Подводные лодки класса "Гольф": история и модификации

Diesel electric ballistic missile submarine class
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According to some sources, at least one Golf class submarine was operated by China, to test new submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Project 629 was started in the mid 1950s along with the D 2 missile launch system, which it was to carry, and was based on the Foxtrot class submarine. The design task was assigned to OKB 16, one of the two predecessors (the other being SKB 143) of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau, which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with the Rubin Design Bureau and the Lazurit Central Design Bureau. The submarine was originally designed to carry three R 11FM ballistic missiles with a range around 150 km. These were carried in three silos fitted in the rear of the large sail behind the bridge. They could only be fired with the submarine surfaced and the missile raised above the sail, but the submarine could be underway at the time. Only the first three boats were equipped with these; the remaining ones were equipped with the longer range R 13 missiles. The first boats were commissioned in 1958 and the last in 1962. The boats were built at two shipyards — 16 in Severodvinsk and 7 in Komsomolsk na Amure in the Far East. An eighth in the Far East went to China. Fourteen were extensively modified in 1966–1972 and became known as 629A by the Soviet Navy and "Golf II" by NATO (the original version having been designated "Golf I"). The major changes were the upgrade of the missile system to carry R 21 missiles, which could be launched from inside their tubes with the submarine submerged, and increased speed. In later years, a few were converted to test new missiles and others had different conversions. All boats had left Soviet service by 1990. In 1993, 10 were sold to North Korea for scrap. According to some sources, the North Koreans were attempting to get these boats back into service. An organization of defectors from North Korea, named In Kook Yantai, published a report in 2016 entitled "North Korea's Nuclear and WMD Assessment". In that report, North Korean defector Kim Heung kwang said a 3,500 ton, nuclear powered submarine, one of a pair, was due for launch before 2018. It was described as having four missile launch silos in the sail, and is generally thought to refer to a repowered Golf II class vessel. In 1959, the project technology was sold to China, which built a single modified example in 1966, which is still in service.

On March 8, 1968, northwest of Oahu in the Pacific Ocean, the Golf II class submarine K 129 sank due to an explosion brought on by unknown cause, the accident being registered by the SOSUS network. The entire crew of 98 was lost and the vessel sank with three ballistic nuclear missiles as well as two nuclear torpedoes. The United States recovered parts of the submarine in July 1974 from a depth around 5 km, in an operation named Project Azorian. Two nuclear submarines that had been facing retirement, Halibut and Seawolf, were rebuilt and pressed into service as deep sea search vehicles. After Halibut discovered a sunken Soviet submarine containing at least one intact ballistic missile complete with nuclear warhead, Melvin Laird, United States Secretary of Defense under President Richard Nixon, approved Azorian. Six years later, 1560 nautical miles north of the Pearl Harbor, a mechanical claw descended 17000 feet (5182 m) to the bottom of the Pacific, and guided by computers on board the Glomar Explorer, clamped onto the mass of twisted, rusting steel and began slowly raising it to the surface. How successful the effort was is unclear, but the United States has admitted to recovering a portion of K 129, which included six bodies of Soviet sailors who were buried at sea with full honors.

Project 629: The original design with the NATO reporting name Golf I, with a total of 22 boats built from 1958 through 1962. Dimensions are 98.4 m for length, 8.2 m for beam, and 7.85 m for draft. Surfaced/submerged displacements are 2794 / 3553 tons, respectively. Surfaced/submerged speeds are 15 / 12.5 knot, respectively. Project 629 is crewed by 80 men, and is equipped by either D 1 launching system for R 11FM or D 2 launching systems for SS N 4 SLBMs. Project 629B: K 229 was converted in 1958 in Severodvinsk, under Project 629B to test a newly designed on board missile control system, which was the first generation design based entirely on semiconductors. Project 629A: 14 Project 629/Golf I class submarines were converted to Project 629A between 1966 and 1972, and received the NATO reporting name "Golf II". Changes include the increase of dimension, with length and draft increased to 98.9 / 8.5 m, respectively, the surfaced/submerged displacement increased to 2300–2820 / 2700–3553 t, respectively, and surfaced/submerged speeds increased to 17 / 14 kn respectively. Crew was increased to 83, and the launching system is D 4 for SS N 5 SLBMs. Type 031: Type 6631 went through a second major refit, which was completed in November 1978. The most important improvement is the ability to launch SLBMs under water. In addition to changing to Type 031 from the original Type 6631, the unit also received the name Great Wall, when China began restore the practice of naming its warships in the 1980s. The unit is hence usually referred as Great Wall 200.