Yugoslav mini-submarines of the Cold War. Mini submarines

On November 2, 1947, a captured mini-submarine of the Seehund type, adapted to the needs of the USSR Navy, was launched. According to researchers, Soviet Union received six unfinished German submarines with documentation. However, in addition to captured mini-submarines, the USSR also had its own unique developments.
Let's remember them...

Elusive "Seals"

The Seehund (Seal) class submarines are a series of midget submarines that were developed at the end of World War II. They were assembled at shipyards in Kiel, Elbing and Ulm. Submarines of the Seehund type could dive to a depth of five meters in 6-7 seconds. Interestingly, such submarines were practically not afraid of the blast wave from depth charges. Often, the Seals were simply thrown aside by the blast wave.

The submarines weighed so little that the crew members could change the angle of their inclination under water by changing the position of their bodies, say, leaning forward or backward. This was important when the situation had to be assessed using a periscope.

For camouflage, the Germans painted the Seehunds mostly white or grey colour, because the most the submarine's work was carried out in northern waters, where blocks of ice are common. When the sea is rough, the “lambs” are also white.

The biggest problem for the crew was taking care of their natural needs. To do this less often, food for sailors was prepared according to a special recipe, which slowed down the process of assimilation of food.

The Seehunds were difficult to find, so mini-submarines were best suited for sabotage missions. From January to May 1945, the Seehunds sank nine Allied ships and three more were seriously damaged. At the same time, more than three dozen “Seals” were lost...

The captured Seehunds, brought to perfection, were transferred for trial operation to a detachment stationed in Kronstadt scuba diving. For our sailors, mini-submarines were a novelty. And the special forces showed the greatest interest in the submarine.

Our first and only "Pygmy"

In the Soviet Union, the first ultra-small submarine can be called the Pygmy submarine. True, the boat never became widespread. Only one sample was made, which fell into the clutches of the Nazis during the war.

Work on the project began in 1936. Special Technical Bureau for Military Inventions special purpose(Ostekhbyuro) designed the autonomous submarine Pygmy.

A prototype was made. In 1937, several boats were laid down in Leningrad, but all of them were not completed.

The boat was tested on the Black Sea from October 1936, under the code name “Ostekhbyuro Submarine”, and was commanded by Senior Lieutenant B.A. Uspensky.

As you can guess (as I wrote, the archives are still classified), the tests were unsuccessful. And the project was abandoned. And the boat itself was left to rot in Balaklava. It is unknown what the claims against the submarine were for the reasons stated above.

For the chief designer of the boat, Vladimir Ivanovich Bekauri, the failure of the tests was not in vain, and soon he was arrested as an enemy of the people and shot in 1938 (posthumously rehabilitated in 1956).

Vladimir Ivanovich Bekauri.

Shot in a “case” fabricated by an employee of the special department of the NKVD at the Ostekhburo, a certain A.P. Grunsky, who decided. that Bekauri and his employees “carried out ... sabotage activities by deliberately incorrectly designing new types of ... submarines intended for armament of the RKKF, as a result of which the designed ... submarines turned out to be unsuitable for arming the RKKF.” Why am I citing the name of this Grunsky? You need to know these people, these are the Grunskys who shouted “Crucify him!” 2000 years ago, then shot the designers for technical shortcomings (thus causing real harm to our country), and now they are fighting homophobes and putting the Budanovs and Kvachkovs in prison.

The Ostekhbyuro was dissolved.

By the way, the USSR did not preserve any data about the combat operations of the Pygmy submarine. It is unknown who fought on it, whether or not, and how it fell into the hands of the Germans. Either she was captured at her mooring site in Balaklava (then why the ships sank is unclear) or as a result of the fight against her, the Germans somehow managed to drive the submarine to the surface and capture it.

After the capture, the Germans wanted to send the Pygmies to Germany. At the beginning, apparently, they wanted to tow it by sea to Romania or Bulgaria, but during towing, the mini-submarine sank at a depth of 40 meters, not far from Feodosia. Where divers found her.

By the way, the photos presented in this article were taken not in the USSR, but by Italians and were found in Italian archives.

"Tritons" - reconnaissance diver boats

Ultra small submarines Project 908 Triton-2 were in service with the fleet from 1975 to the 1990s. "Tritons" patrolled port waters, delivered and evacuated reconnaissance divers. A total of 13 submarines of this project were built.

Prototype (Triton-1)
The body of the Triton is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy and is designed for a diving depth of 40 meters. The bow cabin housed two crew members. In the aft cabin there were places for reconnaissance divers.

A prototype of the ultra-small submarine Triton-2M was built by 1966. The first tests were carried out in the same year. Overall the boat performed well. As a result, it was decided to begin designing the prototype of the six-seater ultra-small submarine Triton-2 and another device, Triton-1M, for two people.

A total of 13 Triton-2 submarines were produced. They were in service with the Russian and Ukrainian navies. 32 units of two-seater Triton-1M submarines were created.

Most of them were scrapped in the 1980s

Project 865 Piranha submarines

Small submarines of Project 865 "Piranha"- project of submarines of the Navy of the USSR and the Russian Federation. The type was in service with the fleet from 1990 to 1999. A total of 2 submarines were built of this project: MS-520 and MS-521. Further construction of similar boats in the USSR was suspended. As a result, the series was limited to the experimental MS-520 and the lead MS-521, delivered to the fleet in December 1990.

The hull of the Project 865 submarine was made of titanium alloy and designed for a diving depth of 200 meters. The cruising range underwater at economic speed (4 knots) reached 260 miles, and on the surface - 1000 miles.

The submarine's weapons complex was located in the middle part of the superstructure and consisted of two cargo containers for transporting diving equipment (4 Proton-type tugs or 2 Sirena-U type transporters) and 2 mine-laying devices, which housed two PMT-type mines, or two arrays for 400-mm Latush torpedoes (a special version of the SET-72 torpedo), used “self-exit” over the entire depth range. The durable cargo container was filled with sea water and was a cylindrical structure about 12 meters long and 62 cm in diameter. A retractable tray was provided for loading, unloading and securing diving equipment. The drive and controls of the retractable tray were located inside a durable housing.

The mine-laying device consisted of a permeable launch grid with guide tracks of a pneumomechanical ejector device, which ensured that the mine was pushed forward along the course of the submarine. The possibility of placing a torpedo instead of a mine was also provided. Electronic weapons were specially developed for this project. The Piranha was equipped with a small-sized radar complex MRKP-60 Radian-M, as well as a hydroacoustic complex MGK-13S Pripyat-S.

The crew of the submarines of the Piranha project consisted of three officers: a commander-navigator, an electromechanical assistant and an electronic weapons assistant. In addition to them, a reconnaissance and sabotage group of six combat swimmers was taken on board. The combat swimmers exited at depths of up to 60 meters and on the ground. While outside the boat, combat swimmers/divers had the opportunity to use the electricity supplied from it through the wires, as well as replenish the supply gas mixture in breathing devices. During the operation of the submarine project, two replacement crews were formed for each boat. There was also a technical crew intended to service both boats.

One of the submarines of the project took part in the filming of the Russian feature film"Peculiarities national fishing».

During the investigation in the United States, a certain Ludwig Feinberg was detained, who admitted that, on the order of one of the largest drug lords in the world, Pablo Escobar, he tried to purchase a Project 865 midget submarine in Russia. Then the deal fell through.

Underwater tug "Sirena"

The midget submarine "Sirena" was created in parallel with the "Triton". The project was developed by the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute. The prototype of the two-seater was ready by July 1958. We tested it first in the pool. For a very long time they could not make the cabin comfortable for the crew members; it was too cramped, people got tired quickly.

