Foxtrot Class

Foxtrot Class

 

 

 

 

The Project 641 (Foxtrot) submarines were derivatives of the Whiskey and Romeo class diesel boats. They featured larger ammunition load, endurance and range. The Foxtrot, the Soviet Navy's largest conventional submarine, could travel 16,000 nautical miles before having to refuel. They were capable of performing underwater operations continuously for four days, after which they had to rise to 7 metres (snorkel depth) to change the air and charge the batteries. Three diesel engines generate power for electric motors that drive the 3 propellers. At periscope depth, air for the diesels can be sucked from the surface using a snorkel.

The Foxtrot operated at a depth of 250 meters, could dive to over 300 meters and was capable of reaching 16.8 knots. To surface, compressed air from 56 bottles expels the water from the the ballast tanks. The Foxtrot dives and surfaces quite horizontally. At more that 30 degrees it loses control. Only officers had their own bunks. Ordinary sailors "hot bunked." 27 bunks in the aft torpedo room were shared by 54 crew! 3 shifts per day: duty, maintenance and sleep.

A total of 74 [an perhaps as many as 79] Foxtrots were built begining in 1958 for both the Soviet Navy and others countries including India, Libya, Cuba and Poland. The USSR started to export these submarines (modifications I641 and I641K) in the mid-1960s. A total of at least 57 and and as many as 62 units were believed to have been built for the Soviet Navy until 1967. Historically there were more than ten Foxtrots in the Baltic Fleet (numerically the largest fleet in the Russian navy); today there are none. Reportedly by early-2000 only three boats of this class remain in service, though the identity of these units is somewhat obscure, and they are expected to be retired shortly (fas Org).

Specifications
Russian Designator:	Project 641
NATO Designator:	Foxtrot-Class
Length:	299 feet, 6 inches
Beam:	24 feet, 7 inches
Draft:	20 feet
Displacement:	1,952 tons surfaced, 2,475 tons submerged
Construction:	3/8 inch outer light hull comprising ballast tanks. 7/8 inch QT28 Nickel Steel pressure hull.
Complement:	12 officers 10 midshipmen 56 seamen
Maximum Diving Depth:	985 feet
Speed:	16 knots surfaced 15 knots submerged 9 knots snorkeling
Range:	20,000 miles surfaced at 8 knots, 11,000 miles snorkeling 380 miles submerged at 2 knots
Endurance:	3 - 5 days submerged
Propulsion:	3 x Kolomna 2D42M diesel engines, 2,000 hp each. 3 x electric motors; 2 with 1,350 hp and 1 with 2,700 hp. 1 x auxiliary motor with 180 hp. 3 x propeller shafts, each with 6 bladed propellers.
Torpedoes:	22 maximum
Radar:	Surface search: Snoop Tray; I band.
Sonar:	Herkules medium-frequency active/passive. Feniks passive search/attack.
Electronic warfare:	Stop Light, Radar Warning. Quad Loop Directional Finder.

