Giant sub turns thirty
The first of the Typhoon class submarines, and the only that still remain in service, turns 30-years this week.
She sailed out from the naval yard in Severodvinsk the last week of September 1980 as the largest nuclear powered submarine the world has ever seen. The 170 meter long missile submarine scared her observers. She could carry 20 intercontinental missiles with a total of 200 nuclear warheads.
The first of the class, the TK-208 is today named “Dmitri Donskoy.” After serving for the Northern fleet in the last decade of the Cold War, the vessel is again back in Severodvinsk, now serving as the test-platform for Russia’s new up-coming ballistic missiles, the Bulava.
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Three of “Dmitri Donskoy’s” sister vessels are scrapped, while two others, the “Severstal” and “Arkhangelsk”, are placed in reserve.
All test-launches of the Bulava missile have taken place from onboard “Dmitri Donskoy.” So far, only five of a total of 12 previous tests have been successful. The latest (failed) launch was conducted from the Barents Sea in December 2009.
Last week BarentsObserver reported that another test-launch soon will take place. Not everyone celebrate their 30-years birthday by launching a “rocket” that can (if it works) fly half the way around the planet.
Turning thirty this week, “Dmitri Donskoy” is also the oldest of the nuclear powered submarines in the Russian Northern fleet that still are in operation. The submarine has two nuclear reactors onboard.
