew and individual episodes of more than 30 years of service this nuclear submarine as part of the Navy of the USSR and Russia.
Neither in this book, nor in a number of other sources devoted to the pioneers of the nuclear fleet, are there (or very few) materials about the creators and creators of the world's first nuclear submarines, as well as about the circumstances of the birth of the very idea of using atomic energy to ensure the movement of warships and primarily submarines. Only one thing is known - the idea originated in the USA. The American press called Admiral H. Rickover "the father of nuclear submarines". For a long time, the name of Rickover was always mentioned first when it came to the creation of nuclear submarines.
In the early 60s of the XX century, a scandal erupted: American scientists Ross Gann and Philip Hauge Abelson said that Admiral Rickover had illegally appropriated the authorship of the idea and priority in creating the world's first nuclear submarine. This "splashed out" on the pages of newspapers and magazines, and not only American ones. The situation was discussed in the US Congress. A special commission of the Congress was created, which, having studied the history of the creation of a nuclear submarine, prepared proposals and submitted them for approval by the Congress. In a special resolution on the priority in the creation of a nuclear submarine, adopted in July 1963, the following is written:
“Dr. Ross Gunn, on March 20, 1939, began work in the Department of the Naval Forces on the development of atomic energy. In June 1939, Ross Gunn submitted a report to the Bureau of Shipbuilding on the use of atomic energy to propel submarines.
Dr. Philip Abelson has been working since 1941 on the separation of isotopes of uranium to create an atomic bomb. In 1944 he submitted a report to the design office on the use of atomic energy to propel ships, especially submarines, and began working with Gunn on the problem at the Naval Research Laboratory.
In 1945 and 1946 Gunn and Abelson made a presentation to Congress on the possibility of building a nuclear submarine. The pioneering work of Gunn and Abelson led to the actual creation of the Nautilus nuclear submarine. Admiral H. Rickover, relying on the reports of Abelson and Gunn, achieved the practical implementation of the first nuclear submarine. Congress informs the American people of Abelson and Gunn's priority."
Thus, everything fell into place. The above quote is taken from Yu.S. Kryuchkov's book "Submarines and their creators" (Step-info publishing house, Nikolaev, 2007
American mechanical engineer R. Gann in 1938-1939 put forward the idea of creating an atomic engine for underwater travel. At the beginning of 1939, together with Captain 1st Rank Cooley, he presented drawings of a "uranium fission chamber."
In June 1941, R. Gann, together with F. Abelson, developed a method for separating the U235 isotope. This method was proposed to the leaders of the Manhattan Project and successfully applied in the production of explosives for the first atomic bombs. In 1944, Gunn and Abelson presented a report on the development of methods for using atomic energy to propel naval ships. After the defeat of Japan, R. Gann was awarded the order for his participation in the development of the atomic bomb.
The American scientist (physicist and geochemist) F. Abelson during the Second World War worked in the electromechanical department headed by R. Gann. His scientific research was in the field nuclear physics, biophysics, organic chemistry. Since 1944, Abelson, together with Gunn, began to work on the problem of using nuclear energy to propel nuclear submarines. In 1946, Abelson presented a draft design of the nuclear submarine. He placed the nuclear reactor outside the pressure hull in the double-hull space in the stern. Abelson attached this project to a detailed report prepared in the same year. The work of Abelson and Gunn formed the basis for the creation of the first nuclear installation for a submarine, which was noted in the above resolution of the US Congress.
F. Abelson
The American naval engineer H. G. Rickover graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1922. During World War II, already in the rank of captain of the 1st rank, H. Rickover headed one of the departments of the Shipbuilding Administration. In 1947, he was appointed assistant head of this Department and at the same time headed the Department of Atomic Energy. Having familiarized himself with the Abelson project and the works of R. Gann, Captain 1st Rank Rickover became an active supporter of the idea of creating a nuclear submarine. In the period 1947-1949, despite the opposition of official leaders, H. Rickover, with a group of specialists selected by him, developed his own project for a nuclear submarine with a pressurized water reactor. In 1950, under the leadership of Rickover, construction began on the prototype of the Mark-I boat reactor on the shore. The following year, 1951, the world's first nuclear submarine "Nautilus" with a pressurized water reactor "Mark-II" was laid down. Thus, Rickover was the direct supervisor of the creation of the first nuclear submarine in the world, which entered service in 1954. In the future, all US Navy nuclear submarines were built and operated under the watchful eye of Rear Admiral (since 1953) H. G. Rickover. In 1954, Rickover proposed to the US Navy leadership to build a large submarine with two reactors and the latest radar equipment to monitor the situation in the ocean zone. This is how the nuclear submarine of the Triton radar patrol appeared. Since 1957, Rickover led the development of a nuclear power plant for submarines - missile carriers of the "George Washington" type.
