Key Point and Summary: The Typhoon-class submarines were the largest ever built, designed to rival America’s Ohio-class SSBNs during the Cold War.
-These 48,000-ton giants carried 20 massive RSM-52 SLBMs, each armed with up to 10 nuclear warheads.
-Featuring multiple pressure hulls and crew amenities like a sauna and swimming pool, they became legendary in books and movies like The Hunt for Red October. Originally planned to stay in service until 2026, Russia retired the Typhoons early in favor of the newer Borei-class submarines.
-Though their era has ended, they remain some of the most formidable subs in naval history.
Russia’s Typhoon-class 48,000-ton Submarines Were Monster-sized
The Russian Navy retired its last Typhoon-class submarine, the Dmitriy Donskoy, in 2021, closing the window of one of the most intriguing class of submarines ever built. The Dmitriy Donskoy was the oldest of the Typhoon-class subs and served the fleet for more than 40 years. She was also the largest submarine ever built.
She entered service in 1981 as TK-208, the lead vessel of the Project 941 Akula (Shark) class. After a ten-year overhaul, it reentered service in 2002 under its new name. Dmitriy Donskoy was the Grand Duke of Moscow and was credited with being the founder of Moscow.
The Typhoon-class submarines were designed to counter the US Navy’s Ohio (SSBN-726) class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.
Indeed, the United States didn’t become aware of a Soviet Typhoon project until 1974, when then-President Leonid Brezhnev told US President Gerald Ford that if the US insisted on building the Trident submarines, the Soviets would build Typhoon—the meaning of which was not immediately known by Ford or US intelligence.
The Typhoons boasted unique design features, including multiple pressure hulls and amenities for the crew, such as a sauna and swimming pool, according to the Russians. The Typhoon’s crew size for extended deployments accommodated 160 crew members.
The multiple pressure hulls were built around the missile tubes. There were two parallel hulls on the sides. A third hull on top of these, located beneath the enormous sail, housed the command center, while a fourth hull in the bow served as the torpedo chamber. There were 20 missile tubes in front of the parallel hulls. Each of these had titanium included in the design for added strength, and they were all tightly braced together.
Typhoons could carry a primary load of 20 RSM-52 SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), each containing up to 10 MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) warheads.
The missiles were enormous. Naval War Institute wrote a piece in 1999 explaining why they were so large.
Typhoon-class Submarine.
“The missiles were huge simply because Soviet solid-fuel technology was far behind that of the United States, something not well understood during the Cold War. We now know that a key to US success in this field was a vigorous civilian plastics industry, which developed the key binders that hold together plastic toys and solid-fuel rocket motors. It was an interesting early example of the impact of a large non-military economy on military-industrial performance during the Cold War.”
Typhoons Were Famous in Books and Movies
If the boats’ size and missiles sound familiar, it is because they are. Tom Clancy wrote a best-selling book about a new class of Typhoons with a magneto/hydrodynamic water propulsion system called a “Caterpillar Drive.” The sub was called the “Red October,” and the officers wanted to defect to the West.
The book was called “The Hunt for Red October.” It was later made into a major film with Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, and Sam Neill.
The Soviets Planned For Seven But Built Six Typhoons
The Soviet Sevmash Shipyard built six of a planned seven Project 941 submarines – or what NATO has code-named the Typhoon-class—for the Russian Navy, and all of the boats were operational with the Northern Fleet. Although it was the first built of the Typhoon submarines, Dmitriy Donskoy was the last of the class to remain in service
Image: Creative Commons. Typhoon-class Submarine
The TK-202, TK-12—later renamed the Simbirsk—and T-13 were decommissioned from active service between 1996 and 2009 and scrapped with the financial support of the United States. Two other boats, the TK-17/Arkhangelsk and TK-20/Severstal, remained in service until they were decommissioned circa 2013.The seventh boat in the Typhoon-class, TK-210, was laid down but scrapped before completion due to the SALT agreements.
Typhoon-Class Retired Early
The Russians retired the Typhoon-class submarines early. They were supposed to remain in service until 2026. But this was because the Borei-class boats were ready.
About the Author:
Steve Balestrieri is a 19FortyFive National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing for 19FortyFive, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in other military publications.
