Soviet submarine K-3 Leninsky Komsomol

K-3 Leninsky Komsomol at sea
K-3 on display at the Museum of Naval Glory, Kronstadt
History
Soviet Union
NameK-3
BuilderPlant 402, Molotovsk
Laid downJune 1954
Launched9 August 1957
Christened4 June 1958
Commissioned4 June 1958
Decommissioned1988
RenamedLeninsky Komsomol 9 October 1962
HomeportZapadnaya Litsa
StatusMuseum ship in the Museum of Naval Glory in Kronstadt
General characteristics
Class & typeProject 627
Displacement
  • Surfaced: 3,065 long tons (3,433 short tons)
  • Submerged: 4,750 long tons (5,320 short tons)
Length107.4 m (352 ft 4 in)
Beam7.9 m (25 ft 11 in)
Draft5.6 m (18 ft 4 in)
Propulsiontwo water-cooled reactors VM-A 70 MW each with steam generators, two turbogear assemblies 60-D (35,000 hp total), two turbine-type generators GPM-21 1,400 kW each, two diesel generators DG-400 460 hp each, two auxiliary electric motors PG-116 450 hp each, two shafts. Submarine of project 645 had two liquid metal-cooled reactors VT-1 73 MW each and two more powerful turbine-type generators ATG-610 1,600 kW each, no diesel generators.
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
EnduranceUnlimited
Test depth300 m (980 ft)
Complementusually 104–105 men (including 30 officers)
Sensors &
processing systems
MG-200 "Arktika-M" sonar system for target detection, "Svet" detection of hydroacoustic signals and underwater sonar communication sonar system, "MG-10" hydrophone station (project 627 submarines had "Mars-16KP"), "Luch" sonar system for detection of underwater obstacles , "Prizma detection radar for surface targets and torpedo control , "Nakat-M" reconnaissance radar .
Armament8 × 533 mm bow torpedo tubes (20 torpedoes SET-65 or 53-65K).
Service record
Commanders: Leonid Osipenko, Lev Zhiltsov
Operations:
  • First Soviet nuclear submarine (1958)
  • First Soviet submarine to surface at the North Pole (1962)

К-3 was a project 627 "Кит" (kit, meaning "whale"; NATO reporting name "November") submarine of the Soviet Navy's Northern Fleet, the first nuclear submarine of the Soviet Union. The vessel was prototyped in wood, with each of five segments scattered between five different locations about Leningrad, including the Astoria Hotel. She was built in Molotovsk, launched on 9 August 1957, commissioned in July 1958, and homeported at Zapadnaya Litsa on the Kola Peninsula. K3 was designed by Vladimir Peregoudov. Her initial captain was Leonid Osipenko, and the executive officer was Lev Zhiltsov, who had the important task of assembling the first crew.