The installation batch of “Sirens” of ten devices was manufactured in 1962. But after testing, they were again sent for revision, which ended in May 1963. At the same time, tests were carried out in the Gulf of Riga, during which “Sirens” were released from a submarine underway and without power.

Biber-class submarines

A type of German midget submarine from World War II. The armament consisted of two 533 mm torpedoes or mines. The boats were designed for attack in coastal waters. These were the smallest Kriegsmarine submarines. The boat was created to reduce the risk of Allied attack from the French coast. Only one boat was successful, sinking the transport Alan A. Dale. A large number of boats have been preserved in museums.

This midget submarine was officially called a “submersible single-seat assault vehicle.” Boats of the Biber type were intended for operations in the English Channel near the French and Dutch coasts.

The desire to ensure the ability to transport boats on trucks and launch them from an unequipped shore led to the fact that the displacement of the Beaver was limited to 7 tons, and the crew was limited to one person.

The body, made of ship steel, had a streamlined shape. Approximately in the middle of it there was a miniature cabin 52 cm high with four portholes and an entrance hatch. A periscope 150 cm long and a snorkel (RDP) of the same length extended from the wheelhouse. Behind the wheelhouse was the engine exhaust pipe.

Watertight bulkheads divided the hull into five compartments. The first housed a ballast tank. The driver sat in the second compartment. His head almost rested against the entrance hatch. In front of him were navigation instruments, a steering wheel, control levers, a periscope and a device for lifting it; on the sides and rear there are cylinders with compressed air for blowing out tanks, an oxygen cylinder with a breathing apparatus, a battery, gas tanks, gas lines to the engine.

Due to the lack of a diesel engine of such small size, a 6-cylinder petrol engine from Opel with a power of 32 hp and a cylinder displacement of 2.5 liters was installed in the third compartment. Gasoline fumes, despite the insulation, penetrated into the control compartment, which often led to fires, explosions or poisoning of drivers.

In the fourth compartment there was an electric motor, in the fifth there was a stern ballast tank.

When swimming underwater, the driver could breathe freely for 45 minutes. After this, the air in the compartment became oversaturated with carbon dioxide and a breathing apparatus had to be used. Three cartridges of oxylitol (a carbon dioxide absorber) were enough for 20 hours under water.

X-1 midget submarine

The command of the US Navy in the second half of the twentieth century relied on the development of a nuclear submarine fleet, and considered the direction of creating ultra-small submarines to be unpromising - to arm the military. naval special forces Only a limited number of group underwater carriers of the SDV type arrived, and the X-1 ultra-small submarine remained in a single copy and was quickly written off.

There were no weapons on the submarine, with the exception of personal weapons and military means special groups.

On May 20, 1957, in the waters of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a serious accident occurred on a midget submarine, caused by the explosion of hydrogen peroxide reserves and leading to significant destruction of the bow of the mini-submarine (only by a miracle was it possible to avoid human casualties), a decision was made convert the X-1 to a new main power plant.

As a result, it became traditional - diesel-electric. Moreover, later one of the officers who took part in the X-1 testing program noted that “the most important conclusion drawn as a result of this experimental program was that warship Under no circumstances should concentrations be allowed large quantity unstable hydrogen peroxide".

The X-1 SMPL was finally taken out of service by decision of the command naval forces United States on February 16, 1973, and on April 26 of the same year - transferred to the balance of the Naval Ship Research and Development Center in Annapolis. The following year, on July 9, it was allowed to include this mini-submarine in the exhibition organized at the fleet base in North Severn, near Annapolis, as an exhibit of a historical nature.

Ultimately, X-1 found its way last refuge in the open exhibition of the US Navy Submarine Force Library and Museum, the main exhibit of which is the world's first nuclear submarine Nautilus (USS Nautilus, sometimes the museum is therefore referred to as Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Library and Museum) . The midget submarine was transferred to the museum in April 2001, and has been on open display there ever since. This museum is located in the area of the American naval base Groton (Groton, Connecticut) in the town of North Severn; in its open exhibition there are several more midget submarines and group underwater carriers.

Moray TV-1A-

an advanced underwater prototype, an experimental model, to test a high-speed, deep-sea, highly maneuverable manned underwater fighter, designed to search for, pursue and destroy enemy nuclear submarines.

A military swimmer disconnects the crane lines of a barge before Moray's sea trials begin.

Moray developed 45 knots under water, and was supposed to have on board underwater cumulative missiles (also developed at the China Lake research base) to destroy enemy submarines. It was planned to install a battery of eight such missiles on board. The crew could observe the results of the attack using a television camera installed outside the hull. Highly efficient active sonar was used to search for the target. At the same time, although Moray was built according to a rocket and aircraft design, instead of redundant systems, all elements of particularly high reliability were used.

The device was mainly made of aluminum, weight 15 tons, length 10.6 meters, diameter 1.62 meters. The diameter of the crew sphere was 1.55 meters. Most of the housing components were not protected from pressure and were “soft”. The engine was based on hydrogen peroxide and diesel fuel, placed behind the crew sphere. Provided either 1.5 hours of speed of 40 knots or 27 hours of speed of 15 knots.

In 1961, the device was converted to use compressed oxygen, and the cylinders were placed behind the command compartment, and the fuel in front. At the same time, the power reserve is maximum speed became only 1 hour, at a speed of 15 knots 10 hours, and the minimum speed of the device could be 3 knots.

The armament was also reduced to seven 5-inch rockets, placed in the nose, and not around, which, unlike conventional ones, released a stream of gas from the ends of the stabilizer propeller to ensure their movement.

The SMPL, with a crew of two, is deep-sea, high-speed, positioned as an “underwater fighter” and was designed and built at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) in China Lake, PCs. California, with future sea trials planned. During its creation, several unique materials and engines were developed.

Submarine "Velman"

SMPL "Velman" is designed to be controlled by a crew of one person.

Developed in mid-1942 by Colonel of the Engineering Troops with a “speaking” surname, John Dolphin.

Research, development and production of three prototypes were carried out at the 9th Special Operations Executive (SOE) base in the requisitioned Fries Hotel, which became for a long time the main place for the development and production of special-purpose equipment of that time.

The boat was named after the village of Welwyn Garden City - Welman (Welwyn One-Man Submarine).

In early 1943, tests were carried out at San Albans, at the Admiralty Experimental Dock in Khalsar and the Laleham Reservoir near Windsor.

The lack of a periscope was considered a major design error.

Wellman with detachable warhead being tested at Queen Mary Reservoir in Staines

Royal Navy Lieutenant Jimmy Holmes peers over the low side of Wellman's conning tower

Foca I (SA-41) and Foca II (SA-42) in Cartagena (Foca means Seal)

developed early 1957

underwent service in 1962

Only two boats, SA 41 & SA 42.

Displacement 16/20 t (on the surface/in depth),

Team of 3 people,

Armament - 2 torpedoes 533mm

Decommissioned in 1971

Japanese SMPL Koryu ( Sea Dragon) Type D

Due to the insufficient range of the A-type boats, already during the Second World War, new ultra-small submarines of the Otsugawa and Koryu types were created in Japan. The design of new submarines began in the fall of 1942, and in January (according to other sources - in February) 1943, the first Na-45 type “B” boat was launched at the Urazaki shipyard. A 25 kW diesel generator was installed on it, which made it possible to fully charge the batteries in less than 18 hours. This significantly increased the mobility of boats when guarding small islands that did not have charging stations. The crew was increased to three people.