Class Listing
Unit    Shipyard               Fleet           Chronology                                Notes
#    number    Name                         Laid Down    Launched   Stricken
1    B-94                        SY 196      10/03/1957 12/25/1958    ----------  
2    B-95                        SY 196      ----------     09/30/1959    ----------  
3    B-37                        SY 196      ----------     11/05/1959    01/11/1962 lost
4    B-133                      SY 196      ----------     11/05/1959    1970 redesignated to B-833
5    B-135                      SY 196      ----------     11/05/1959    ----------  
6    B-139                      SY 196      ----------     03/15/1960    ----------  
7    B-57                        SY 196      ----------     07/28/1960    ----------  
8    B-116                      SY 196      ----------     08/25/1960    ----------  
9    B-130                      SY 196      ----------     09/22/1960    ----------  
10    B-143                    SY 196      10/21/1959 11/05/1960    1994 sold to Belgium
11    B-85                      SY 196      ----------     12/23/1960    ----------  
12    B-156                    SY 196      ----------     04/18/1961    ----------  
13    B-59                      SY 196      ----------     06/10/1961    ----------  
14    B-4    Chelyabinky  SY 196      ----------     08/31/1961    01/18/1963 named
                Komsomolets                        
15    B-153                    SY 196      ----------     09/30/1961    ----------  
16    B-164                    SY 196      ----------     10/16/1961    ----------  
17    B-33                      SY 196      ----------     11/27/1961    01/26/1991 lost
18    B-7                        SY 196      ----------     12/15/1961    ----------  
19    B-105                    SY 196      ----------     06/15/1962    ----------  
20    B-169                    SY 196      ----------     07/28/1962    ----------  
21    B-38                      SY 196      ----------     09/30/1962    ----------  
22    B-53                      SY 196      ----------     11/05/1962    ----------  
23    B-50                      SY 196      ----------     12/08/1962    ----------  
24    B-8                        SY 196      ----------     12/18/1962    ----------  
25    B-31                      SY 196      ----------     06/25/1963    ----------  
26    B-2                        SY 196      ----------     07/14/1963    ----------  
27    B-55                      SY 196      ----------     09/20/1963    1970 redesignated to B-855
28    B-98                      SY 196      ----------     05/15/1964    ----------  
29    B-101                    SY 196      ----------     05/29/1964    ----------  
30    B-6                        SY 196      ----------     07/30/1964    ----------  
31    B-15                      SY 196      10/10/1963 09/30/1964    1992 sold to Canada as scrap
32    B-103                    SY 196      ----------     12/24/1964    ----------  
33    B-109                    SY 196      ----------     04/15/1965    ----------  
34    B-107                    SY 196      ----------     04/28/1965    ----------  
35    B-112                    SY 196      ----------     08/05/1965    ----------  
36    B-25                      SY 196      ----------     09/06/1965    ----------  
37    B-21                      SY 196      ----------     10/31/1965    ----------  
38    B-9                        SY 196      ----------     11/30/1965    ----------  
39    B-26    YaroslavskySY 196      ----------     03/24/1966    02/15/1965 named
                Komsomolets                        
40    B-28                      SY 196      ----------     06/18/1966    ----------  
41    B-34                      SY 196      ----------     08/31/1966    ----------  
42    B-40                      SY 196      ----------     09/06/1966    ----------  
43    B-29                      SY 196      ----------     11/28/1966    ----------  
44    B-41                      SY 196      ----------     12/24/1966    ----------  
45    B-46                      SY 196      ----------     06/30/1967    ----------  
46    B-49    Valdimirsky SY 196      ----------    06/30/1967    09/23/1967 named
                Komsomolets                        
47    B-39                      SY 196      02/09/1962 12/28/1967    1994 sold to Finland
48    B-397                    SY 196      ----------      12/31/1967    ----------  
49    B-400                    SY 196      ----------      09/25/1968    ----------  
50    B-413                    SY 196      06/28/1968  12/25/1968    1999-2000 display at Kaliningrad
51    B-416                    SY 196      ----------      12/04/1969    ----------  
52    B-205                    SY 196      ----------      12/28/1969    ----------  
53    B-213                    SY 196      ----------      08/11/1970    ----------  
54    B-435                    SY 196      ----------      11/06/1970    ----------  
55    B-440                    SY 196      ----------      12/25/1970    ----------  
56    B-409                    SY 196      ----------      09/10/1971    ----------  
57    B-427    "Scorpion"SY 196      04/10/1971  12/04/1971    1994 sold to Australia
                                                                                            on display in California
58                                 SY 196      ---------- ----------    ----------  
59                                 SY 196      ---------- ----------    ----------  
60                                 SY 196      ---------- ----------    ----------  
61    B-807                    SY 196      ---------- ----------    ----------  
62    B-213                    SY 196      ---------- ----------    ----------  
                                                   
Project 641I, NATO code "Foxtrot"(export type)     
1    B-51               SY 196      ---------- 10/26/1967    04/1968 to India
2    B-401             SY 196      ---------- 09/19/1968    03/1969 to India
3    B-405             SY 196      ---------- 07/02/1969    11/1969 to India
4    B-402             SY 196      ---------- 09/05/1969    02/1970 to India
5    B-456             SY 196      ---------- 10/10/1972    11/1973 to India
6    B-470             SY 196      ---------- 07/05/1973    12/1973 to India
7    B-464             SY 196      ---------- 12/16/1973    10/1974 to India
8    B-522             SY 196      ---------- 09/20/1974    02/1975 to India
9    B-311             SY 196      ---------- 02/11/1978    12/1976 to Libya
10    B-330             SY 196      ---------- 10/27/1977    02/1978 to Libya
11    B-533             SY 196      ---------- 10/08/1976    02/1978 to Libya
12    B-587             SY 196      ---------- 10/25/1981    02/1981 to Libya
13    B-588             SY 196      ---------- 09/28/1982    01/1982 to Lybia
14    B-590             SY 196      ---------- 11/21/1980    02/1983 to Libya
                                                   
Project 641K, NATO code "Foxtrot"(export type)     
1    B-309             SY 196      ---------- 12/10/1978 02/07/1979 to Cuba
2    B-586             SY 196      ---------- 11/30/1979 03/1980 to Cuba
3    B-510             SY 196      ---------- 10/20/1983 02/1984 to Cuba