A submarine of the Romeo class
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Gorky
Wuzhang shipyard Guangzhou (Canton)shipyard Jiangnan (Shanghai)shipyard Huludaoshipyard |
| Operators: | Soviet Union
China North Korea Bulgaria Syria Egypt Algeria |
| Preceded by: | Whiskey class submarine |
| Followed by: | Foxtrot class submarine |
| Ships in class: | 133 |
| Ships out of service: | 75 |
| Ships scrapped: | 75 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | Surfaced:1475tons Submerged:1830tons |
| Length: | 76.6m (251ft 3in) |
| Beam: | 6.7m (22ft) |
| Draught: | 5.2m (17ft 1in) |
| Propulsion and power: |
two diesels delivering 2.94MW (400shp) with two electric motors driving two shafts. |
| Speed: | Surfaced:15.2 knots Submerged:13 knots |
| Range: | 14,484km (9000 miles) at 9 knots |
| Complement: | 54 men (10 officers) |
| Armament: | 8 533mm (21in). six located in the bows and two in the stern. 14 533mm (21in) anti ship or anti submarine torpedoes (including Yu-4 and Yu-1 weapons) or 28 mines |
The Romeo class (Project 633) is a class of Soviet diesel-electric submarine, built in 1950s. The origin of the Romeo class can be traced to the World War II German Type XXI Elektroboote U-boat. At the end of World War II, the Soviets obtained several Type XXIs, from which they were able to obtain certain key technologies. These technologies assisted in the design of the Zulu- and Whiskey-class. Further improvements on the design led to the Romeo class. Only 20 of the Soviet Unions original 560 order were completed because of the introduction of the nuclear submarine into the Russian navy. By today's standards, the Romeo class submarine is considered obsolete, but still has some value as training and surveillance vessels.
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Operators of Romeo class submarine
Several navies operate or have operated Romeo class submarines:
- Russia and the Soviet Union had 20 Romeo class vessels in service. These vessels are no longer used as combat vessels in the Russian navy, although some may remain in service as immobile training facilities.
- China has operated a 84 of the type-33 submarine (Romeo) under the cold war, most have been scrapped but 31 are still in use for training.
- North Korea operates 22 Romeo class submarines, that were both locally assembled with Chinese supplied parts and directly imported from China, and the 4 Chinese imported units are based on the western coast.
- Bulgaria operates one Romeo class submarine, which is the last remaining of several boats that were exported from the former Soviet Union.
- Syria has discarded the single Romeo class submarine that it imported from the Soviet Union.
- Egypt operates four Romeo class submarines that are upgraded variants of the Chinese design.
- Algeria has discarded its Soviet Romeo class submarines.
Chinese Romeo class submarines and their derivatives
Under the 1950 Sino-Soviet Friendship and Mutual Assistance Treaty, the Soviets started assisting China in the production of ROMEO submarine in 1959. The Chinese variant is known as the Type 033 ROMEO. A total of 84 Type 033 submarines were built in China from 1962 to 1984, plus several exported to other countries. The Chinese Type 033 incorporated some improvements over the original ROMEO, including noise reduction of at least 20 dB. Sonar on board was also continuously upgraded: the original Soviet sonar was first replaced by domestic Chinese Type 105 sonar, which consequently was replaced by H/SQ2-262A sonar built by No. 613 Factory. A single Type 033 was modified to carry 6 YJ-1 (CSS-N-4) SSM's, this variant is called Type 033G Wuhan. [1] [2] Today most of the Type 033 subs have been retired or preserved, with few remaining for training purposes. [3] In the 1970s, China's Wuhan Ship Development and Design Institute (701 Institute) built an improved submarine based on the Type 033 hull, named Type 035 Ming. The 035 Ming had an improved diesel-electric engine, improved hull design with less resistance, better underwater speed, and a more capable sonar, H/SQ2-262 built by No. 613 Factory replacing the Type 105 sonar used on Type 033 submarines. A total of 21 Type 035 Ming sub were built between 1971 and 2000. There are at least 4 known variants of the Type 035 Ming, ES5C, ES5D, ES5E, and ES5F. The last variant, ES5F, is sometimes referred to as the Type 035G, and upgrades included H/SQ2-262C sonar built by No. 613 Factory replacing the original H/SQ2-262 used on the original Type 035 submarines. Today, 17 Type 035 Ming subs remain in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). One Type 035 Ming is said to have been modified as a test-bed for new Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system. [4] China's improvements on the ROMEO design didn't end with Type 035 Ming. In 1994, Wuhan Ship Development and Design Institute (701 Institute) and Wuhan Shipbuilding Industry Company produced the first of the new Type 039 (Song class) submarine. The Type 039 Song is a further improvement on the Type 35 Ming, and had capability to fire YJ-8 Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles. The first Type 039's performance and noise level was unsatisfactory, which lead to the improved Type 039G variant in 1999. A total of 8 Type 39 Song-class subs were produced from 1994 to 2004. [5] Type 039 Song may be the last Chinese-built diesel-electric submarine based on the improved ROMEO platform. Reports of China's latest Yuan-class submarine suggests that it's heavily influenced by the Kilo-class submarine's design. [6]
Incidents involving vessels of the Romeo and Ming class
- On January 11, 1962, the Soviet Foxtrot class submarine B-37 exploded as the result of a fire which detonated all torpedo warheads in the submarine. The Romeo class submarine S-350, which was moored next to B-37, was heavily damaged. Eleven crew members of the S-350 were killed.
- On April 16, 2003, all 70 crew members of the Chinese Ming class submarine number 361 were killed when the diesel engine failed to shut down when the boat submerged and used up all the oxygen in the boat.
References
The Encyclopeia Of Warships, From World War 2 To The Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.