After minor design changes based on test results, these ships began to be called “B/C” type boats. Total in 1942-1944. 16 of them were built: one type “B” and 15 improved types “V/S” - Na-62 - Na-76.

Based on the results of tests of the B-type submarine, a decision was made to build ultra-small D-type submarines (Koryu). Their design began in December 1943, laying in June 1944, and in January 1945 the first boat “D” was launched. According to American data, a total of 115 or 116 boats of this type were built, with about 495 more units being completed.

At the same time as the D-type “Koryu” boats, submarines of three times smaller displacement were built in Japan. Preparations to repel the landing of American troops on japanese islands in conditions of complete enemy dominance at sea and in the air, it required the creation of mass-produced simple submarines, which became the ultra-small boat “Kairyu” (“improved type D”), designed by engineer Goro Sato. In appearance they resembled a torpedo with a small conning tower and side stabilizers.

When using the Kairyu against transports and landing craft, the speed of 10 knots with torpedoes seemed quite sufficient, but to attack ships of the main classes, when explosives were placed in the bow compartment, the submarine itself turned into a torpedo. In total, by the end of the war, about 250 Kairyu were built out of a planned 760, with another two hundred under construction. A boat of this type became a transition from the dwarf submarine to the Kaiten man-torpedo.

The Japanese considered human torpedoes to be highly effective weapons and made significant efforts to create them. Already by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, several torpedoes were being tested near the naval base on Kure Island, known as “Base II”. However, the experiments dragged on. 16 people died during the tests.

Midget submarine "Molch"

The immersion depth recommended by test results was 40 meters, but reports recorded cases of safe immersion even to depths of up to 60 m. The submariner had two depth gauges at his disposal, one of which was designed for a depth of 50 m and had a small division scale, and the other was used for depths up to 15 m and had large-scale divisions.

In case of abandonment of the submarine or threat of its capture by the enemy, the driver was obliged to activate a special demolition charge - to do this he had to pull out the cord he had. The exact length of the delay is not known, as captured submariners reported six or fifteen minutes.

The torpedoes were launched by the driver using pedals installed in the central post - one pedal per torpedo: after pressing it, the block installed on the guide and holding the torpedo was released, and at the same time the torpedo engine was started.

The experimental submarine entered testing on March 19, 1944 and literally stunned representatives of the German Navy because it seemed to them a “raw and unfinished project.” And the very first attempt to move the submarine into an underwater position confirmed these assumptions - the submarine did not want to dive, its bow tip did not even move. The first normal, working, SMPL of a new type appeared only on June 12, 1944 - it was shown in the North German city of Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, on the shore of Eckernförde Bay Baltic Sea- 25 kilometers northwest of Kiel.

Moreover, the serial construction of the SMPL, despite the identified serious design flaws, began in the same month. The first mini-submarines entered service in June - after leaving the factory they were immediately sent to Suhrendorf for installation of a compass. In total, 393 mini-submarines were transferred to the Kriegsmarine: June 1944 - 3, July - 38, August - 125, September - 11 o, October - 57, December - 28, January 1945 - 32 units.

ULTRA SMALL SUBMARINE "HECHT"

At the end of 1943, specialists from the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding of the Kriegsmarine (Hauptamt Kriegschiftbau, sometimes referred to in American and Russian naval historical literature as (“Department of Design Bureaus of the German Navy,” which does not seem to accurately reflect its essence and purpose) presented the project of a two-seater midget submarine of Project XXVllA (Ture XXVllA) was submitted for consideration by the authorities.

It is more widely known as the SMPL “Hecht” (“Hecht”, translated from German as “Pike”). The main purpose of this small submarine was to deliver charges or powerful mines to the target, which were either to be laid under the anchored ship on the ground, or attached directly to its hull. Thus, ideologically, the Hecht-class SMPL was almost a complete copy of the British X-type SMPL, a group of which a couple of months earlier had successfully attacked the battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord, but it also had a number of differences.

The German SMPL, whose displacement according to the project was to be 7 tons, was intended, in contrast to the British type "X", for combat use only in a submerged position, and therefore did not have a combined propulsion system (diesel-electric), but only a fully electric drive (battery-electric motor).

The scuba diving range was 69 miles (at a speed of 4 knots), although initially they expected a slightly larger figure - no less than 90 miles. Due to the relatively small radius of action, the pikes had to be delivered to the area of operation on surface ships or vessels.

A distinctive feature of the first version of the “Hecht” was the absence of any horizontal rudders or similar devices - a consequence of the need to overcome boom-net barriers, anti-torpedo nets, etc. The SMPL was controlled in depth by the axis using a special scale system installed inside the hull - further development the ideas of retired artillery officer-engineer Wilhelm Bauer, which he implemented in the design of the Brandtaucher submarine (translated from German as “Diver”).

The submarine was built by a German in the city of Kiel with voluntary donations in 1850 and was intended to be used purely for military purposes. It was a submarine with a steel hull, which had a displacement of 27.5 tons, a length of 8 m, a width of 1.85 m and a hull height of 2.5-2.7 m.

The ship's propulsion system was a propeller, manually rotated through a gear drive. So, in his project, the German inventor decided to abandon the vertical and horizontal rudders, equipping the Brandtaucher with that very original system for controlling the movement of submarines in depth based on weight structures. The system included a longitudinal horizontal rod with a thread located in the bow of the submarine's hull, along which a massive load could be moved using a lever mechanism. The latter regulated the amount of trim at the bow or stern.

Italian midget submarine Delfino

Chief designer - Giacinto Pullino. This boat was laid down and launched at the state-owned Regio Arsenale naval shipyard in La Spezia in 1895. She entered the fleet on April 1, 1895.

The designers believed that Delfino would operate exclusively underwater. The boat had an almost perfectly round hull, two horizontal bow and one vertical stern rudders, and two trim tanks at the ends. She was equipped with a resettable lead keel.

Initially, the submarine was driven only by an electric motor, but during extensive modernization in 1902-1904 it received a 130-horsepower FIAT carburetor engine for surface travel. The battery consisted of 216 elements, divided into two independent groups.

Italian SMPL Caproni CB in Sevastopol, 1942:

SEAL Delivery Team (SDV) 2:

transported on the deck of a nuclear submarine

At the end of the 70s, the Leningrad design bureau "Malachite", which designs submarines, received an order from the Navy for an ultra-small submarine with a displacement of 80 tons. The submarine was supposed to operate at depths from 10 to 200 meters, conduct reconnaissance and solve problems of countering the enemy. Secret weapon of the USSR
To do this, the ship had to be equipped with appropriate electronic equipment, mine and torpedo weapons, as well as a diving complex to perform special tasks at depths of up to 60 meters. In July 1984, an experimental submarine of the project was laid down at the Leningrad Admiralty Association (now JSC Admiralty Shipyards). Two years later, she was launched with the hull number MS-520. In December 1990, the lead boat of the MS-521 project was handed over to the fleet.
The submarine's hull was made of titanium alloy, which reduced its weight by 40 percent, and was designed to dive up to 200 meters. Underwater speed reached 6.7 knots, surface speed - 6 knots. With an economical speed of 4 knots, the Piranha could sail 260 miles underwater, and 1000 on the surface. The submarine’s controls were automated, the crew consisted of three officers: a commander-navigator, an assistant for radio-electronic equipment, and an assistant for electromechanical parts. In addition, the submarine could take six combat swimmers - they were its main weapon.
Ahead, the ship's central post ended with a spherical bulkhead that had an entrance to the airlock chamber. There was a porthole that made it possible to monitor the work of the divers, control devices for the airlock system, and a small airlock for transferring objects to the central post. Behind the Piranha wheelhouse there were two 12-meter containers with vehicles divers: two Sirena transporters or four Proton tugs. On the external sling, the Piranha could carry two devices for installing PMT anti-submarine mine torpedoes with nuclear warheads, or launching arrays for 400-mm Latouche electric torpedoes.

