Papa SSN to be scrapped

From Navy Times

Russian reports: Fastest sub to be scrapped

By Philip Ewing - Staff writer

Posted : Tuesday Jul 29, 2008 11:57:35 EDT

The fastest attack submarine ever built, Russia’s one-of-a-kind Papa-class guided missile boat, is at last being scrapped after a long fleet career and an ignominious retirement, Russian news agencies reported Monday.

The submarine, known first as the K-162 and later the K-222 to its Northern Fleet crews, clocked a speed of 44.7 knots during sea trials in 1969, according to the nuclear watchdog Bellona. The ship served as a technology demonstrator for the subsequent high-speed, deep-diving Alfa class.

The ship achieved its high speed by using a novel titanium hull and a pair of pressurized water reactors, according to Bellona. The news agency Russia Today reported that its crew called the K-222 “the Golden Fish,” a reference as much to its high operating cost as its distinction as the world’s fastest sub. The ship was very noisy and uncomfortable at its top speed, Russia Today reported.

In addition to pioneering the high-speed technologies that later were incorporated into the Alfa class, the K-222 also led to the Russian Charlie-class guided missile submarines, built to fire cruise missiles at U.S. Navy carrier groups. The Papa-class carried 10 S-S-N-9 “Siren” missiles, according to Jane’s Fighting Ships.

The K-222 suffered some kind of accident with one of its nuclear reactors in 1980, according to Bellona, although details were unclear, and has been in mothballs since the mid-1980s. The ship is to be scrapped at the Russian port of Severodvinsk, at the only plant capable of cutting apart its titanium hull.