Vice Admiral H.G. Rickover
For work on the creation of nuclear submarines, Vice Admiral (since 1958) H. Rickover was awarded a special Gold Medal in 1959, and President John F. Kennedy, by personal Decree, left Rickover in indefinite naval service. The "father" of the nuclear submarine fleet died in 1986.
Launching of the submarine "Nautilus". H. Rickover aboard the Nautilus.
In 1944, General Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project (the American atomic program), created a small working group to study the possibilities of the "non-destructive application" of nuclear energy.
Thus, work began on the creation of nuclear power plants for ships. Due to the independence of the nuclear power plant from atmospheric air, the submarine fleet has become a priority area for its application. The use of such installations on submarines made it possible to radically increase autonomy and secrecy - after all, now the submarine did not have to surface to recharge the batteries.
Theoretical studies have shown the practical feasibility of building a nuclear ship power plant. Their results were presented to Congress in a special report in 1951, after which legislators allocated the necessary funds. This allowed the fleet to sign contracts with Electric Boat, Westinghouse Electric and Combusting Engineering to develop a project for a submarine and a nuclear reactor for it. For the latter, a pressurized water cooling (PWR) scheme was chosen - as further experience has shown, the safest and easiest to operate. The ground prototype of the reactor was designated S1W, and the sample intended for installation on a submarine was designated S2W. The letter “S” meant that the reactor was designed for a submarine (reactors for aircraft carriers are designated by the letter “A”, and for cruisers - “C”), and the “W” indicated the Westinghouse developer.
The design and construction of the submarine was carried out very quickly. Already on June 14, 1952, at the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton (Connecticut), in the presence of US President Harry Truman, the laying of the first nuclear submarine took place, and on January 21, 1954, the boat was launched. The godmother of the ship was Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of US President Dwight Eisenhower. The boat, which received the name "Nautilus" and tail number SSN-571, was officially accepted into the fleet on January 30, 1954. But for another three months she remained at the pier of the shipyard, since a number of important works were not completed. On December 30, the reactor was launched. January 17, 1955 "Nautilus" finally moved away from the pier. The commander of the submarine, Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, transmitted the historic signal: "Going under a nuclear engine."
DESIGN FEATURES
For its time, the Nautilus was of considerable size: according to the project, its underwater displacement reached 3.5 thousand tons, and the length was 98.7 m. It surpassed the latest American diesel-electric submarines of the Teng type in displacement by 50%, 15.2 m in length. The outlines of the Nautilus hull were based on the German project XXI (during the Second World War). The large diameter of the hull (8.5 m) made it possible to organize three decks over most of the length of the hull and create fairly comfortable conditions for the crew, which consisted of 12 officers and 90 foremen and sailors. The officers were accommodated in cabins (although only the commander was in a single room). Each of the rank and file had a personal bed (on diesel-electric submarines, as a rule, the number of beds was less than the number of crew, taking into account the fact that part of the personnel was constantly on watch). The officer's wardroom could accommodate all the officers at the same time. In the wardroom of the privates, 36 people could eat at the same time, and as a cinema hall, it could accommodate up to 50 people. The armament of the Nautilus consisted of six bow torpedo tubes with an ammunition load of 26 torpedoes. The original project was to equip the boat with Regulus cruise missiles (launched from the surface), but due to a significant increase in mass biological protection the reactor had to be abandoned. The main means of lighting the situation were two hydroacoustic stations - passive AN / BQR-4A (with a large cylindrical antenna in the bow of the boat) and active AN / SQS-4.
