Russian Submarines - Photos and Command Report

Photos
The Russian website NewsTeam.ru has a Photo Report up titled "Submarines-Russian underwater shield" with 25 photos of various Russian Submarines. Click on the link in the title or go to individual links below.

Project 941 Typhoon SSBN

Links list Russian ID then NATO ID and general classification

Project 641 Foxtrot SS

Project 667 Yankee SSBN Project 667 BDRM Delta IV SSBN

Project 671 Victor SSN

Project 941 Typhoon SSBN

Project 949A Oscar II SSGN

Project 971 Akula SSN

Command
The Russian Navy still has a large submarine force with variety of capabilities, but just as many of their subs are rusting away so is the command structure, as noted in this St Petersburg Times story "Submarine Vets Call For Release of Report". Russian submarine veterans are becoming increasing more vocal about command problems as detailed in the unreleased report of the Komsomolets disaster. News report excerpt:

Boris Muratov, a retired 1st rank submarine captain and an expert who investigated the causes of the Komsomolets sinking said the scenarios of all the Russian submarine disasters are very similar.
“Captains’ decisions should be driven by logic, not fear, and only stable, independent-thinking officers should qualify for the job,” Muratov said.

Yevgeny Chernov a decorated Soviet veteran, retired submariner and a former vice-admiral concurred.

“Officers from naval headquarters set tasks incompetently, and the humble captains go on performing them, regardless of the resources available to them,” Chernov said. “Many leaders simply don’t fit their jobs and can’t cope with the responsibilities their posts involve.”

The old Soviet Navy had a significant number of submarine accidents and the Russian Navy continues to have it's share of problems. The difference now being, that submarine veterans can speak out about those problems without ending up in a Siberian salt mine.

posted by Lubber's Line @ 7:25 PM