History and Deployment of the Whiskey class submarine

The Whiskey class was the first post-war submarine design to be deployed by the Soviet navy. Even so the submarine has its origins in the difficult days of the Great Patriotic War. In 1943 the Soviet Naval Staff began looking into a submarine to replace its older Type-S 'Stalinets' and Type-Shch 'Shchuka' class medium range patrol submarines. Soviet designers responded by developing a modernized version of the Type-S submarine known as Project 608. It incorporated many modifications that the war had shown to be necessary, as well as a copy of a British sonar system which they had reverse engineered.

The project seemed well on its way to becoming the next generation patrol submarine until the Soviet navy recovered the sunken U-250 in September of 1944. The modern Type-VII German submarine had been sunk weeks earlier in the Gulf of Finland and underwent a thorough examination. The design showed the Soviets how far behind they were in the undersea arms race. Project 608 was immediately cancelled. The design was to be revised to incorporate the lessons that the Soviets had learned in studying the German Type-VII.

When the war ended in 1945 the Soviet Union captured a number of highly advanced German Type-XXI submarines. Work on the revised Project 608 again stopped so that it could be compared to the Type-XXI and improved. The design was eventually finalized as Project 613 in 1948.

Project 613 was a double hull design that was slightly larger than the original Project 609. It was driven by two propeller shafts, each of which had its own engine, electric motor, and creep motor mounted on shock absorbers (the first Soviet design to do so). Armament of the new submarine consisted of four torpedo tubes in the bow and two in the stern. An anti-aircraft gun was also fitted to provide protection from sub-hunting aircraft.

A total of 340 boats were ordered and the first was launched in 1951. When the boat was first seen by NATO observers it was designated the 'Whiskey' class. Production continued until 1958 with some 215 examples serving with the Soviet navy. Advances in nuclear power technology was the primary reason for scaling back the number required from the planned 340 boats.

Total Whiskey Production by Shipyard
Baltic Works	19
Gorki Shipyard	213
Komsomolsk	11
Nikolayev	72

In the late 1956 the Soviet navy began to experiment with submarine launched guided missiles. A single Whiskey class was converted into a missile carrier for this purpose. It was known as the Whiskey 'Single-Cylinder' because of the large missile container that it carried on its deck behind the sail. The container housed a single SS-N-3 'Shaddock' anti-shipping missile.

Beginning in 1958 it was decided to convert still more Whiskey class boats into missile carriers. These were known to the West as the Whiskey 'Twin-Cylinder' class, as it had containers for two SS-N-3 missiles in place of the earlier one. A total of six boats were converted to this requirement between 1958 and 1960.

The final evolution of the Whiskey as a missile carrier began in 1960 with the Whiskey 'Long-Bin' class. This variant had their sails extended so that four SS-N-3 'Shaddock' missiles could be placed in the rear portion of them. These were the most heavily armed and most streamlined of all the Whiskey missile conversions. A total of six were converted to this requirement between 1960 and 1963.

It was planned that all Whiskey class boats would be brought up to the Whiskey V standard. Some 60 boats were selected to receive mid-life refits and became Whiskey V's. The remainder of the class was to be retired in favor of more modern submarines or converted to other uses. Two (the Severanka and the Slavyanka) were converted to oceanographic and fisheries research vessels. While another four were converted into radar picket boats known as the Whiskey 'Canvas Bag', so called because of the large cover that was placed over the radar when it was not in use.

Even this did not save the class for long. By 1980 the two fisheries research vessels were scrapped, and only 130 patrol submarines remained. Of these only 50 conducted active patrols while the remaining 80 were held in reserve. Two years later this total was reduced to 60 submarines. It was a trend that would continued throughout the 1980's as more Whiskey's were retired and broken up. By 1992 only 18 of the original 215 boats remained. All were broken up the following year.

The end of the Whiskey in Russian service did not mark the end of the class as a whole. In its basic patrol configuration the Whiskey proved to be a very popular export submarine. Over the years the Soviet navy transferred some 39 boats to foreign countries. Albania received four of these, Bulgaria two, China five, Egypt seven, Indonesia twelve, North Korea four, and Poland five. Another 21 boats were assembled in China from parts made in the Soviet Union. Cuba and Syria later ordered two non-operational Whiskeys to use as battery charging hulks, while Indonesia received a further two to strip for parts. None of the guided missile variants were ever exported to any nation.

The Whiskey submarine was the first post-war submarine produced by the Soviet Union. As such it would have been used in much the same role as its wartime predecessors. Its mission would have been to locate and destroy enemy warships and merchant shipping. The task of the guided missile conversions was similar. The only difference would have been that the missile boats would have been tasked with destroying high priority targets such as carriers, targets that would have been out of reach for the standard Whiskey submarines.

The boat was a vast improvement over earlier pre-war designs like the Type-S and Type-ShCh. Whiskey patrol submarines were faster, quieter, and could dive deeper than any previous Soviet boat. The sonar systems that they used were also an improvement. The guided missile conversions gave the Soviets improved sea denial ability and paved the way for future designs that would menace the West for decades.

Despite these advantages the Whiskey was still considered to be a very loud submarine. This was largely the result of having many free-flood holes along the hull (holdovers from the German Type-XXI). The missile conversions were even louder still, as water moved roughly past their large missile containers. The missile boats suffered from another problem in that they were also slow and had to surface when they wanted to fire their missiles. This left them vulnerable to detection and air attack.

The Whiskey class submarine incorporated many lessons from the previous war that enabled it to survive in the post-war era. Even so, technology advances and the good designs of the past become the relics of the future. Below you will find links to the submarines that came before and after the Whiskey class.

It should be noted that in the conventional attack role the Whiskey was succeeded by the 'Romeo' class submarine, while all of the Whiskey guided missile conversions were replaced by the more advanced Juliet class. You can find out more about these vessels by clicking on the links below.

The Whiskey replaced...	Whiskey Class Submarine	The Whiskey was replaced by...
'Stalinets' S-Class Attack Submarine	Whiskey Class Submarine	'Romeo' Class Attack Submarine 'Juliet' Class Missile Submarine

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you. We hope you can find them as useful as we have.