POWER POINT
The Nautilus used a single-reactor twin-shaft main power plant. The S2W reactor vessel weighed about 35 tons, had the shape of a cylinder with a spherical lid and a hemispherical bottom. Its height was 3 m, diameter 2.7 m. The reactor pressure vessel was mounted in a vertical position on the base of the water protection tank, which, in turn, was attached to the foundation in the hold of the reactor compartment. Together with water and composite protection, the height of the reactor was about 6 m, and the diameter was 4.6 m. The reactor core was cylindrical in shape, about 1 m in diameter. The total weight of the reactor load was about 100 kg. The steam generated from the cooling of the reactor fed two steam turbines. For emergencies and coastal maneuvering, the submarine had two diesel generators.
SERVICE HISTORY
The very first tests of the nuclear submarine "Nautilus" gave stunning results: the submerged submerged the distance between the bases of the submarine fleet of New London and San Juan in 90 hours.
During this time, the Nautilus traveled 1,381 nautical miles (2,559 km) at an average speed of 15.3 knots. Diesel-electric submarines at that time were able to overcome 200 miles under water at a speed of 4-5 knots.
On subsequent flights, the Nautilus showed an average ground speed close to the maximum - a figure that previously submariners could only dream of. The submarine was able to overtake the anti-submarine torpedoes that were in service with the US Navy at that time! The maneuverability of the submarine was also excellent.
However, the tests also showed significant shortcomings of the boat, first of all - high level noise. Its main cause was by no means the power plant, but the vibration of the ship's structure, caused by disturbances in the flow of water around the logging fence. If the frequency of these oscillations exceeded 180 per minute, there was a real threat of serious damage to the boat structure. High noise significantly reduced the combat value of the Nautilus: at a speed of over 4 knots, the effectiveness of the sonar became zero - the boat simply “jammed” them with its own noise. If the speed exceeded 15 knots, the shift located in the central post had to shout to hear each other. Later, the submarine was subjected to modifications that somewhat relieved the severity of the noise problem. But throughout its 35-year service, the Nautilus remained essentially an experimental ship, and not a combat unit,
TO THE NORTH POLE
The exceptional capabilities of the nuclear power plant made it possible to realize the ambitious task of reaching the North Pole in a submerged position. However, the first attempt, made in August 1957, was unsuccessful. Having gone under the pack ice, the Nautilus tried to surface at the point where the echometer showed a polynya, but ran into a drifting ice floe, seriously damaging the only periscope. The boat had to return. A year later, a second attempt was made, which turned out to be successful - on August 3, 1958, the Nautilus sailed under the North Pole. This event occurred during the transarctic voyage of a submarine from Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) to London, which confirmed the possibility of maneuvering nuclear submarines between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through the Arctic. Since conventional navigation aids in polar waters are of little use, the Nautilus was equipped with an inertial navigation system The North American N6A-1 is a shipborne version of the system used on the Navajo intercontinental cruise missiles. The entire journey under the ice took four days (96 hours), during which the boat covered 1,590 miles, surfacing northeast of Greenland.
The Nautilus was the first submarine to reach the North Pole while submerged. The first boat to surface at the North Pole was another American nuclear submarine, the Skate. After returning from the Nautilus flight, he visited New York. And if many submarines visited the North Pole after it, then not a single nuclear submarine entered the New York port.
FURTHER SERVICE
Nautilus spent most of his active service as part of the 10th submarine squadron, based in New London. The submarine participated in the combat training of the US Atlantic Fleet and the naval forces of NATO allies. Participation in maneuvers in conditions close to combat sometimes led to very dangerous incidents. The most dangerous of them took place on November 10, 1966, when the Nautilus, maneuvering at periscope depth, collided with the anti-submarine aircraft carrier Essex (CVS-9). The aircraft carrier received a hole, but remained afloat. The submarine, on the other hand, seriously damaged the wheelhouse, but did not lose its course and was able to reach the base. During his service at the Nautilus, the reactor core was recharged three times: in 1957, 1959, and 1967. In total, the boat has traveled over 490,000 miles. The intensity of its operation in the initial period of service was much higher. If in the first two years the submarine covered 62.5 thousand miles (of which more than 36 thousand were submerged), and in the next two years - more than 91 thousand, then from 1959 to 1967 (eight years) it passed 174 .5 thousand miles, and for 12 years from 1967 to 1979 - 162.3 thousand. On March 3, 1980, the Nautilus was decommissioned. It was supposed to be disposed of, but soon they decided to keep the first American nuclear submarine as a museum. After appropriate preparation and cutting out of the reactor compartment, the Nautilus was opened to visitors on April 11, 1986. The boat, which has the status of a national monument of technology, is located in Groton.
