A BLOODLESS NAVAL WAR WITHOUT TRADITIONAL SEA BATTLES

The end of World War Two signaled the beginning of the Cold War. However, the opponents had been identified long before the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Allies which had fought so well during the fiercest war in human history split up and the Soviet Union became an arch enemy of the western powers. The roots of the breakup were over two decades old and had much to do with the western alliance being violently opposed to Soviet Communism and foundational Marxism. Led by the United States, the western governments were perceived as being a very real threat to Soviet Communism and the motherland itself. The only reason for wartime tolerance was the job at hand - defeating the Axis. Once this task was completed, the gloves came off.

The Soviet system emerged from a violent and bloody series of coups, which escalated over several years to a complete national collapse. It formally destroyed Czarist Russia beginning in 1917 and caused the death of untold millions of innocent men, women and children. The new leadership of what was now the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics based its control on fear and instantaneous death or imprisonment for failure to exhibit absolute allegiance to the state. Ultimately, as in Nazi Germany, the most savvy and ruthless of leaders (Joseph Stalin) rose to the top. Stalin has been credited with a greater death toll than Adolph Hitler during his rule. For the Soviets, the new enemy was the decadent west and, in particular, the United States of America and its democratic ideals.

Fortunately, the Soviet military was firmly grounded in land warfare and had little use for Naval arms. This changed with the appointment of far-thinking navalists such as Adm. Sergey Gorschkov; however, it would take years for the Soviet Navy to venture outside of its home waters. This was due to a number of reasons:

* Lack of competent Naval leadership; inept and inexperienced warship designers and narrow minded strategic thinkers.

* Inadequate shipbuilding facilities due to the country being ravaged by war.

* Small number of ice-free ports, and land-locked bottlenecks that hampered a surface fleet attempting to sortie to the open sea (e.g., the narrow strait from the Black Sea controlled by Turkey).

* Mind-set that all military arms were for one purpose - protect the motherland, and, in the case of the Soviet Navy, this meant an inordinate number of coastal submarines and small craft.

Despite these handicaps, the Soviet military decided that a "blue water" Navy might be valuable to the nation's defenses. As a consequence, in the early 1950s, the Soviet Navy began a widely-publicized program to design and build light cruisers, destroyers and 1200 submarines to guard the nation's shores.

The submarine force was to be deployed in three concentric rings around the nation's geography, and be fully operational by 1965. The outer ring would be for those longrange attack and guided missile boats (later ballistic missile craft) that would roam the world's oceans at will. This outer ring would employ 200 Foxtrot and Zulu class (NATO designations) as well as nuclear boats as they became available. The Foxtrot or Project 641 Pacific model had a range of up to 20,000-mi. The intermediate ring would utilize 900 Romeo I Project 633- and Whiskey/Project 613-class boats. These boats were only suitable for short duration patrols as the habitability was marginal even for the Soviet submarine service. Actually, there were 236 Whiskey-class boats built, of which many went to client states, and this class represented the largest number of submarines ever built by any Navy in a singular design. The inner defensive ring consisted of 100 Quebec/Project 615-class boats which were small and cramped versions of the Whiskey-class and a throwback to pre-World War Two. Although the Quebec-class toyed with air independent propulsion, they suffered so many fires, that they were known as the "cigarette lighters." Aside from being fast on the surface and below (18-kts), these were also some of the most mediocre submarines ever built, and many were lost due to accident.

Reality was quite different than the 1200 submarine wish list of the early 1950s. By the 1970s, the Soviet Navy was able to build and put to sea a force of 393 boats of which 176 were nuclear powered. By 1980, that number had risen to 480 boats of which 94 were cruise missile or ballistic missile craft. Despite failing to meet the unrealistic objective of 1200 boats, the Soviet submarine arm was still the largest in the world, and quite capable of defending the motherland.

The Soviet Navy was also building a modern and technologically-capable surface fleet, but the philosophy of protecting the motherland at all costs remained foundational. The fleet, including the submarine arm, was dubbed the "one-shot fleet." That accounted for the lack of weapon reloads on most surface ships -just fire everything at the US battle groups, aircraft carriers and amphibious forces, and hope for victory. The guided missile boats were also designed to attack western carrier- or battleship-led battle groups as well as any large formations of amphibious ships.

One of the most popular boats was the Project 641 or Foxtrot class. This boat or boats could be found in every Soviet attack squadron worldwide and in every ocean. Often, these schnorkel-assisted, diesel-electric submarines came within sight of the United States, Canada and Great Britain. One, the Scorpion (now a tourist attraction in Long Beach, California), sat off San Diego Harbor recording and categorizing propeller noises of various warships during the 1980s. On special occasions, the mottled-black, rust-streaked Foxtrot would surface to allow the crew to look at the blaze of lights coming from San Diego Harbor.

