51°23′43.7″N 0°30′12.9″E / 51.395472°N 0.503583°E / 51.395472; 0.503583

U-475 Black Widow
Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine in 2005
History
Soviet Union
Laid down12 October, 1966
Launched24 December, 1966
Commissioned30 June, 1967
Decommissioned30 June, 1993
StatusDilapidated state; moored on the River Medway near the city of Rochester[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeFoxtrot-class submarine
Displacement1950 t
Length92 m (302 ft)
Beam7.5 m (25 ft)
Draft5.1 m (17 ft)
Propulsion
  • 3 × 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) diesel engines
  • 3 electric motors; 2 × 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) and 1 × 2,700 hp (2,000 kW)
  • 1 × 140 hp (100 kW) auxiliary motor
Speed16.8 kn (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) surfaced
Range
  • 20,000 nmi (37,000 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h) surfaced
  • 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) snorkeling
  • 380 nmi (700 km) at 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged
Endurance3-5 days submerged
Test depth250–280 m (820–920 ft)
Complement77
Armament

Submarine U-475 Black Widow was a Soviet Navy submarine of the Cold war period, which is now in private hands. It is currently moored at Strood, on the River Medway, in South-East England.

Background

The Soviet Project 641 class submarines (known to the West by their NATO reporting name of Foxtrot) was a class of conventionally powered patrol/attack submarines. Some 74 were built by the Soviet Navy between 1957 and 1983 as well as 17 others for the Libyan, Cuban and Indian navies.

Service history

Black Widow was built at Sudomekh shipyard in Leningrad and commissioned in 1967. It was based at Riga and served with the Soviet Baltic Fleet before being used as a training vessel for crews from overseas who would be operating Foxtrot-class subs in their own navies. It was decommissioned in 1993 and sold.

Museum ship

The submarine in 2014

After passing into private hands, and under the name U-475 Black Widow it was moored at Long's Wharf near the Thames Barrier in England where it was open to the public as a museum ship. In 1998 it was moved to Folkestone, where it was again opened to the public. In 2004 it was moved to her present location, in a state of disrepair, and is currently awaiting restoration.[1][2]

U-475 Black Widow with the Ukrainian national flag

After the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, U-475 began to fly the Ukrainian national flag as a sign of clear support for Ukraine in the conflict.[3]

Naming

The submarine is currently referred to as Foxtrot B-39 U-475 Black Widow.[1] The B- designation stands for Bolshaya (Large), and was used by the Soviet Navy during the Cold War era. The B-39 designation also suggests a vessel in the Soviet Pacific Fleet; Baltic Fleet vessels carried numbers in the 200s. The name Black Widow and the designation U-475 were invented for the boat by the new owners; Soviet submarines were not generally named, the U- designation was not used by the Soviets and none of the Foxtrots known carried the number -475.

In Soviet service it was actually known as B-49 and served in the Northern Fleet until November 1974 when it was reassigned to the Baltic.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Black Widow", Medwaylines.com. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Russian Submarine U-475 Black Widow, Medway". Undergroundkent.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2013. (Web archive)
  3. ↑ "Flying the flag for Ukraine". Kent Online. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Project 641" Archived 7 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine, russian-ships.info.com. Retrieved 21 April 2014.]
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