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Shortly after the Christmas holidays of 1959, Admiral Ralph posted the following notice at the entrance to his office: I am Commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet promising a case of Jack Daniels whiskey to the first submarine commander to provide evidence that an enemy submarine was exhausted by pursuit and forced to surface.».
It wasn't a joke. The admiral, as at the hippodrome, bet on the miracle of American military thought - nuclear submarine. The modern submarine produced its own oxygen and was able to stay under water for the entire trip. Soviet submariners could only dream of such a ship. During a long voyage, their crews suffocated, were forced to surface, becoming easy prey for the enemy.
The crew was the winner submarine« USS Grenadier» tail number « SS-525"About 9 hours pursuing, and forcing to surface near the coast of Iceland. The commander of the US submarine, Lieutenant Commander Davis, received the promised case of whiskey from the hands of the admiral. They had no idea that very soon the Soviet Union would present them with a gift.
In 1945, the United States openly demonstrated to the world the destructive power of its new weapons, and now it must have a reliable means of delivering them. By air, as it was with Japan, it is fraught with great risk, which means that the only reasonable way to deliver a nuclear cargo should be submarine, but one that can covertly never pop up, strike a decisive blow for this was ideal nuclear submarine. The creation of such a submarine was the most difficult task at that time, even for the United States. Less than a year later, at the shipyard in New London, Connecticut, the first nuclear-powered ship« USS Nautilus» tail number « SSN-571". The project was implemented in an atmosphere of such utmost secrecy that intelligence information about it came to Stalin's desk only two years later. The Soviet Union again found itself in the role of catching up. In 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb was tested, and in September 1952, Stalin signed a decree on the creation nuclear submarines in USSR.
Domestic designers, as it happened more than once, were forced to go their own way, so there were difficult circumstances for Soviet Union in general and for Soviet military science in particular. In the USSR, the work of defense significance has always been headed by people unknown to the general public, who were not written about in the newspapers. The creation of the submarine project was entrusted to the designer V.N. Peregudov. The technical design has been approved.
Technical characteristics of the nuclear submarine of project 627 "K-3", code "Kit":
Length - 107.4 m;
Width - 7.9 m;
Draft - 5.6 m;
Displacement - 3050 tons;
- nuclear, power 35,000 hp;
Surface speed - 15 knots;
Underwater speed - 30 knots;
Immersion depth - 300 m;
Autonomy of navigation - 60 days;
Crew - 104 people;
Armament:
Torpedo tubes 533 mm: bow - 8, stern - 2;
The concept of combat use submarine was as follows: a boat armed with a giant torpedo is towed from the base point to the dive point, from where it continues to swim under water to a given area. Upon receiving the order, the nuclear submarine fires a torpedo, attacking the enemy's naval bases. During the entire autonomous navigation, the ascent nuclear-powered ship not planned, means of protection and countermeasures are not provided. After completing the task, she becomes practically defenseless. Interesting fact, the first nuclear submarine designed and built without the participation of the military. The only torpedo with a thermonuclear charge submarines had a caliber of 1550 mm and a length of 23 m. Submariners it became immediately clear what would happen to submarine when launching this super-torpedo. At the time of launch, the entire water mass will be fired along with the torpedo, after which an even larger mass of water will fall inside the hull and will inevitably create an emergency trim. To level it, the crew will have to blow through the main ballast systems and an air bubble will be released to the surface, allowing you to immediately detect nuclear submarine, which means its immediate destruction. In addition, specialists from the main headquarters of the Navy found that not only in the United States, but throughout the world, there are only two military bases that can be destroyed by such a torpedo. In addition, they had no strategic value.