THE PROJECT 641 PACIFIC (LONG RANGE MODEL) DIESEL-ATTACK SUBMARINE (NATO DESIGNATION FOXTROT) SS

Soviet submarine classes were identified by their project number (641, 615, etc), and were rarely updated as they were built. The Soviet system of impractical conservatism was evident in ship construction. Once a submarine design was settled upon, there was virtually no change made in the production run - even if minor alterations would have made major improvements in boat performance. Taking advantage of technological improvements or espionage of USN or other western Naval vessels meant a new project class; hence the exorbitant number of submarine projects. The Project 641 was/is the Foxtrot, and other diesel-powered boats were Romeo, Zulu, Whisky, Tango, Bravo and so forth. Nuclear submarines also had NATO designations such as November, Victor, Echo, etc. Even the weapons, radar and sonar suites had NATO names - Snoop Tray, Stop Light ESM, Quad Loop, Trout Cheek, Piker Jaw, etc.

The Foxtrot was probably the finest of all diesel-electric submarines ever built except for the British Oberon class. There were a total of 62 Foxtrot-class boats built primarily at shipyards in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). This has made sense as the primary submariner schools are located in the same vicinity. Submarine and submariner were created in the same city.

Actually, the Soviet Navy planned to build 160 Foxtrots due to the cost being a fraction of a nuclear submarine and the same for maintenance. This ambitious plan never came to fruition, but due to the popularity of the class and its reputation for durability, many Foxtrots found their way into foreign Navies that are clients of the Soviet/Russian governments. As late as 2005, two Foxtrots are operationally active in the Indian Navy. They are used for clandestine missions and surveillance. They will likely be decommissioned in the near future. Libya and Cuba have three boats each, yet all are either rotting against an out-of-the-way pier or sitting on the bottom of a harbor (near Havana or Tobruk).

The overall construction time took about two-yrs from keel laying to commissioning, and the average life span of this type of boat was 20yrs with two or three re-fits. After that, the boats deteriorated dependent on their service life, assignments, and maintenance. The Indian government has indicated that the Foxtrot is durable and one of the best conventional boats, but maintaining them after 20-yrs has become too costly.

The Foxtrot was powered by three Kolomna diesel engines rated at a total of 6000-hp. The diesels were coupled directly to the propeller shafts via the electric motors, and turned three six-blade propellers. The top speed on the surface was 16-kts; submerged was 15-kts and the boat could extend its underwater performance by utilizing its schnorkel.

The boat could dive to nearly 1000-ft, but its operating depth was half of that. Dives to the maximum depth were kept at an absolute minimum because of the stresses and strain on the boat that would eventually weaken the pressure hull beyond reliability and economic repair. The estimated number of maximum depth dives was set at 300, and more than that could result in pressure hull fractures and crushing.

The weapons carried by the Foxtrot consisted of 22 two-ton torpedoes or 36 ground drop mines. The torpedoes had a range of 10-mi at up to 45-kts, and were conventionally armed with 880-lbs of high explosive. Two torpedoes in the forward torpedo room carried 20-kiloton-tipped low-yield nuclear weapons, and were tightly guarded at all times. The forward torpedo room had six tubes that impulsed the heavy torpedoes out of their tubes by compressed air contained in flasks. Once the torpedo was in the water, it typically dropped several feet before the oxygen-powered motor started it on its way on a pre-set target course. Reloading was achieved through muscle and a gantry system - old fashioned, but effective. Due to the sheer size and weight of the torpedoes (four tons if two were fired), the boat had to be trimmed at once to keep it on an even keel.

The Soviet Navy had great faith in mines, as the Russian Navy continues to this day. Thus, its submarine force and some of its surface combatants carry mines and can deploy them at critical points. They are acoustic or contact types and quite deadly.

Once a year, a live torpedo was fired by each Foxtrot at a target or small island for practice. Rarely did the weapon fail.

The Foxtrot was capable of a 70-day patrol and was limited more by food and water rather than by its 416-tons of diesel fuel. After the Vietnam Conflict ended in 1975, the Vietnamese Government welcomed Soviet warships at former USN bases where they could re-fuel and take on supplies. Of course, there were submarine tenders and supply ships at distant locales, as well as port visits in Cuba, Libya, Yemen and the Warsaw Pact nations. A favorite diversion for Soviet Naval officers was to have their photographs taken near abandoned US Navy equipment at Da Nang, Vietnam.

Soviet warships and commercial vessels continued to venture further away from their shores each year of the Cold War, and by the late 1980s, the Soviet Navy was second only to that of the United States. Fortunately, there never was a real confrontation between the bluewater super powers, yet had the Soviet Union not imploded politically and economically in 1989-1991, it would have only been a matter of time before an accident, or possibly a direct conflict would have erupted. For a Foxtrot on distant patrol, it might have likely taken the following form.

THE COLD WAR

AT SEA TURNS hot - A SCENARIO

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union had reached an all-time high over missile sites that clearly violated anti-nuclear arms treaties between the west and the Soviet Union and its puppet Warsaw Pact nations. Both groups of nations were quickly racing toward a nuclear clash in the mid-1990s. The Soviet Union was also alarmed over the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which could theoretically nullify and neutralize its primary striking power - the submarine- and land-launched intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Soviet system had only one prop to hold it up and that was parity in military arms. Without this, the entire system would collapse like a house of cards. Its leaders were well aware of this. Added to this were the huge defense budget, massive debt, lack of true assets, and virtually no funds to pay contractors and the military. A decision had to be made to stave off the inevitable.

