The bow sonar installations appear to be similar to those fitted to Soviet nuclear attack submarines. The propulsion plant was the same as the last subgroup of the Foxtrot class. The Tango class had far more battery capacity, far higher than any previous conventional submarine class in the Soviet Navy; as a result, pressure hull volume increased. This allowed an underwater endurance in excess of a week before snorkeling was required.
Coupled with new armament and sensor fit, the Tango class was ideal for ambush operations against Western nuclear submarines at natural chokepoints.
Because of its all-hull rubber coating, the sub class was nicknamed "rezinka" [rubber].
Construction of this class has now stopped. The B-380 of the Black Sea Fleet was the last to be decommissioned in 2016 and the scrapping began in Inkerman in 2020.[1]
B-380 had been in layup in Sevastopol Harbor awaiting either refit or scrapping as of 2008, but during the night of December 14–15, 2019 the floating dock PD-16, which contained B-380, sank. B-380 capsized to port and partially sank, and by 19 December it was still unclear whether the submarine was afloat or resting on the bottom. By 11 May 2020 B-380 was 70% scrapped.
By October 2021, the sail of submarine B-380 had been installed, with the assistance of the Russian Maritime Tradition Club Association, at the Mistral Hotel & Spa, Intra district of Moscow.[1]
Three 641B-class submarines operate as museum ships:
The conning towers of stricken B-319 and B-474 are on display in Polyarny and Ryazan.