Invisible and unheard
The non-magnetic body, low-noise mechanisms mounted on shock absorbers and perfect acoustic protection provided the Piranha with unsurpassed stealth characteristics. During exercises in the Baltic Sea, a destroyer and a large anti-submarine ship, focused on searching for MS-521, were unable to detect it. When the submarine was given the command to surface, it rose in two cables (360 meters). At such a distance, the Piranha could either release saboteurs from an underwater position to attach mines to the bottoms, or shoot the ships point-blank - no means of defense could help.
In the confusion of the 90s, the Piranhas fell victim to momentary greed - because of their literally precious hulls, they were cut into scrap metal. Before this, MS-520 managed to star in “Peculiarities of National Fishing.” However, the Malachite Design Bureau continued to work on improving mini-submarines and now offers a whole family of ultra-small class submarines. "Piranha-2", say, has a submerged speed of 12 knots, a cruising range of 1200 miles and can be equipped with an anaerobic power plant. Such an engine does not need air and the boat does not need to surface to replenish its reserves. “Piranha-T” is capable of sailing 2,000 miles and spending 20 days away from the base, carrying two missiles, eight torpedoes and four mines on board.

How divers sank a battleship

The effectiveness of miniature submarines with a sabotage group on board was demonstrated by the sinking of the battleship Novorossiysk in the bay of Sevastopol on October 29, 1959. On August 22, 2013, veteran of the Italian naval special forces Ugo D'Esposito officially admitted that he participated in the operation to blow up the ship. A group of combat swimmers on the miniature submarine SX-756 Piccolo was delivered to Black Sea coast in the hold of a cargo ship. Through a hatch in the bottom, the submarine went out to sea and proceeded to Omega Bay, unloaded equipment onto its bottom and returned to the open sea.
Having waited for the signal, the Piccolo returned to the bay, from where the combat swimmers with hydrotugs and explosives moved to the Novorossiysk mooring barrel.

- Visibility was terrible, we worked almost by touch (the thickness of the bottom silt in Sevastopol Bay is 20 meters. - RG). We returned to base several times for explosives in a magnetic shell. When the sun set, the work was finished. In their haste, they forgot at the bottom a bag with tools and a spare propeller from the hydrotug. We returned to Omega and boarded the boat. We went to the meeting point, two days later the ship arrived. We dived under the bottom, slammed the hatch, and pumped out the water. Three long-awaited knocks on the bulkhead announced that the operation was completed, said another member of the group, Nicolo Paturra.

In one of the most scandalous stories of this year - with a mysterious submarine allegedly discovered off the coast of Sweden - Western media persistently searched for a “Russian trace”. In this regard, we remembered the miniature submarines of Project 865 "Piranha" - 35 years have passed since their construction, but the fear of ultra-small and ultra-stealthy submarines remains.

Secret weapon of the USSR

The submarine's hull was made of titanium alloy, which reduced its weight by 40 percent, and was designed to dive up to 200 meters. Underwater speed reached 6.7 knots, surface speed - 6 knots. With an economical speed of 4 knots, the Piranha could sail 260 miles underwater, and 1000 on the surface. The submarine's controls were automated, and the crew consisted of three officers: a commander-navigator, an assistant for radio-electronic equipment, and an assistant for electromechanical parts. In addition, the submarine could take six combat swimmers - they were its main weapon.

Ahead, the ship's central post ended with a spherical bulkhead that had an entrance to the airlock chamber. There was a porthole that made it possible to monitor the work of the divers, control devices for the airlock system, and a small airlock for transferring objects to the central post. Behind the Piranha's wheelhouse there were two 12-meter containers with divers' vehicles: two Sirena transporters or four Proton-type tugboats. On the external sling, the Piranha could carry two devices for installing PMT anti-submarine mine torpedoes with nuclear warheads, or launching arrays for 400-mm Latouche electric torpedoes.

Invisible and unheard

The non-magnetic body, low-noise mechanisms mounted on shock absorbers and perfect acoustic protection provided the Piranha with unsurpassed stealth characteristics. During exercises in the Baltic Sea, a destroyer and a large anti-submarine ship, focused on searching for MS-521, were unable to detect it. When the submarine was given the command to surface, it rose in two cables (360 meters). At such a distance, the Piranha could either release saboteurs from an underwater position to attach mines to the bottoms, or shoot the ships point-blank - no means of defense could help.

In the confusion of the 90s, the Piranhas fell victim to momentary greed - because of their literally precious hulls, they were cut into scrap metal. Before that, MS-520 managed to star in “Peculiarities of National Fishing.” However, the Malachite Design Bureau continued work on improving mini-submarines and now offers a whole family of ultra-small class submarines. "Piranha-2", say, has a submerged speed of 12 knots, a cruising range of 1200 miles and can be equipped with an anaerobic power plant. Such an engine does not need air and the boat does not need to surface to replenish its reserves. "Piranha-T" is capable of sailing 2,000 miles and spending 20 days away from the base, carrying two missiles, eight torpedoes and four mines on board.

How divers sank a battleship
The effectiveness of miniature submarines with a sabotage group on board was demonstrated by the sinking of the battleship Novorossiysk in the bay of Sevastopol on October 29, 1959. On August 22, 2013, veteran of the Italian naval special forces Ugo D'Esposito officially admitted that he participated in the operation to blow up the ship. A group of combat swimmers on the miniature submarine SX-756 "Piccolo" was delivered to the Black Sea coast in the hold of a cargo ship. Through a hatch in the bottom, the submarine went out to sea and proceeded to Omega Bay, unloaded equipment onto its bottom and returned to the open sea.

The effectiveness of miniature submarines with a sabotage group on board was demonstrated by the sinking of the battleship Novorossiysk in the bay of Sevastopol on October 29, 1959. On August 22, 2013, veteran of the Italian naval special forces Ugo D'Esposito officially admitted that he participated in the operation to blow up the ship. A group of combat swimmers on the miniature submarine SX-756 "Piccolo" was delivered to the Black Sea coast in the hold of a cargo ship. Through a hatch in the bottom, the submarine went out to sea and proceeded to Omega Bay, unloaded equipment onto its bottom and returned to the open sea.

Having waited for the signal, the Piccolo returned to the bay, from where the combat swimmers with hydrotugs and explosives moved to the Novorossiysk mooring barrel.

Visibility was terrible, they worked almost by touch (the thickness of the bottom silt in the Sevastopol Bay is 20 meters. - RG). We returned to base several times for explosives in a magnetic shell. When the sun set, the work was finished. In their haste, they forgot at the bottom a bag with tools and a spare propeller from the hydrotug. We returned to Omega and boarded the boat. We went to the meeting point, two days later the ship arrived. We dived under the bottom, slammed the hatch, and pumped out the water. Three long-awaited knocks on the bulkhead announced that the operation was completed, said another member of the group, Nicolo Paturra.

Since the Second World War, the ultra-small submarine, or SMPL, has been considered to be a technique for special tasks that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary, “large” submarines: only it can secretly penetrate closed ports and water areas to carry out unexpected sabotage.

