Submarine "Zaporozhye" of the Naval Forces of Ukraine: description, history, prospects

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Submarine "Zaporozhye" - a fragment of the era, an artifact of the collapsed USSR. She went to Ukraine and was supposed to be the forerunner of the fleet armada, but, like many things in Ukrainian statehood, protocols remained from words, and amateurs were engaged in the restoration of the submarine. So good intentions turn into a shameful fact that adds negativity to the country's piggy bank.

Creation

The submarine "Zaporozhye" was laid down at the Admir alty Shipyards in Leningrad on March 24, 1970, launched from the stocks on May 29 and put to sea on November 6 of the same year. A few months later, on January 20, 1971, it was assigned to the Naval Northern Fleet of the USSR. As part of the Union Navy, it was listed under the code name B-435. In the NATO classification, this type of submarine is given the name "Foxtrot". The submarine was designed for long ocean crossings - this was the first type of submarine intended for export sales. The last copy was launched in 1983. Most underwater batteriesboats have already been decommissioned and disposed of or are museum pieces.

The project 641 Zaporozhye submarine has spent 20 busy years in service with the Russian Navy. During this period, 14 long-distance crossings were made, among the ports are Tunisia, Syria, Cuba, Morocco. The team carried out the main service in the waters of the Barents and Mediterranean Seas, plowed the Atlantic Ocean. The total distance covered by the submarine is 13,000 nautical miles.

She entered the Black Sea Fleet on August 27, 1990, for which she was transferred to her new destination by inland waterways. The base of accommodation was the South Bay of Sevastopol. After the collapse of the USSR and the division of the Black Sea Fleet between Russia and Ukraine, the B-435 submarine went to the Ukrainian side, where it received tail number U01 and a new name - Zaporozhye.

Repair of the USSR period

The first major overhaul of the submarine "Zaporozhye" took place after the Atlantic campaign in 1972. Current repairs were carried out on board from 1979 to 1981 in Kronstadt. After being transferred to the Black Sea Fleet, repairs were carried out in Sevastopol (Kilenbukhta). Due to the lack of funding for the purchase of batteries, she was laid up.

Life of a submarine in Ukrainian realities

The fate of the submarine "Zaporozhye" is a military melodrama where laughter and tears are mixed, while militancy is only in the name of the history genre. Since the boatdubbed the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy and considered the rudiment of great underwater weapons, they created the appropriate entourage in the form of a division. It consisted of:

• Chief of Staff - Captain 1st Rank.

• Deputy Captain for Educational Work.

• Profile specialists (doctor, miner, navigator, etc.). • Assistants to the beginning. headquarters with the rank of captains of the 2nd rank.

The division had a command post with appropriate personnel, consisting of high-ranking military sailors. Everyone had to serve only at one existing facility, which was the Zaporozhye submarine. At the same time, replenishment of the fleet was not expected - there were no professionals capable of building warships, the allocated funding was immediately lost in the pockets of officials.

Tired of the growing appetites of the mythical division, the leadership of the Naval Forces of Ukraine decided to abolish it, and the submarine was transferred to surface ships. In February 2001, a solemn celebration of the next anniversary of the submarine took place - the ship turned 35 years old. The solemnity of the situation was diluted with a piquant detail: the Zaporozhye submarine was welded to the pier with steel cables, otherwise it would have simply sunk.

Greek case of Ukrainian repair

After being handed over to Ukraine, the Zaporozhye submarine went back for repairs, which were carried out in Balaklava. In 2003, after docking, the submarine was launched, but was not put into working condition. The reason for this is the absencebatteries. The leadership of the Ukrainian Navy decided to purchase new batteries from the Greek company Germanos S. A. The cost amounted to 3.5 million US dollars, while Russian companies offered to purchase batteries cheaper, but the Ukrainian side refused.

The fact that the terminals on the batteries do not fit the Soviet submarine, it turned out when they were going to mount them, in addition, the overall dimensions of the batteries also did not fit. So the boat remained laid up for another six years, and the batteries gathered dust nearby, on the bank under a canopy. The idea to restore "the entire submarine fleet of the country", consisting of a single boat, caught fire Yuriy Yekhanurov, who was then the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. In 2009, the Ukrainian submarine "Zaporozhye" was removed from the pier and placed in a floating ship repair dock.

Work without end

Works at the dock continued until January 2010, batteries were installed on the submarine, installation work was carried out to assemble hydroacoustic, radar stations, and communication systems. In a half-repaired condition, the submarine took part in the naval exercises "Fairway of the World", held in 2011. During the exercise, it worked out the tasks of rescuing a submarine that had sunk to the bottom.

