Foxtrot class submarine
A Cuban Foxtrot underway
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| Class overview | |
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| Builders: | Sudomekh, Leningrad |
| Operators: | |
| Preceded by: | Zulu-class submarine |
| Succeeded by: | Tango-class submarine |
| Built: | 1957–1983 |
| In service: | 1958–2014 |
| In commission: | 1958–2003 |
| Completed: | 74 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 89.9 m (294 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 7.4 m (24 ft 3 in) |
| Draft: | 5.9 m (19 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Endurance: | 3-5 days submerged |
| Test depth: | 246–296 m (807–971 ft) |
| Complement: | 12 officers, 10 warrants, 56 seamen |
| Armament: |
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The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641.
The Foxtrot class was designed to replace the earlier Zulu class, which suffered from structural weaknesses and harmonic vibration problems that limited its operational depth and submerged speed. The first Foxtrot keel was laid down in 1957 and commissioned in 1958 and the last was completed in 1983. A total of 58 were built for the Soviet Navy at the Sudomekh division of the Admiralty Shipyard (now Admiralty Wharves), St. Petersburg. Additional hulls were built for other countries.
The Foxtrot class was comparable in performance and armament to most contemporary designs. However, its three screws made it noisier than most Western designs. Moreover, the Foxtrot class was one of the last designs introduced before the adoption of the teardrop hull, which offered much better underwater performance. Also, although the Foxtrot was larger than a Zulu Class Submarine, the Foxtrot Class had 2 of its 3 decks dedicated to batteries. This gave it an underwater endurance of 10 days, but the weight of the batteries made the Foxtrot's average speed a slow 2 knots at its maximum submerged time capability. Due to the batteries taking up 2 decks, onboard conditions were crowded with space being relatively small even when compared to older submarines such as the much older American Balao-class submarine. The Foxtrot class was completely obsolete by the time the last submarine was launched. The Russian Navy retired its last Foxtrots between 1995 and 2000, units were scrapped and disposed of for museum purposes. The last known operational unit, Zaporizhzhia, served in the Ukrainian Naval Forces until it was surrendered to / captured by Russia on March 22, 2014, as part of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Russia decided not to accept it due to its age and operational unsuitability. Its subsequent status was unknown.
Foxtrots played a central role in some of the most dramatic incidents of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Navy deployed four Foxtrot submarines to Cuba. US Navy destroyers dropped practice depth charges near Foxtrot subs near Cuba in efforts to force them to surface and be identified. Three of the four Foxtrot submarines were forced to surface, one eluded US forces.
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Wikipedia