In fact, SMPL appeared long before the middle of the twentieth century. By and large, all the first submarines were ultra-small - based on their displacement and main dimensions. For example, the British submarine Holland I, launched in 1901, had a submerged displacement of only 122 tons (today the standard for SMPL is considered to be a displacement of 150 tons), and its armament included only one torpedo tube. What can we say about earlier episodes, such as the unrealized submarine projects of Leonardo da Vinci and the French monk Maren Mersen, or the one built “in wood” in early XVII century “hidden vessel” designed by Efim Nikonov, a carpenter originally from Pokrovsky near Moscow. But these were, rather, “tests of the pen” in the field of submarine shipbuilding, or, in modern military parlance, development of the concept of underwater warfare.

The first real prototype modern SMPL, both in displacement and main dimensions, and in tactics, the very “spirit” of its combat use, can be considered the American single-seat submarine “Turtle” (“Turtle”), built in 1775 according to the design of David Bushnell and used during the war for independence from the mother country of the British colony in North America. It was an egg-shaped structure made of wood and fastened with metal hoops, equipped with a mini-wheelhouse with an entrance hatch and portholes, and also had means of propulsion, a drill and a mine. The submarine had a displacement of 2 tons, a hull length of 2.3 meters and a width of 1.8 meters, and its air endurance was 30 minutes. The Turtle moved along its course and depth using primitive muscle-driven propellers; it also had an imperfect depth gauge and compass. The mine (a shell with 68 kilograms of gunpowder) was attached from the outside and, using a line, was connected to a drill, which had to be screwed, like a corkscrew, into the wooden hull of the enemy ship. After this, the submariner-saboteur could only hand over the mine fasteners and run away at full speed - the clock mechanism of the charge should have worked after half an hour.

Much later, sea and then large ocean steel sharks entered the arena of the struggle for supremacy at sea. But it became clear that for sabotage activities, for example, we need not so much giants as small and ultra-small submarines. And to support the actions of naval special forces, they began to create individual and group underwater carriers (transporters), as well as human-controlled torpedoes, erroneously classified as SMPL.

The first serial "dwarfs"

The golden era of ultra-small submarines was the 30-40s of the 20th century. The Japanese were the first to put the “dwarf” submarine into mass production. The SMPL project, then known as “Type A”, was developed under the leadership of Captain 1st Rank Kishimoto Kaneji and was ready as a first approximation already in 1932, and the next year the first prototype was launched at the naval shipyard in the Kure area a submarine, which, however, had neither a cabin nor weapons and was used to confirm the correctness of the concept itself.

The SMPL was single-hulled, with contours subordinated to virtually the only goal - the development of maximum underwater speed. The body was made welded - from 8 mm steel sheets for impermeable sections and 2.6 mm sheets in other cases. The intercompartment bulkheads were 1.2 millimeters thick and were not watertight. Safe diving depth is 100 meters. Construction was carried out using a sectional method, which significantly speeded up the process. Moreover, the serial “super-babies” had by no means “dwarf” weapons - two 457-mm Type 97 oxygen torpedoes. During testing of the prototype, an underwater speed of 24.85 knots was achieved - an absolute record for “super-babies”.

The Japanese “super-babies” were built in conditions of such great secrecy that before the empire entered the war, the vast majority of military leaders believed that the cigar-shaped devices were nothing more than self-propelled targets for training submarine crews in torpedo firing. It even got to the point of funny things. One of the symbols of the SMPL (“target for practicing anti-submarine bombing”) interested the Air Force so much that the sailors had great difficulty in fighting off the persistent requests of the pilots for “new means of combat training.”

The first series, “Type A,” had an underwater displacement of 46 tons, developed a surface speed of up to 24 knots and had very little autonomy, while the modernized “Type B” with a displacement of 50 tons developed an underwater speed of up to 18.5 knots and had an autonomy of 1 –2 days and was already equipped with a 40-horsepower diesel engine. Only one such SMPL was built, but then the fleet received another 15 improved type submarines (“Type C”), which took part in the defense of bases in the Philippines, eight of them died there.

This was followed by more numerous SMPLs of the Koryu type (Type D, Scaly Dragon), built in the amount of 115 units - at the last stage of the war, their torpedo tubes were replaced with a demolition charge for ramming attacks, as well as Kairyu (" Type S", "Sea Dragon") with a car engine and either two 450-mm torpedoes, or in most cases a powerful 600-kg charge, detonated by a ramming strike. By the end of the war, the Japanese managed to build only 215 of these submarines.

Neither the Koryu nor the Kairyu had much influence on the course of the war at sea and only impressed the Americans who captured them with their unusual appearance and numbers. SMPL "Type A" took an unsuccessful part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the only surviving submariner of the 10 members of their crew became the first Japanese prisoner of war in World War II. Failure befell the Japanese SMPL and when they tried to attack the port of Sydney on May 31, 1942, all three mini-submarines were lost, which were able to sink only one small ship. But in the harbor of Diego Suarez in Madagascar, Lieutenant Akeida Saburo and non-commissioned officer Takemoto Massami sank the tanker British Loyalty in their mini-submarine and seriously damaged the battleship Ramillies. Interestingly, one of the “super-babies” attacked the American cruiser Boyce in the Mindanao Sea, which was then carrying the famous General Douglas MacArthur. The ship performed an evasive maneuver in time, and both torpedoes missed, but the submarine died under the bow of the destroyer Taylor.

"Black Prince" comes into play

The Italians began building mini-submarines several years later than their Axis colleagues: the first SMPLs, SA class, were transferred to the fleet only in April 1938, but Italy achieved much more impressive results with their help.

During 1938-1943, Italian sailors received four SMPLs of the SA class and 22 of the SV class. The first were built in two series: SA.1 and SA.2 had an underwater displacement of 16.1 tons, a length of 10 meters, a width of 1.96 meters, a crew of two people and were armed with two 450-mm torpedoes. SA.3 and SA.4, with a submerged displacement of 13.8 tons, had a length of 10.47 meters and a width of 1.9 meters, had a crew of three and carried eight demolition charges of 100 kilograms each. Moreover, if the first pair had a 60-horsepower diesel engine and a 25-horsepower electric motor and were intended for operations in coastal waters, then the second pair, equipped only with an electric motor, was planned to be used on board carrier submarines, which were supposed to deliver the “babies” to the target area, and only then they would penetrate the port or base and place demolition charges (for this, a specially trained combat swimmer was introduced into the crew).

The SA class was so secret that at first the submarines were not even officially included in the Navy's operational composition. These were real “flying Dutchmen”, one of which was preparing to attack New York Harbor at the end of 1943, where it was supposed to be delivered on board the submarine Leonardo da Vinci, on which the 100-mm gun was dismantled. The author of this plan was the legendary submariner, Junio Valerio Borghese, the Black Prince, who on May 1, 1943 became commander of the Decima MAS - the 10th MAS flotilla, engaged in special operations.

However, in May 1943, the Allies sank the Leonardo da Vinci submarine, which was assigned to the role of “mother”. The only captain who was being trained for this operation died along with the Leonardo. Other Italian SMPLs, class SV, were already full-fledged submarines with an underwater displacement of 44.3 tons, hull length - 14.99 meters, width - three meters, crew - four people, armament - two 450-mm torpedoes in outboard tubes. The power plant is a single-shaft diesel-electric unit consisting of an 80-horsepower Isotta Fraschini diesel engine and a 50-horsepower Brown-Boveri electric motor, which allowed the mini-submarine to develop an underwater speed of up to 7 knots. Six such submarines were delivered to Constanta in May 1942, from where they moved by sea under their own power to the Crimea: the port of Yalta was chosen as their base. All of them were placed in the inner bucket of the port and carefully camouflaged, which did not prevent two Soviet torpedo boats from making a daring raid on the Yalta port on June 13 and, as a result of a torpedo salvo, sending the SV-5 mini-submarine along with its commander to the bottom.