The lengthy repair of the pride of the Ukrainian fleet was continued in 2012 on the territory of the shipyard of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Parts of the hull plating, torpedo tubes were replaced, the steering system was revised, the hull was painted, and others.work, including installing the notorious Greek-made batteries.

Not everything went as smoothly as we would like, and financial issues overshadowed the life of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In 2014, there was a lawsuit between the Chernomorets Design Bureau (submarine repair contractor) and the military, where the former demanded payment for services rendered in the amount of 3 million hryvnias. The lawsuit was granted in favor of the bureau, but the money was never transferred.

Service under the flag of Ukraine

In March 2012, the Zaporozhye submarine finally set off on its first training mission as part of the Ukrainian Navy. She managed to go to the open sea in April of the same year. The total amount spent on repairing the submarine is about UAH 60 million.

Checking hydroacoustic systems, sonar, diesel installations, batteries was carried out in June 2012. The first dive after the repair took place in the same year in July. The submarine sank to periscope depth, which is 14 meters. The last joint exercises and celebrations with the participation of the Ukrainian and Russian fleets took place in Sevastopol in the same year 2012.

In 2013, the submarine "Zaporozhye" was solemnly accepted into the Ukrainian Navy and moored in Streletskaya Bay.

Prerequisites for exodus from Ukraine

The coup d'état that took place in Ukraine in 2014 put all residentscountries, including the military, before a choice. Someone managed to do it right away, someone is still waiting for the situation to return to a reasonable course, but the chances are getting smaller. The inhabitants of the Crimean peninsula had to make a decision at lightning speed, and it was not difficult, given the events that were taking place at that time in Kyiv.

Ukraine planned to start increasing its fleet with the appearance of the Zaporozhye submarine in the arsenal. But it is much easier to make fiery speeches than to carry out strategic tasks. Changed Ukrainian presidents, defense ministers, leaders of the "independence" promised the sailors a lot, but did not do even a little. The Zaporozhye submarine has never received a full repair over the years of its stay in the Ukrainian Navy, the crew has never been able to conduct exercises or make a sea voyage on a submarine capable of plying the ocean, the Ukrainian authorities have not bothered to equip the submarine with modern weapons, although it declared as a combat unit.

Only thanks to the efforts of the crew and captains of the vessel, the submarine "Zaporozhye" of the Naval Forces of Ukraine remained afloat. In March 2014, the crew, like the whole country, split into two camps: some wanted to remain part of the Nenka, which did not promise any prospects, others decided to take a chance and remain in the profession, but under the Russian St. Andrew's flag.

Chronicle of transition

Negotiations with the crew in March 2014 took place in a tense atmosphere, eight times proposals were made from the Russian side to moveof the entire combat strength, together with the vessel, to the side of the Russian Navy. On March 11, the sailors were supported by chiefs from the city of Zaporozhye and sent food to the besieged crew.

On March 25, Russian attack aircraft managed to capture the submarine. The crew of the ship was in a split: some of the sailors refused to give up and battened down inside the ship, the rest decided to surrender the ship. The decision to move was made by the commander of the second crew Shageev R. M. The Ukrainian naval flag was lowered on the Zaporozhye submarine, the coat of arms and plates with the name of the ship were dismantled.

Part of the crew, headed by Captain Klochan D. V., who wanted to remain in the service of the Ukrainian Navy, left the ship. But after some time, the captain of the first squad went over to the Russian side after the submarine. St. Andrew's banner was raised over the artifact of the Ukrainian fleet, which was symbolic, but the practical use of the submarine as a combat unit, alas, is impossible. Having made an independent transition, the Ukrainian submarine "Zaporozhye" moored in the South Bay of Sevastopol.

What's next?

On March 29, 2014, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation issued a verdict on the impossibility of using the Zaporozhye submarine. The administration of Balaklava offered to bring the Project 641 submarine as an exhibit to the Cold War Museum. A little later, in July 2014, the military announced that they would hand over the submarine to Ukraine only after the end of the civil war in the east of the country.

In 2015 Chernomorets Design Bureau, with whichthe Ukrainian side did not pay, dismantled the batteries, and the management of the design bureau made a proposal to create a museum on the basis of the submarine. In 2016, Admiral Vitko, commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, made the final decision that the Zaporozhye submarine would never be part of the combat fleet.

Where is the failed flagship of the Ukrainian fleet now? She is moored in the South Bay. The submarine is under supervision, preventive work of systems and mechanisms is being carried out. The latest proposal for its use was made by O. Belaventsev, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in Crimea. According to him, the submarine could become a museum or an exhibit: “We need to talk with veterans on this issue. After all, this is a submarine built by the Soviet Union,” he said.