Ukrainian submarine Zaporizhzhia
Zaporizhzhia (U-01)
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| History | |
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 Soviet Union
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| Name: | B-435 |
| Operator: | Soviet Navy |
| Builder: | New Admiralty Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 23 March 1970 |
| Launched: | 29 June 1970 |
| Commissioned: | 1970 |
| In service: | 1970 |
| Out of service: | 1997 |
| History | |
 Ukraine
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| Name: | U-001 Zaporizhzhia |
| Namesake: | city of Zaporizhia |
| Operator: | Ukrainian Navy (former) |
| In service: | 1997 |
| Out of service: | 2014 (See 'Captured' entry) |
| Renamed: | 1997 |
| Homeport: | Sevastopol |
| Captured: | Surrendered to / Captured by Russian Forces in March of 2014 |
| Fate: | Still in Russian hands, as of June 2015 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Foxtrot-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 70.1 m (230 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-Electric |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Endurance: | 575 hours submerged |
| Test depth: |
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| Crew: | 78 officers, warrants, seamen |
| Armament: | 10 533-millimetre (21 in) torpedo tubes, six forward and four stern |
Zaporizhzhia (U-01) (Ukrainian: Запоріжжя) is a project 641 ("Foxtrot" class) diesel-electric powered submarine, and was the only submarine of the Ukrainian Navy up until her seizure in 2014 by Russian forces during the events of March of that year. She formerly carried the Soviet Navy pennant number B-435. Zaporizhzhia was designed at the Rubin Design Bureau (Saint Petersburg).
Captured by Russian forces on 22 March 2014 (during the 2014 Crimean crisis), most of the Ukrainian personnel, among them the captain of the submarine, had left the vessel, while the others had chosen to begin their service in the Russian Black Sea Fleet with the submarine.
Zaporizhzhia had a crew of 78, commanded by 1st Rank Capt. Oleh Orlov. The submarine was operated by a reserve unit, having not yet returned to front line duty after her 'refurbishment'. Subsequent events in the Crimean Crisis have revealed that the vessel is barely seaworthy and too obsolete for active service of any type.
Zaporizhzhia's keel was laid down in 1970 at the New Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad. In 1970 she was commissioned into the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet, where she conducted 14 patrols, including a port call in Cuba. In 1990 the submarine was transferred to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, serving there until 1994. In 1995, the submarine's batteries permanently failed and she became abandoned without their replacement.
In 1997 unable to fix the unused submarine, the administration of Russian Navy handed it over to the Ukrainian Navy during the partition of the Black Sea Fleet. Like most of the country's naval ships, she was renamed after one of Ukraine's cities — Zaporizhzhia. The city's community began to co-sponsor the ship, especially the accommodational needs of the crew. But it was only in 2003 when Ukrainian government was able to buy a new batteries set abroad and make Zaporizhzhia's survival real. However, she was immediately placed under repair in Sevastopol.
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Wikipedia