However, the five SMPLs remaining in Crimea played an important role in disrupting Soviet communications. Black Sea Fleet and reliably sank the submarine Shch-203 “Kambala” on the night of August 26, 1943 in the area of Cape Uret. The entire crew of 46 people died. In 1950, this submarine was raised. The killer of the Soviet submarine was the Italian SMPL SV-4. Another “super-baby” SV-3 sank another Soviet submarine S-32. On October 9, 1942, the 4th flotilla of the Italian Navy, which included all SMPLs and combat boats on the Black Sea, received an order to relocate to the Caspian Sea (!), but the move never took place, since the Nazis soon suffered a crushing defeat under Stalingrad.

British "dwarfs"

Unlike its opponents, London “shrugged off” for quite a long time the idea of building ultra-small submarines and group underwater carriers. Thus, shortly before the First World War, Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, and First Sea Lord Louis Battenberg rejected several projects for man-guided torpedoes as “too dangerous a weapon for the driver and as a weapon of the weaker side.” Admirals and politicians continued to rely on the power of their dreadnoughts. And only in 1940, thanks to the active support of Vice Admiral Sir Max Horton, who had just been appointed commander of the submarine forces of the British Navy and the author of several “super-baby” projects (proposed by him back in 1924), work on mini-submarines got off the ground. The first prototype, X-3, was ready for testing in March 1942, followed by a second prototype, and then a series of 12 improved SMPLs (subtypes X-5 and X-5) were built at the Vickers shipyard. 20"), who took an active part in the war.

"Seal" - servant of three masters

Surprisingly, Germany became the last of the main countries participating in World War II to become interested in mini-submarines. By and large, only after the British SMPL blew up the battleship Tirpitz did the conservative admirals finally think about it. Lieutenant Commander Heinz Schomburg was sent to Italy to the Black Prince Borghese to study best practices. And in the Kriegsmarine they quickly began to create special forces units, and at the beginning of 1944, on the Baltic Sea coast, near Heiligenhafen, the combat core of formation “K” (small combat formation) was already ready, the commander of which was appointed Vice Admiral Helmut Haye. This formation included the divisions of mini-submarines "Molch" ("Salamander"), "Bieber" ("Beaver"), "Hecht" ("Pike") and, finally, "Seehund" ("Seal") - perhaps , the best mini-submarine of World War II.

The Seehund was already a full-fledged submarine, the hull contours were in many ways reminiscent of large Kriegsmarine submarines, with two hulls, in the space between which ballast and fuel tanks were placed. The Seehund's armament included two 533-mm electric torpedoes of type TIIIc/G7e (warhead mass - 280 kilograms), located in yoke tubes. This was a modification of the TIII/G7e, specially adapted for mini-submarines, lightweight by 256 kilograms. The torpedoes were suspended on guides attached to the hull of the submarine.

In total, the Germans managed to build about 250 such submarines before the end of the war. In total, the mini-submarines of the “seal” flotilla alone made 142 trips to sea during the war. The death of 33 submarines “paid” for nine Allied ships with a total tonnage of 18,451 tons. Four more ships and vessels with a total tonnage of 18,354 tons were also damaged to varying degrees of severity. Their service did not end with the defeat of Germany; after the war, four Seehunds were included in a separate unit of the French Navy. From 1946 to 1956, they completed 858 combat and training cruises, during which they covered 14,050 miles. In 1953, the US Navy command even asked the French to “borrow” two Seehund-class SMPLs for a year. They were supposed to be used as part of an extensive program to study the degree of effectiveness of the then-existing security system for seaports, naval bases and bases in the United States.

Brothers "newts" and the predatory "piranha"

In the Soviet Union, work on ultra-small submarines began back in the 20s of the last century. The ideologist was the head of the Special Technical Bureau for Special Purpose Military Inventions, Vladimir Bekauri. Already in 1936, an “Autonomous Underwater Special Vessel” was built and successfully tested with a surface displacement of 7.2 tons, with a crew of one person and armed with one torpedo. Moreover, this mini-submarine could also be controlled by radio - from a ship or aircraft, in this case the boat carried a 500-kg explosive charge and was used as an underwater fire-ship.

In the same year, testing of the autonomous submarine Pygmy with a surface displacement of 19 tons, armed with two 450-mm torpedo tubes, began in the Black Sea. After their successful completion in 1937, it was planned to build 10 of these “super-babies”, but that year turned out to be fatal: both for the submarine (it remained in a single copy and went to the Germans at the beginning of the war), and for Vladimir Bekauri (according to a fabricated denunciation, he was arrested and shot).

During the war, three SMPL projects proposed by TsKB-18 (projects 606, 606bis and 610) were rejected by the People's Commissar of the Navy Nikolai Kuznetsov: he believed that all efforts should be concentrated on the construction of conventional submarines, and after the victory the already small Navy special forces were disbanded as “unnecessary”. Accordingly, “super-tiny” ones were not needed, because the party and the government set the task of creating an ocean-going nuclear missile fleet.

Only in the early 1950s did the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the command of the USSR Navy begin to recreate special forces detachments of naval reconnaissance. However, it turned out that recruiting capable fighters and preparing them accordingly was only half the battle. The personnel of special forces groups must also be properly armed. The Navy tried to solve this problem on its own and in an almost artisanal way. Everything fell into place only in 1966, when all work on the Triton-2 SMPL project was transferred to the Volna Central Production Bureau, and construction was entrusted to the Leningrad Novo-Admiralteysky Plant. In 1967, a prototype of a six-seat SMPL was refined and tested and the design of a new device, Triton-1M, for two people, began.

In total, 32 ultra-small submarines - transporters of light divers of the Triton-1M type, as well as 11 mini-submarines Triton-2 were built in Leningrad. Their unique feature was the design of the so-called wet type - the submarine does not have a durable hull and the “passengers” are in the SMPL cabin, which is completely filled with water. Small, durable, impenetrable compartments on SMPL are intended only for instruments, batteries and electric motors. Moreover, in the SMPL “Triton-2”, during transportation, the special forces used not their own devices for breathing, but a stationary breathing system. But the most famous example of domestic “super-babies” was the Piranha-type SMPL, which even managed to become a movie star: its “output” in the film “Peculiarities of National Fishing” will not leave any of the viewers indifferent. This mini-submarine was already capable of carrying not only soldiers with weapons and equipment, but also torpedoes and mines, and could independently attack surface ships and vessels in the coastal zone. The “super baby”, 28.2 meters long and 4.7 meters wide, had a displacement of about 200 tons, could dive to a depth of 200 meters and develop a speed of up to 6.7 knots under water. Autonomy in terms of fuel and provisions - 10 days, crew - three people and six light divers, weapons - two outboard devices for laying mines or launching 400-mm torpedoes. Those who learned about these submarines after the fall iron curtain Foreign experts agreed that the USSR was at least 10–15 years ahead of the West in this direction. Unfortunately, both mini-submarines were withdrawn from service in 1999. combat personnel Navy and after unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer abroad, they were scrapped.

American way

After World War II American Office Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA, conducted intensive tests of several German Seehund-type SMPLs that the Americans received as trophies. Washington was particularly concerned about what was done in May 1948 by the American military intelligence a report claiming that the USSR had captured 18 completed Seehunds and another 38 in various stages of readiness. Pentagon analysts feared that soviet fleet can use them for reconnaissance (or even sabotage) against American naval bases and strategically important ports. As a result, the US Navy issued design organizations with the task of designing the experimental SMPL "X-1", which was laid down on June 8, 1954, launched on September 7, 1955, and from October 7, under the command of Lieutenant K. Hanlon, became a full-fledged combat unit of the submarine forces US Navy.