The giant torpedo project was buried. Life-size models of equipment were destroyed. Project change nuclear submarine took a whole year. Workshop No. 3 became a closed production. His workers were not allowed to tell even their relatives where they worked.
In the early 50s, hundreds of kilometers from Moscow, the forces of the Gulag built the first nuclear power plant, the purpose of which was not to produce electrical energy for the national economy - it was a prototype of a nuclear installation for nuclear submarine. The same prisoners built a training center with two stands in a pine forest. Within six months, all the fleets of the Soviet Union recruited the crew of the future nuclear submarine, sailors and officers. Not only health and military training were taken into account, but also a pristine biography. The recruiters had no right to pronounce the word atom. But somehow a rumor spread in a whisper where and what they were invited to. Getting to Obninsk became a dream. Everyone was dressed in civilian clothes, military subordination was canceled - everyone addressed each other only by their first names and patronymics. The rest is strict military order. The personnel was painted as on a ship. The cadet could answer anything to questions from strangers, except that he was a submariner. The word reactor was always forbidden to pronounce. Even at lectures, teachers called him a crystallizer or apparatus. The cadets practiced a lot of actions to leak the release of radioactive gas and aerosols. The most significant problems were fixed by the prisoners, but the cadets also got it. Nobody really knew what radiation was. In addition to alpha, beta and gamma radiation, there were harmful gases in the air, even household dust was activated, no one thought about it. The traditional 150 grams of alcohol were considered the main medicine. The sailors were convinced that they were filming the radiation picked up during the day. Everyone wanted to go sailing and was afraid of being written off before the descent. submarine to the water.
The inconsistency of departments has always interfered with any project in the USSR. So for the crew of the first nuclear submarine and throughout submarine fleet in total, two strikes are made. The Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal Zhukov, who, with all due respect to his land services in the Navy, understood little, issued an order halving the salaries of over-conscripts. Practically trained specialists began to file reports for dismissal. Of the six recruited crew first nuclear submarine there was only one who loves his job more than welfare. With the next blow, Marshal Zhukov canceled the second crew nuclear submarine. With the advent of the submarine fleet, order was established - two crews. After a months-long campaign, the first went on vacation, and the second took up combat duty. The tasks of submarine commanders have become much more complicated. They had to come up with something to find time for the crew to rest without canceling combat duty.
descent of the first nuclear submarine of the USSR
And at the Severodvinsk Machine-Building Plant, ready nuclear submarine« K-3”, laid down on September 24, 1954, was already waiting for its first crew. The interiors looked like works of art. Each room was painted in its own color, the colors of bright shades are pleasing to the eye. One of the bulkheads is made in the form of a huge mirror, and the other is a picture of a summer meadow with birch trees. The furniture was made on special order from precious woods and, in addition to its direct purpose, could turn into an object of assistance in emergency situations. So a large table in the wardroom, in case of need, was transformed into an operating room.
The design of the Soviet submarine was very different from the American one. submarines. On the submarine USS Nautilus» the usual principles of diesel engines were repeated submarines, only a nuclear installation was added, while the Soviet submarines« K-3"was a completely different architecture.
On July 1, 1958, it was time to launch. Canvas was stretched over the conning tower to hide the forms. As you know, sailors are superstitious people, and if a bottle of champagne does not break on the side of the ship, this will be remembered at critical moments during the voyage. Among the members admission committee panic ensued. The entire cigar-shaped body of the new ship was covered with a layer of rubber. The only hard place on which the bottle can break is a small fence of horizontal rudders. Nobody wanted to take risks and take responsibility. Then someone remembered that women break champagne well. Young employee of KB " Malachite” confidently swung, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Thus was born the firstborn of the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet.
By the evening when leaving nuclear submarine a strong wind arose in the open sea, which in gusts blew all the carefully installed camouflage from the hull, and submarine appeared before the eyes of the people who found themselves on the shore in its original form.
