N120010 SOVIET SUBMARINE PROJECT 705K LIRA (NATO NAME ALFA)

The Alpha was a Soviet submarine belonging to the class of units of the same name. The Alpha-class submarines were nuclear-powered fighter ships (ANNs) that probably served in the years 1968-1969 and 1977-1995. It is estimated that there were five to seven units of this class. The length of the Alpha-class ship was 79.6 m, width 9.5 m, and the underwater displacement reached approx. 3200-3600 tons. The maximum underwater speed is 41 knots! The main armament of units of this class were 6 533 mm torpedo tubes. The ships of the Alpha class (project 705) were created in connection with the desire of the Soviet Navy to create units with the highest possible maximum speed, a very large maximum draft and a relatively small crew. Many innovative technological solutions have been used on the ships of the type, among which the most important was the use of a hull welded from titanium alloys - a metal very difficult to form - as well as the use of a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor. The ship was also highly automated, which made it possible to limit the number of crew members and provide them with good living conditions by Soviet standards. Ultimately, although the process of building the units was long and encountered many problems, the ships were created with a very high underwater speed (up to 40-41.w) and a maximum immersion depth of up to 900 meters, which was a great result! However, the Alpha class units also paid for these advantages with disadvantages: poor soundproofing, problems with the tightness of the hulls (especially at the beginning of production) and the failure rate of the reactor.