The Tango class was the NATO reporting name of a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of diesel-electric submarines that were built in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to replace the s assigned to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

s. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641B and it was also known as the Som (Catfish) class. The first of the class was completed in 1972 at Gorky. A total of 18 were built in two slightly different versions. The later type was several metres longer than the first, possibly because of the installation of ASW missile equipment. The bow

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

installations appear to be similar to those fitted to Soviet nuclear

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called ...

s. The propulsion plant was the same as the last subgroup of the Foxtrot class. The Tango class had far more battery capacity, far higher than any previous conventional submarine class in the Soviet Navy; as a result, pressure hull volume increased. This allowed an underwater endurance in excess of a week before

snorkeling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters ...

was required. Coupled with new armament and sensor fit, the Tango class was ideal for ambush operations against Western

nuclear submarines A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

at natural

chokepoint In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint) is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or bridge, or maritime passage through a critical waterway such as a strait, which an armed force is forced to pass through in order ...

s. Because of its all-hull rubber coating, the sub class was nicknamed "rezinka" ubber Construction of this class has now stopped. The ''B-380'' of the Black Sea Fleet was the last to be decommissioned in 2016 and the scrapping began in Inkerman in 2020. ''B-380'' had been in layup in Sevastopol Harbor awaiting either refit or scrapping as of 2008, but during the night of December 14–15, 2019 the floating dock ''PD-16'', which contained ''B-380'', sank. B-380 capsized to port and partially sank, and by 19 December it was still unclear whether the submarine was afloat or resting on the bottom. By 11 May 2020 ''B-380'' was 70% scrapped. By October 2021, the sail of submarine B-380 had been installed, with the assistance of the Russian Maritime Tradition Club Association, at the Mistral Hotel & Spa, Intra district of Moscow.

Museum ships

File:Tango class SS.svg, Schematic of the Tango class File:B-307, Togliatti. Russia-1.JPG, ''B-307'', Togliatti File:Tango b-396 1.JPG, ''B-396'', Moscow File:Hamburg.U434.gesamt.wmt.jpg, ''B-515'', Hamburg File:Tango B-396 Torpedo Room 1.JPG, Tango ''B-396'' torpedo room Three 641B-class submarines operate as museum ships: * ''B-307'', fully raised on ground – AvtoVAZ Technical Museum,

Tolyatti Tolyatti ( rus, Толья́тти, p=tɐlʲˈjætʲ(ː)ɪ), also known as Togliatti, formerly known as Stavropol (1737–1964), is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which does not serve as the administrative center ...

, Russia * ''B-396'', afloat in

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

reservoir –

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Navy Museum * , afloat near Fischmarkt in Hamburg – museum in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

The conning towers of stricken ''B-319 and ''B-474'' are on display in Polyarny and

Ryazan Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Cens ...

References

*The Encyclopedia Of Warships From World War Two To The Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson.

External links

RussianWarrior page about the Tango Class

Russian and Soviet navy submarine classes Submarine classes {{submarine-stub