An interesting fact - when the Americans opened the archives of the times " cold war"It was discovered that a very short time after the launch of the first K-3 nuclear submarine, Captain 1st Rank of the US Navy Berins spent his submarine at the mouth of the channel leading to the port of Murmansk. He approached the Soviet port so close that he was able to observe sea trials of a Soviet, but diesel-powered ballistic missile submarine. At that time, the Americans did not learn about the Soviet nuclear submarine.
Project 627 nuclear submarines received NATO classification "November"
nuclear submarine« K-3" turned out excellent in all respects. In comparison with the American submarine, she looked more impressive. After passing all the required tests, the nuclear submarine " K-3"Project 627 was named" Lenin Komsomol"And on July 4, 1958, she became part of the Soviet Navy. Already in the summer of 1962, the crew Lenin Komsomol"repeated the feat of the Americans, who in 1958 on first nuclear submarine USA " USS Nautilus"made a trip to the North Pole, and then repeated it several times on other nuclear submarines.
Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev personally presented submariners with awards for the Arctic campaign. The captain of the nuclear submarine Lev Zhiltsov became a Hero of the Soviet Union. The entire crew, without exception, received orders. Their names became known throughout the country.
After the feat in the ice nuclear submarine« Lenin Komsomol"became the modern Aurora and the subject of visits by numerous delegations. Propaganda window dressing has almost completely replaced military service. The captain of the submarine was sent to study at the academy General Staff, experienced officers were dismantled by headquarters and ministries, and the sailors, instead of servicing complex military equipment, took part in various congresses and conferences. It soon paid off in full.
According to Soviet intelligence, it became known that an American was secretly patrolling in the neutral waters of the Mediterranean. The leadership of the USSR Navy hastily began to discuss who to send there and it turned out that there were no free ones nearby. Remembered about nuclear submarine« K-3». Submarine hastily staffed with a combined crew. A new commander has been appointed. On the third day of the trip to submarine the stern horizontal rudders were de-energized, and the air regeneration system failed. The temperature in the compartments rose to 40 degrees. A fire started in one of the combat units, and the fire quickly spread through the compartments. Despite stubborn rescue efforts, 39 submariners died. According to the results of the investigation conducted by the command of the Navy, the actions of the crew were recognized as correct. And the crew was presented for state awards.
But soon on submarine« Lenin Komsomol"A commission arrived from Moscow, and one of the staff officers found a lighter in the torpedo room. It was suggested that one of the sailors climbed up there to smoke, which was the reason nuclear submarine disaster. Award lists were torn to shreds, instead of them penalties were announced.
submarine "Leninsky Komsomol" in Pala Bay, 2004
Superpower rivalry in submarine fleets was intense. The struggle was in terms of power, dimensions and reliability. Powerful nuclear missiles have appeared, for which there are no flight range limits. Summing up the confrontation, we can say that in some ways the US naval forces were superior to the Soviet Navy, but in some ways they were inferior.
So the Soviet nuclear submarines were faster and with a large margin of buoyancy. Records of immersion and underwater speed still remain with the USSR. About 2000 enterprises of the former Soviet Union were involved in the production of nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles on board. During the years of the Cold War, the USSR and the USA threw 10 trillion dollars into the furnace of the arms race. No country could endure such extravagance.
the first nuclear submarine "Leninsky Komsomol" in illustrations
The Cold War has sunk into oblivion, but the concept of defense capability has not disappeared. 50 years after the firstborn " Lenin Komsomol» 338 were built nuclear submarines, 310 of which are still in service today. Exploitation Premier League« Lenin Komsomol” lasted until 1991, while the submarine served on a par with other nuclear-powered ships. After writing off K-3» submarine are planning to convert it into a museum ship, the corresponding project has already been developed in the Design Bureau " Malachite”, but for unknown reasons, the ship remains inactive, gradually becoming unusable.
Russian victories
K-3: the firstborn of the nuclear submarine fleet of Russia
On July 3, 1958, state tests of the first submarine in the Soviet Navy with a nuclear power plant began.