"X-1" had an underwater displacement of 36.3 tons, a length of 15.09 meters, a width of 2.13 meters and a crew of 10 people. Initially, it received a combined power plant consisting of a diesel engine and an air-independent power plant running on hydrogen peroxide, but after a serious accident occurred on the submarine on May 20, 1957, caused by an explosion of hydrogen peroxide reserves, it was decided to replace the power plant with a traditional diesel-electric one. . It is currently housed at the US Submarine Museum in Groton.

Illustrations by Maxim Popovsky, Eldar Zakirov, Mikhail Dmitriev

On November 2, 1947, a captured mini-submarine of the Seehund type, adapted to the needs of the USSR Navy, was launched. According to researchers, the Soviet Union acquired six unfinished German submarines with documentation. However, in addition to captured mini-submarines, the USSR also had its own unique developments.

Elusive "Seals"

For camouflage, the Germans painted the Seehunds mostly white or gray, since most of the submarine's work was carried out in northern waters, where blocks of ice were common. When the sea is rough, the “lambs” are also white.

The captured Seehunds, brought to perfection, were transferred for trial operation to the underwater diving detachment stationed in Kronstadt. For our sailors, mini-submarines were a novelty. And the special forces showed the greatest interest in the submarine.

Main characteristics of the Seehund-class submarine

Speed (surface) 7.7 knots
Speed (underwater) 6 knots
Working immersion depth 30 m
Maximum immersion depth 50 m
Crew 2 people
Underwater displacement 14.9 tons
Maximum length 11.86 m
Maximum body width 1.68 m
Average draft 1.28 m
Power plant – diesel-electric 25 hp.
Torpedo and mine armament 2 × G7e torpedoes

Our first and only "Pygmy"

Work on the project began in 1936. The Special Technical Bureau for Military Inventions for Special Purposes (Ostekhbyuro) designed the autonomous submarine Pygmy.
A prototype was made. In 1937, several boats were laid down in Leningrad, but all of them were not completed.

The boat was tested on the Black Sea from October 1936, under the code name “Ostekhbyuro Submarine”, and was commanded by Senior Lieutenant B.A. Uspensky.

Shot in a “case” fabricated by an employee of the special department of the NKVD at the Ostekhburo, a certain A.P. Grunsky, who decided. that Bekauri and his employees “carried out... sabotage activities by deliberately incorrectly designing new types of... submarines intended for armament of the RKKF, as a result of which the designed... submarines turned out to be unsuitable for arming the RKKF.” Why am I citing the name of this Grunsky? You need to know these people, these are the Grunskys who shouted “Crucify him!” 2000 years ago, then shot the designers for technical shortcomings (thus causing real harm to our country), and now they are fighting homophobes and putting the Budanovs and Kvachkovs in prison.

The Ostekhbyuro was dissolved.

By the way, the photos presented in this article were taken not in the USSR, but by Italians and were found in Italian archives.

Characteristics of the nuclear submarine "Pygmy":

Length 16 m
Width 2.6 m
Displacement 18.6 tons
Speed 6 knots
Range: 290 miles
Immersion depth 30 m
Crew: 4 people
Armament – torpedo tubes
Machine gun – 7.62 mm

"Tritons" - reconnaissance diver boats

Ultra-small submarines of Project 908 "Triton-2" were in service with the fleet from 1975 to the 1990s. "Tritons" patrolled port waters, delivered and evacuated reconnaissance divers. A total of 13 submarines of this project were built.

Prototype (Triton-1)

The body of the Triton is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy and is designed for a diving depth of 40 meters. The bow cabin housed two crew members. In the aft cabin there were places for reconnaissance divers.

Main characteristics of the submarine "Triton"

Developer of the project TsPB "Volna"
Speed (underwater) 5 knots
Working immersion depth 40 m
Sailing autonomy 60 miles
Crew 2 + 4 divers
Surface displacement 5.7 tons
Underwater displacement 15.5 tons
Maximum length 9.5 m
Hull width 1.9 m
Power plant – electric motor, 11 liters. With.

1 - electric motor compartment
2 - aft cabin for light divers
3 - battery pit
4 - instrument compartment
5 - bow cabin
6 - control panel
7 - permeable nasal tip

A total of 13 Triton-2 submarines were produced. They were in service with the Russian and Ukrainian navies. 32 units of two-seater Triton-1M submarines were created.
Most of them were scrapped in the 1980s

Project 865 Piranha submarines

Small submarines of Project 865 "Piranha"- project of submarines of the Navy of the USSR and the Russian Federation. The type was in service with the fleet from 1990 to 1999. A total of 2 submarines of this project were built: MS-520 and MS-521. Further construction of similar boats in the USSR was suspended. As a result, the series was limited to the experimental MS-520 and the lead MS-521, delivered to the fleet in December 1990.

The crew of the submarines of the Piranha project consisted of three officers: a commander-navigator, an electromechanical assistant and an electronic weapons assistant. In addition to them, a reconnaissance and sabotage group of six combat swimmers was taken on board. The combat swimmers exited at depths of up to 60 meters and on the ground. While outside the boat, combat swimmers/divers had the opportunity to use the electricity supplied from it through the wires, as well as replenish the gas mixture in their breathing devices. During the operation of the submarine project, two replacement crews were formed for each boat. There was also a technical crew intended to service both boats.

Main characteristics:

Speed (surface) 6 knots
Speed (underwater) 6.7 knots
Working depth 180
Maximum immersion depth 200
Sailing autonomy 10 days
Crew 3 + 6 divers
Dimensions:

Surface displacement 218 t
Underwater displacement 319 t
Maximum length (according to the vertical line) 28.3 m
Body width max. 4.7 m
Height 5.1 m
Average draft (according to waterline) 3.9 (average)

Powerplant: diesel + electric motor, 220 hp. With.
Armament: Torpedo and mine armament 2 400 mm torpedoes, 4 PMT mines

One of the submarines of the project took part in the filming of the Russian feature film “Peculiarities of National Fishing.”

Underwater tug "Sirena"

Technical characteristics of the submarine "Sirena"

Displacement 1644 kg
Length (with container) 11300 mm
Diameter 532 mm
Immersion depth 40 m
Duration of stay under water – 3 hours
Maximum cruising range 8 miles
Maximum speed 4 knots
Crew – two people
Electric motor, battery powered
Engine power, 3.1 l. With.

Biber-class submarines

In the fourth compartment there was an electric motor, in the fifth there was a stern ballast tank.

Speed (surface) 6.5 knots
Speed (underwater) 5.3 knots
Maximum immersion depth 20 m
Sailing autonomy
Surface - 130 miles at 6 knots
Submerged - 8.6 miles at 5 knots
Crew 1 person
Dimensions
Surface displacement 6.5 t
Maximum length (according to the vertical line) 9.04 m
Body width max. 1.57 m
Average draft (according to waterline) 1.37 m

X-1 midget submarine

The command of the US Navy in the second half of the twentieth century relied on the development of a nuclear submarine fleet, and considered the direction of creating ultra-small submarines to be unpromising - only a limited number of group underwater carriers of the SDV type entered service with the naval special forces, and the X-1 ultra-small submarine and remained in a single copy and was quickly written off.

