N700069 SOVIET SUBMARINE PROJECT 658 M (NATO NAME HOTEL II)

Hotel Class II (Russian designation: Type 658M) is a type of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines capable of carrying nuclear warhead ballistic missiles (SSBN). Units of this class - and of the Hotel I and Hotel III types - were launched in 1959-1962 and remained in line until the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. The length of this class of ships was up to 114 m, with a width of 9.2 m and an underwater displacement of approx. 5,500 tons. The basic armament consisted of 3 SS-N-5 ballistic missiles placed in a large superstructure behind the ship's conning tower. The additional armament was 8 torpedo tubes: 4 bow 533 mm and 4 aft 400 mm caliber. Hotel II-class units were an evolutionary development of the Hotel I-class units, and the main change was the use of other ballistic missiles - SS-N-5 missiles were introduced instead of the SS-N-4. Still, a single ship could only carry 3 such missiles, while the American counterpart (USS George Washington SSBN-598) was able to carry 16 ballistic missiles! Moreover, the Hotel II ships had to surface to fire their missiles, increasing the chance of their detection. Like many early Soviet submarines, the Hotel II units suffered from numerous technical problems - including those with the propulsion system. It is not surprising then that from the second half of the 1960s they began to be replaced in line and on patrol by Yankee-class ships.