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Classmates
Sergey Antonov
Nuclear submarine K-3 "Leninsky Komsomol". Photo: topwar.ru
The Russian nuclear submarine fleet was the owner of an impressive number of nuclear submarines. During the most active development of this type of weaponry in our country, that is, during the existence of the Soviet Union, 243 nuclear submarines of various classes and for various purposes were built, from submarine cruisers carrying ballistic nuclear missiles to torpedo ones that hunted enemy submarines. But in any business there is always someone first - and the Russian nuclear submarine fleet is no exception. The firstborn was the submarine K-3, bearing the name "Leninsky Komsomol". And her state tests, as a result of which the boat was put into operation, began on July 3, 1958 in Severodvinsk.
Great Patriotic War- this is the main reason why the Soviet Union, which had a good theoretical background in matters of atomic energy and the creation of atomic weapons, at the beginning of the Cold War seriously lagged behind the United States in this area. And, nevertheless, the Soviet nuclear scientists managed to overtake the Americans in the construction of the world's first nuclear power plant: it was launched on June 26, 1954 in Obninsk. But few people know that this station was not just the first industrial nuclear power plant - it also created the first training center in our country for training crews of nuclear submarines. More precisely, at that moment - the only submarine, the future K-3.
In general, when talking about the fate of K-3, you will have to use the words “unique” and “for the first time” more often than usual. As, in fact, it usually happens when it comes to the first of its kind objects and events. So, one of the uniqueness of this submarine was that its crews - and for service, and this was a common practice, two crews were preparing at once, the main and the replacement - were formed before their ship was laid down at the plant! The formation of the crews began in May 1954, shortly after that they went to study in Obninsk, where they received new knowledge at the nuclear power plant reactor and an urgently built ground stand that repeated the nuclear power plant of their ship. And the boat was laid down at the shipyard No. 402 in the city of Molotovsk (the future "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise" of Severomorsk) only on September 24, 1955.
It is very likely that in such an unusual approach for the USSR, the first experience of operating domestic nuclear reactors, from which it followed that everyone associated with their work must have the highest qualifications and special training, and intelligence reports. The constant heightened interest of Soviet intelligence services in US nuclear projects could not but affect the design and construction of the first American and the world's first nuclear submarines - the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf (named after the blue catfish). The first was laid in 1952, the second - in 1953. There are many intersections between the history of their design and the creation of boats of projects 627 and 627A. Some of them, most likely, clearly have the nature of borrowings, and some are explained by the fact that Soviet and American nuclear scientists followed similar paths in the development of atomic energy.
In the United States, work on the creation of the Nautilus began in July 1951, and in the USSR, Council of Ministers Resolution No. 4098-1616 "On the design and construction of facility No. 627" was signed on September 9, 1952. In America, the first boats were designed with two options for a nuclear power plant at once: the Nautilus - with a pressurized water reactor, the Sea Wolf - with a reactor with a liquid metal carrier. The Soviet designers of Project 627 submarines had exactly the same approach: K-3 received a pressurized water reactor, and K-27, which had almost the same hull, but launched five years later, received a reactor with a liquid metal carrier.
A significant difference was in the shape of the hull of Soviet and American boats, and here the championship remained with domestic designers, who ultimately ensured the priority of the K-3 in underwater speed compared to the Nautilus and the Sea Wolf. From the very beginning, Russian engineers relied on a shape resembling the shape of the body of marine mammals - this, with an equal power-to-weight ratio of the boats, gave a significant gain in speed. In America, they took the path of finalizing the classic submarine hull of the Second World War, only adapting it to a new power plant. This, by the way, led to a significant mistake - overweighting the boat with protection, and as a result, the Nautilus developed an underwater course of 20 knots, in contrast to 30 knots for the K-3.
While the hull of an unprecedented boat arose step by step at the shipyard in the strictest secrecy, its crews intensively mastered the basic mechanisms of their future ship. They graduated in August 1956 and moved from Obninsk to the polar Molotovsk, which a year later received the name Severodvinsk. The boat itself left the stocks of the plant on October 9, 1957 and immediately proceeded to the mooring test program - the traditional first test point for any new ship.
