N700081 RUSSIAN SUBMARINE K-403 KAZAN, PROJECT 09780 AXSON-2 (NATO NAME YANKEE-POD)

The Yankee I-class (or Project 667A) ships were Soviet nuclear-powered submarines carrying nuclear-warhead ballistic missiles (SSBN) that entered service from 1966. In total, 34 ships of this class were built. A single unit of this type was 130 m long and 12 m wide, with an underwater displacement of approx. 9,600 tons. The maximum underwater speed reached 26-27 knots. The armament consisted of 16 SS-N-6 ballistic missile launchers and 6 bow 533 mm torpedo tubes. It is debatable whether they also received 400 mm torpedo tubes. The Yankee I submarines were the first real SSBNs in the history of the Soviet Navy, comparable to the American USS George Washington or the Lafayette class ships. They were also a real breakthrough in the USSR Navy in relation to the Hotel or Golf class units. They differed from their predecessors in many aspects: the structure of the hull and conning tower, dimensions, number of missiles or underwater performance. Their main armament were SS-N-6 ballistic missiles, which in the earliest version had a range of 2,400 kilometers and could carry a 1 MT warhead. Yankee I class submarines were built at the shipyards in Severodvinsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur.