B-585 ''Sankt Peterburg'' (russian: Б-585 «Санкт-Петербург»; named after

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) is the

lead boat The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the s of the Russian Navy. The Lada class is the fourth generation of diesel-electric submarines designed and constructed in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

to replace the .

Construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

of the boat started in December 1997, and she was launched in October 2004. After undergoing a series of

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, ''Sankt Peterburg'' was commissioned in May 2010. However, the Russian Navy decided not to accept the St. Petersburg class after it was discovered that the boat's propulsion and sonar systems were inadequate. After design corrections the submarine was accepted. In 2014, ''Sankt Peterburg'' joined the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

Background and construction

''Sankt Peterburg'' is first boat of

Rubin Design Bureau Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering ( Russian: Центральное конструкторское бюро "Рубин", shortened to ЦКБ "Рубин") in Saint Petersburg is one of three main Russian centers of submarine desi ...

's Lada class, of which a total of eight were expected to be procured by the Russian Navy. A less capable version, the , is marketed for export. Designed during the 1990s, the St. Petersburg class is intended to be the successor to the larger Kilo class. The Kilo class is considered to be one of the quietest diesel classes in operations, giving rise to the nickname "Black Hole". Among the expected capabilities improvements of the St. Petersburg class over its predecessor were the incorporation of improved anechoic coating (to minimize

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

contact), extended cruise range, and the upgrade to newer weapons for

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

and anti-ship operations. St. Petersburg-class boats can also conduct

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

and defend naval facilities and sea lanes. Amid a severe shortage of funds experienced during the 1990s following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

of ''Sankt Peterburg'' was laid down on 26 December 1997, in

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards (russian: link=no, Адмиралтейские верфи) (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can ac ...

. The company specialises in submarine construction, having built more than 300 boats, including the and

nuclear-powered submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

s. By 2006, two more of ''Sankt Peterburg''s sister boats, ''Kronshtadt'' and ''Sevastopol'' had had their keels laid down. ''Sankt Peterburg'' was launched on 28 October 2004, to coincide with the 300th anniversary of Sankt Peterburg's founding, before undergoing several sea trials, to validate her systems, until 2009. As of 25 February 2008, ''Sankt Peterburg'' was part of the 13th Brigade of Ships Under Repair and Construction (military unit number 22875),

Leningrad Naval Base The Leningrad Naval Base is part of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy. History The Naval base was created on the basis of Order No. 117 as of March 15, 1919 of the Baltic Sea Fleet. The Naval Forces of Petrograd were transformed by the order in ...

.Журнал «Власть» № 7(760) от 25.02.2008
Military Unit number is via warfare.ru, http://warfare.be/?catid=321&linkid=2225&title=western-military-district---osc-west. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

Operational history

On 6 May 2010, ''Sankt Peterburg'' was commissioned into the Russian Navy, signalling the official start of her operational service. The boat thereafter underwent combat training with the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

and participated in a naval

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

and an

exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic ...

. At the same time, she continued

s until late 2011. Despite having been commissioned, in November 2011 the Russian Navy decided that the St. Petersburg class would not be accepted into service, as ''Sankt Peterburg'' had fallen far short of requirements during trials. According to ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes ...

'', the main drawback was the propulsion unit's inability to produce half of the expected power, along with the inefficiency of the sonar system. With the construction of the other two St. Petersburg-class submarines being halted, the Russian Navy ordered additional Improved Kilo-class submarines. The decision to reject the St. Petersburg class was confirmed in February 2012 by Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral

Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...

, who stated, "The Russian Navy does not need the St. Petersburg in its current form." ''Sankt Peterburg'' would remain an experimental prototype. ''Sankt Peterburg'' successfully carried a missile launch in accordance with the combat training schedule in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

. The cruise missile was launched from an underwater position at a naval target on 17 November 2016. Tests were successfully finished in December 2018. Nevertheless, as of 2020, the submarine continued to be used as a test platform for the class and according to one report, was noted not to be fully operational. In April 2020, the boat was reported undergoing new trials in the Baltic to prepare for her return to the Northern Fleet where her role in protecting the SSBN force was described as "vital". Another report in 2020 suggested that her deployment could in future be shifted to the

. In 2021 it was reported that after years of being used as a "test platform", she was formally "accepted into service".

References

External links

Project 677 ''Lada'' class Project 1650 ''Amur'' class Diesel-Electric Torpedo Submarine
of GlobalSecurity.org
Navy Commander Denied Lada Subs Rejection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankt Peterburg (B-585) Lada-class submarines Attack submarines 2004 ships Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard Submarines of the Russian Navy