The duration of the construction of the boat was explained not only by the fact that it was a completely new business for Soviet shipbuilders. Since all nuclear work in the country was supervised, as a rule, by the Ministry of Medium Machine Building - for reasons of secrecy, military sailors were not immediately able to take part in the design. And when they could, they were forced to insist on a significant refinement of the boat. The most important one concerned the armament of the submarine. According to the original design, she was supposed to carry a giant nuclear torpedo T-15 with a diameter of 1.5 m and a length of 24 m - that is, in the fifth part of the boat! Having learned about this, naval specialists quickly proved to the designers with documents in their hands that such a weapon simply could not be used, since the system of its use did not at all provide for the anti-submarine defense capabilities of a potential enemy.
The military also had many other requirements, some of which were accepted immediately, some - over time, and some were rejected altogether. But to the credit of the designers, it must be said that they were very attentive to the requirements of the military to ensure good living conditions for the boat. As eyewitnesses told much later, all the living quarters of K-3 were painted each in its own color with eye-pleasing colors, one bulkhead was painted with a picture of a summer meadow, the other was completely decorated with mirrors. In addition, since the boat was planned to stay outside the base for a long time - in fact, for the sake of this, the entire project of the nuclear submarine fleet was started! - furniture for cabins was also made on special order, with the possibility of transformation for different needs. So, for example, a table in an officer's wardroom could, if necessary, quickly turn into an operating room: on ordinary boats, it was often taken away for the needs of the ship's doctor, but for the first time he could operate not just on a dining table, but on a special one.
Needless to say, the selection of crew members of the future K-3 was also not carried out traditional methods, but taking into account the fact that people will have to serve in special conditions. Later, the second commander of the boat, at that time senior assistant, captain of the 2nd rank Lev Zhiltsov (he retired with the rank of rear admiral) recalled: “To be among the first officers of the nuclear-powered ship was almost as prestigious as a few years later to be enlisted in the detachment astronauts." After all, the first crew (the second, who was preparing with him, by that time had been reoriented to the development of the next nuclear submarine - Project 627A) had to master a unique boat, which means that the chances of new equipment failure were significantly higher than on boats of proven types. Under these conditions, the submariners actually became testers, and they had to not only master the boat, but also give their feedback and conclusions on the operation of its components and mechanisms, and for this they had to have special skills and abilities.
And it must be admitted that the first crew possessed such skills and knowledge to the full, which they demonstrated in the conditions of state tests. On them the boat, on which the naval flag was raised on July 1, 1958, left on July 3, 1958. The next day at 10:03 a boat - for the first time in the history of the national fleet! - gave way under a nuclear power plant. From November 26 to December 2, in the Kandalaksha Bay, the submarine dived to a depth of 310 meters and for three days without surfacing moved at this depth, unattainable for all other Soviet submarines, at a speed of 20 knots, that is, 60% of the course. Two weeks later, on December 17, an act was signed on the acceptance of the boat for trial operation. In March of the following year, 1959, the boat received the tactical index K-3 and was included in the 206th separate brigade submarines of the Northern Fleet, which two years later became the 1st submarine flotilla - the only such unit at that time in the structure of the Soviet Navy.
The K-3 had a long and glorious service: from the moment of construction to the honorable retirement, she completed six combat services and covered 128,443 miles in 14,115 running hours. Shortly after the boat really entered service, its first commander since 1955, captain 1st rank Leonid Osipenko, received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - the first in the country's post-war submarine fleet. Shortly thereafter, in December 1959, Leonid Osipenko became the head of the Navy Training Center for the training of seafarers of the nuclear submarine fleet - a center in which he himself had recently mastered the wisdom of commanding the first nuclear submarine. And his first officer, captain of the 2nd rank Lev Zhiltsov, took over the boat already as a commander. It was under his command that on July 17, 1962 K-3 - again, for the first time in the history of the Russian fleet! - passed the North Pole in a submerged position. For this achievement, the boat commander Lev Zhilin, as well as the head of the campaign, Rear Admiral Alexander Petelin, commander of the 1st submarine flotilla of the Northern Fleet, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. And so it happened that the first four submariners went to K-3 - post-war owners of the highest state award! And on December 17, 1965, the first cosmonaut of the Earth, Yuri Gagarin, also visited the boat, which for three years already had the name "Leninsky Komsomol", inherited from the M-106 boat that died during the war.
