Soviet submarine B-59

B-59 near Cuba with a US Navy helicopter circling above, circa October 28–29, 1962
History
Soviet Union
NameB-59
BuilderAdmiralty Shipyard
Laid down21 February 1960[1]
Launched11 June 1960
Commissioned6 October 1961
Decommissioned19 April 1990[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeFoxtrot-class submarine
Displacement
  • Surfaced: 1,957 long tons (1,988 t)
  • Submerged: 2,475 long tons (2,515 t)
Length91.3 m (299 ft 6 in)
Beam7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Propulsion
  • 3 × 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) (diesel)
  • 3 × 2,700 hp (2,000 kW) (electric)
  • 3 shafts
Speed
  • Surfaced: 16.8 knots (31.1 km/h)
  • Submerged: 16 knots (30 km/h)
Range
  • Surfaced: 17,900 nmi (33,200 km),
  • at 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h)
  • Submerged: 400 nmi (740 km),
  • at 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h)
Complement70
Armament
  • 10 torpedo tubes
  • 22 torpedoes, including one nuclear torpedo with a 10 kt warhead

Soviet submarine B-59 (Russian: Б-59) was a Project 641 or Foxtrot-class diesel-electric submarine of the Soviet Navy. B-59 was stationed near Cuba during the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and was pursued and harassed by US Navy vessels. Senior officers in the submarine, out of contact with Moscow and the rest of the world and believing they were under attack and possibly at war, came close to firing a T-5 nuclear torpedo at the US ships.[2]

  1. ^ a b Project 641.
  2. ^ Savranskaya, Svetlana V. New Sources on the Role of Soviet Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Journal of Strategic Studies 28.2 (2005): 233-259.doi:10.1080/01402390500088312