TTX:
surface displacement - 31.5 tons;
underwater displacement - 36.3 tons;
maximum payload weight - 2 tons;
dimensions - length 49 feet 6 inches (about 15.09 meters),
width 7 feet (about 2.13 meters),
draft amidships 6 feet 2 inches (about 1.89 meters),
maximum navigation draft 7 feet (about 2.13 meters);
regular crew - five people led by a commander - an officer, plus which, according to data published in the foreign press, a special group of four or five people was stationed on the mini-submarine - combat swimmers or divers (although, it must be said, even during testing The X-1 crew, increased to six people, could barely fit on the submarine anyway, so where 10 people could be accommodated there, that is, the full crew and special group cited in foreign sources, and even with weapons and equipment, is not entirely clear and raises certain doubts ).

There were no weapons on the submarine, with the exception of personal weapons and combat equipment of the special group.

As a result, it became traditional - diesel-electric. Moreover, later one of the officers who took part in the X-1 testing program noted that “the most important conclusion drawn as a result of this experimental program was that a concentration of a large amount of unstable hydrogen peroxide should not be allowed on a warship under any circumstances.” ".

The X-1 SMPL was finally decommissioned by decision of the command of the United States Navy on February 16, 1973, and on April 26 of the same year it was transferred to the balance of the Naval Ship Research and Development Center in Annapolis (Naval Ship Research and Development Center). The following year, on July 9, it was allowed to include this mini-submarine in the exhibition organized at the fleet base in North Severn, near Annapolis, as an exhibit of a historical nature.

Ultimately, the X-1 found its final resting place in the open display of the Submarine Force Library and Museum, the main exhibit of which is the world's first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, which is why the museum is sometimes referred to as Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Library and Museum). The midget submarine was transferred to the museum in April 2001, and has been on open display there ever since. This museum is located in the area of the American naval base Groton (Groton, Connecticut) in the town of North Severn; in its open exhibition there are several more midget submarines and group underwater carriers.

Moray TV-1A

This is an advanced underwater prototype, an experimental prototype for testing a high-speed, deep-sea, highly maneuverable manned underwater fighter, designed to search for, pursue and destroy enemy nuclear submarines.

A military swimmer disconnects the crane lines of a barge before Moray's sea trials begin.

Moray developed 45 knots under water, and was supposed to have on board underwater cumulative missiles (also developed at the China Lake research base) to destroy enemy submarines. It was planned to install a battery of eight such missiles on board. The crew could observe the results of the attack using a television camera installed outside the hull. Highly efficient active sonar was used to search for the target. At the same time, although Moray was built according to a rocket and aircraft design, instead of redundant systems, all elements of particularly high reliability were used.

In 1961, the device was converted to use compressed oxygen, and the cylinders were placed behind the command compartment, and the fuel in front. At the same time, the power reserve at maximum speed became only 1 hour, at a speed of 15 knots 10 hours, and the minimum speed of the device could be 3 knots.

Submarine "Velman"

SMPL "Velman" is designed to be controlled by a crew of one person.
Developed in mid-1942 by Colonel of the Engineering Troops with a “speaking” surname, John Dolphin.
Research, development and production of three prototypes were carried out at the 9th Base of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the requisitioned Fries Hotel, which for a long time became the main site for the development and production of special-purpose weapons of the time.

The boat was named after the village of Welwyn Garden City - Welman (Welwyn One-Man Submarine).
In early 1943, tests were carried out at San Albans, at the Admiralty Experimental Dock in Khalsar and the Laleham Reservoir near Windsor.

The lack of a periscope was considered a major design error.

Wellman with detachable warhead being tested at Queen Mary Reservoir in Staines

Royal Navy Lieutenant Jimmy Holmes peers over the low side of Wellman's conning tower

Foca I (SA-41) and Foca II (SA-42) in Cartagena (Foca - means Seal)

developed early 1957

underwent service in 1962

Only two boats, SA 41 & SA 42.

Displacement 16/20 t (on the surface/in depth),

Team of 3 people,

Armament - 2 torpedoes 533mm

Decommissioned in 1971

Japanese SMPL Koryu (Sea Dragon) Type D

Due to the insufficient range of the A-type boats, already during the Second World War, new ultra-small submarines of the Otsugawa and Koryu types were created in Japan. The design of new submarines began in the fall of 1942, and in January (according to other sources - in February) 1943, the first Na-45 type "B" boat was launched at the Urazaki shipyard. A 25 kW diesel generator was installed on it, which made it possible to fully charge the batteries in less than 18 hours. This significantly increased the mobility of boats when guarding small islands that did not have charging stations. The crew was increased to three people.

After minor design changes based on test results, these ships began to be called "B/C" type boats. Total in 1942-1944. 16 of them were built: one type “B” and 15 improved types “V/S” - Na-62 - Na-76.

Based on the results of tests of the B-type submarine, a decision was made to build ultra-small D-type submarines (Koryu). Their design began in December 1943, laying in June 1944, and in January 1945 the first boat "D" was launched. According to American data, a total of 115 or 116 boats of this type were built, with about 495 more units being completed.

At the same time as the D-type "Koryu" boats, submarines of three times smaller displacement were built in Japan. Preparations to repel the landing of American troops on the Japanese islands in conditions of complete enemy dominance at sea and in the air required the creation of mass-produced simple submarines, which became the ultra-small boat "Kairyu" ("improved type D"), designed by engineer Goro Sato. In appearance they resembled a torpedo with a small conning tower and side stabilizers.

When using the Kairyu against transports and landing craft, the speed of 10 knots with torpedoes seemed quite sufficient, but to attack ships of the main classes, when explosives were placed in the bow compartment, the submarine itself turned into a torpedo. In total, about 250 Kairyu were built by the end of the war out of a planned 760, with another two hundred under construction. A boat of this type became a transition from the dwarf submarine to the Kaiten man-torpedo.

The Japanese considered human torpedoes to be highly effective weapons and made significant efforts to create them. Already by the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, several torpedoes had been tested near the naval base on Kure Island, known as “Base II”. However, the experiments dragged on. 16 people died during the tests.

Midget submarine "Molch"

The experimental submarine entered testing on March 19, 1944 and literally stunned representatives of the German Navy because it seemed to them a “raw and unfinished project.” And the very first attempt to move the submarine into an underwater position confirmed these assumptions - the submarine did not want to dive, its bow tip did not even move. The first normal, working, SMPL of a new type appeared only on June 12, 1944 - it was shown in the North German city of Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, on the shore of the Eckernförde Bay of the Baltic Sea - 25 kilometers northwest of Kiel.

ULTRA SMALL SUBMARINE "HECHT"

The German SMPL, whose displacement according to the project was supposed to be 7 tons, was intended, unlike the British type “X”, for combat use only in a submerged position, and therefore did not have a combined propulsion system (diesel-electric), but only a fully electric one. water (battery-electric motor).
The scuba diving range was 69 miles (at a speed of 4 knots), although initially they expected a slightly larger figure - no less than 90 miles. Due to the relatively small radius of action, the pikes had to be delivered to the area of operation on surface ships or vessels.

A distinctive feature of the first version of the “Hecht” was the absence of any horizontal rudders or similar devices - a consequence of the need to overcome boom-net barriers, anti-torpedo nets, etc. The SMPL was controlled in depth by the axis using a special scale system installed inside the hull - a further development of the idea retired artillery officer-engineer Wilhelm Bauer, which he implemented in the project of the submarine “Brandtaucher” (translated from German as “Diver”).

Italian midget submarine Delfino

Chief designer - Giacinto Pullino. This boat was laid down and launched at the state-owned Regio Arsenale naval shipyard in La Spezia in 1895. She entered the fleet on April 1, 1895.

Italian SMPL Caproni CB in Sevastopol, 1942:

SEAL Delivery Team (SDV) 2:

transported on the deck of a nuclear submarine

and at work

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