Name S-99 Completed 20 March 1956 Construction started 5 February 1951 Length 62 m Beam 6.1 m Builders Sudomekh, Galerniy Island | Laid down 5 February 1951 Draft 5.1 m (16 ft 9 in) Launched 5 February 1952 Displacement 816,500 kg Endurance 1.5 months | |
Fate decommissioned and scrapped after 1959 | ||
The S-99 (Russian: С-99) experimental submarine was the only ship of the Soviet Project 617 submarine class (NATO reporting name: Whale class) that the Soviet Union built during the early cold war period and the only soviet submarine which had a Walter engine fuelled by high test peroxide (HTP).
Contents
Design
Initial design of submarine was based on project XXVI documentation taken from Germany as a trophy in 1945 and used in the 1945–1946 development of Project 616. The resultant speed of 19 knots submerged and a 10% buoyancy reserve were assessed as a good but insufficient result, leading to a new project from 1949–1951 based in Leningrad.
Construction
The hull of the submarine was divided on six sections
- torpedo room
- battery and living quarters
- command room
- diesel room, maintenance base of the turbine engine
- turbine room, unoccupied and sealed
- electric engine room
Soviet Navy service
The boat was built in 1951-52 and commissioned in 1956 after sea trials. S-99 became the fastest Soviet submarine of the time, reaching 20 to 22 kn (37 to 41 km/h; 23 to 25 mph) submerged. Between 1956-59 she served in the Baltic fleet. In 1959, prior to planned repairs, S-99 was used for turbine tests. Experiments at depths of 40 to 60 m (130 to 200 ft) were successful, but there was an explosion at 80 m (260 ft). The submarine surfaced and reached base on battery power. After the incident, S-99 was decommissioned and scrapped.