In the late 1950s, the Soviet Navy was tasked to neutralize American bases and aircraft carriers and decided that submarines armed with cruise missiles were the best method to accomplish this. The number of expensive nuclear-powered s that it could afford and build in a timely manner was insufficient to meet its requirements, so it decided to build the Juliett class as it was significantly cheaper and faster to build.[1]
The Juliett-class boats are a double-hulled design that displaces 3174lk=onNaNlk=on on the surface and 3750t submerged. K-68s hull was built from non-magnetic steel and was not covered with anechoic tiles. The boats have an overall length of 85.9m (281.8feet), a beam of 9.7m (31.8feet), and a draft (ship) of 6.29m (20.64feet). The Julietts have a test depth of 240m (790feet) and a design depth of 300m (1,000feet). The prominent blast deflectors cut out of the outer hull behind the missile launchers make the submarines very noisy at high speed. Their crew numbered 78 men.[2]
The Juliett class is powered by a diesel-electric system that consists of two 4000sp=usNaNsp=us 1D43 diesel engines and a pair of 3000PS MG-141 electric motors for cruising on the surface. Two additional 200PS electric motors are intended for slow speeds underwater and are powered by four banks of lead-acid battery cells that are recharged by a 1000PS 1DL42 diesel generator. The boats are fitted with a retractable snorkel to allow the diesel engines to operate while underwater.[3]
On the surface, the submarines have a maximum speed of 16kn. Using their diesel-electric system while snorkeling gives the Julietts a range of 18000nmi at . Using just the electric motors underwater, they have a maximum range of at . Their best-submerged speed on electric motors is, although it reduces their range to . They were designed to carry enough supplies for 90 days of operation.[4] [5]
To carry out the Julietts' mission of destroying American carrier battle groups and bases, they were fitted with two pairs of missile launchers, one each fore and aft of the sail. The launchers were used by the surface-launched SS-N-3 Shaddock family of long-range, turbojet-powered, cruise missiles that could be equipped with either a high-explosive or nuclear warhead.[6] The more traditional armament of the Julietts consisted of six 533sp=us0sp=us torpedo tubes mounted in the bow and four 406sp=us0sp=us torpedo tubes in the stern. Due to space limitations, no reloads were provided for the bow tubes, but each stern tube had two reloads for a total of twelve.[4]
The submarines relied upon aircraft for their long-range anti-ship targeting which they received via the Uspekh-U data link system. Their own Argument missile-guidance radar controlled the missiles until they were out of range via a data link. The missiles' onboard radar would detect the targets and transmit an image back to the submarine via video data link so the crew could select which target to attack, after which the missile relied upon its own radar for terminal guidance. The Argument radar has a massive antenna that was stowed at the front of the sail and rotated 180° for use. The data link antenna was mounted on top of the missile-guidance antenna.[7]
The boats are fitted with Artika-M (MG-200) and Herkules (MG-15) sonars, Feniks-M (MG-10) and MG-13 hydrophones, and an Albatros (RLK-50) search radar.[3] They are also equipped with a Nakat-M Electronic warfare support measures system.[8]
K-85 was laid down at Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze in Leningrad on 25 October 1961. She was launched on 31 January 1964 and operated from Tallinn and Liepāja during initial tests in mid-year before being transferred via the White Sea–Baltic Canal to Belomorsk and Severodvinsk for further testing. Entering service on 30 December 1964, the submarine was officially included in the 35th Submarine Division of the Northern Fleet on 22 January 1965.[9] [8] Based at Malaya Lopatkina Bay, the boat made her first patrol in the Mediterranean Sea in 1966. It was plagued with problems with its diesel engines and periscope caused by poor-quality workmanship by the shipyard that got worse over her patrol and forced the navy to abort her mission and return home prematurely for repairs. From January to March 1967 the repairs were carried out at SRZ-35 in Rosta, Murmansk. Between August and November she went on patrol. On 9 September she was ordered to assist K-3 which had suffered a deadly fire while in the Norwegian Sea but was unable to reach K-3 during the day, instead being order to continue the patrol.[10]
In the first half of 1968 the submarine underwent repairs at SRZ-35 to replace her batteries, flooded during the previous cruise. Between August and November, the submarine spent 93 days at sea in the Mediterranean during the 1968 Czechoslovak crisis. While passing through the Strait of Gibraltar it was targeted with practice depth charges by American anti-submarine forces. In 1969 it conducted practice missile firing in the White Sea. The submarines of the 35th Division were relocated to Ara Bay near Vidyayevo in October of that year. K-85 collided with the fishing vessel Yerevan in 1970. Between April 1971 and January 1974 the submarine was under routine repair at SRZ-35, Murmansk. K-85 (the K standing for was redesignated B-124 (the B standing for) on 25 July 1977. Between October 1978 and April 1979 she conducted a Mediterranean cruise, replenishing at Tartus.
B-124 conducted a cruise around Scandinavia into the Baltic to join the Baltic Fleet in 1981. The submarine was transferred to the 16th Submarine Division of the 14th Submarine Squadron of the Baltic Fleet on 24 February 1981, based at Liepāja. During 1982 and 1983 the submarine underwent modernization at SRZ-29 in Liepaja, receiving new batteries. The submarine was removed from service and laid up at Liepaja on 1 November 1989, but returned to service on 31 December 1990 as part of the 58th Submarine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet, reorganized from the 16th Submarine Division. The submarine B-124 was decommissioned on 30 June 1993 for disposal.[11] After the Russian withdrawal from Latvia it was left moored half-submerged in Liepaja at Tosmare shipyard in agreement with a Russian military contract. The submarine hull was sold for scrap to the German company VMG and raised by the Lithuanian firm Opron Shipping in 1997 before being scrapped at Tosmare between 1998 and 1999.