The situation was not unlike that which faced the Argentine political leadership in 1982. A military dictatorship over the people of Argentina was proving unworkable, and widespread unrest interspersed with rioting were about to bring down the political system. Something had to be done to divert the people's attention from internal problems, and the age-old disagreement with Great Britain over the ownership of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) was chosen. The military attacked the nearly undefended islands, and became instant heroes. This lasted until Great Britain mounted a credible response and soundly defeated the Argentine armed forces. The Argentine government fell, and it took years for the national scars to heal. For the Soviet Government, defeat at the hands of the west was not an option. It began with a patrolling Foxtrot near San Diego Harbor.

A Foxtrot attack submarine was sitting some 500-ft below the surface off the western shore of San Clemente Island, just miles off the Southern California coast. The boat has been in the vicinity for several days, and its captain, political officer and ship's doctor had periodically listened to news with grim interest.

The ship's doctor had been invaluable as he spoke English, and could properly identify American warships from the enemy warship silhouette guide. Finally, a message had been received from C-in-C Soviet Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok: Attack if fired upon. At 0200, the boat began to creep upward and to within maximum torpedo range of a large number of contacts about to enter San Diego Bay. A carrier (Nimitz-class) battle group was making its way to San Diego Bay. There was a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine submerged in the area, and three destroyers guarding the entrance to the Bay. As a precaution, antisubmarine warfare aircraft were on patrol overhead from North Island, and a US Coast Guard patrol boat (Island-class) was close by.

The carrier group commander was well aware of deteriorating political and economic conditions in the homeland of his potential enemy, and was taking no chances with what amounted to 10% of the US carrier strength. It was too bad that the arm-chair tacticians in Washington and Arlington (Pentagon) chose to experiment with expensive programs that had produced nothing in the way of realistic benefits to the fleet.

Carefully listening for any unusual activity above, the Foxtrot sensed an American Arleigh Burkeclass destroyer had just fired an ASROC anti-submarine weapon. The sound of something striking the ocean surface, and the unmistakable noise of high-speed propellers beginning to turn, convinced the nervous submariner that his boat was under attack. The Foxtrot quickly and fearfully responded by firing two 20-kiloton nuclear-tipped torpedoes at maximum range of 10-mi with a maximum speed of 45-kts. The Soviet boat then immediately turned and dove to over 800-ft at full speed (15-kts). Next, the Soviet captain launched canisters of chemicals to confuse American sonar, and fired two noisemaker torpedoes as a further diversion.

The Soviet two 20-kiloton nuclear-tipped fish were detected by almost every sonar system in the battle group. The Foxtrot dove even deeper and began a standard evasion plan to deceive American ASW. This would probably not be successful, and knowing this, and faced with sure and certain destruction without a miracle, the Soviet captain fired the two remaining high-explosive torpedoes from his aft tubes at the pursuing destroyers and American submarine.

Both Soviet nuclear torpedoes detonated and sank the lead ship which was a cruiser (Ticonderoga-class). The battle group experienced substantial damage to its upper works, yet the Nimitz-class carrier was still able to conduct flight operations with those aircraft in the hangar. As soon as the fires were brought under control, those aircraft spotted on deck which were damaged beyond usefulness were pushed over the side.

For a few moments, it appeared that the extremely-quiet running Foxtrot might make good its escape, yet an anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft (P-3C Orion) dropped a series of sonobuoys close by, which relatively pinpointed the boat - a Mark 46 homing torpedo was fired by a Spruance-dass destroyer which did the rest. The Foxtrot sank to a depth of 4000-ft, yet its mission was completed. IRONICALLY, THE AMERICANS NEVER FIRED AN ASROC! War did not break out, and was prevented by extreme and fortuitous diplomatic maneuvering.

This is how a confrontation at sea during the Cold War might have played itself out. Without the high degree of professionalism and skill on both sides, this scenario and the horrific damage done by the drifting 40-kiloton nuclear cloud might have occurred. It did not. The men and women who served during this period at sea saved the world from a nuclear holocaust, yet have been given little or no credit for their efforts.

The Foxtrot-class attack submarines played a major role in the Cold War, and this was especially true during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

Today, a Foxtrot is part of the growing fleet of museum ships at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The author serves as the submarine's historian, and played a crucial role in designing and curating the exhibits aboard the vessel, known as the B-39 or "Pluto." In the next installment, life aboard the B-39 as a Soviet/Russian officer and enlisted rating will be written about as well as the lesser-known facts about the boat and the Soviet/Russian submarine Force. Anything written about this class of submarine has to include the Cuban Missile Crisis which will be covered as well.

© 2005 Challenge Publications Inc. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.