The number of Soviet submarines in service had never dropped below the 200 underwater vessels since the 1930s until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Navy also laid claim to being among the first of the world´s navies to explore the full potentialities of the ´submarine torpedo boat´. Even before the emergence of the Soviet Union in 1917, the Russian submarine inventions and experiments included the periscope, the torpedo ´drop collar´, a chemical air purification system, and the sectional hull construction for quick disassembly and reassembly.
Looking back over a 75-year period of submarine building, a few traditions stand out. The Soviet Navy habitually operated more different classes and types than did any other navy in the world. By the end of the 1980s, there were as many different operating classes as there are letters in the alphabet. This fact must surely have put a strain on their maintenance and logistics. Another related phenomenon had been the tendency to operate side by side very new and very old submarines.
The third tendency in the Soviet Navy had been the building of specialized or ´mission-specific´ submarines. For example, during the 1930s, the diminutive Malodki class boat, armed with only two torpedoes, was charged with near shore defense, striking enemy surface ships that approached the coasts of the Soviet Union. The medium-size Shchuka, on the other hand, was designed for forward offensive operations.
The functional balance of the Soviet submarine fleet was particular striking during the last two decades of the existence of the Soviet Union. Whereas the United States of America had a tendency to build single classes of multi-purpose attack boats, the Soviet Navy laid down multiple classes to apparently suit different missions and weapon systems. Therefore, the Soviet Union built different types depending on whether the main armament was cruise missiles, torpedoes, or ballistic missiles. Also, the Soviet Union was the first and the only country in the world to build boats with double hull made entirely of titanium. In the missile-carrying category, it produced different classes to fit short versus long-range missiles, with most of them being nuclear-powered boats.
List of the most important Soviet submarine classes during the Cold War
Class
Whiskey (Project 613): 215 were produced, with the first being completed in 1952. These were diesel-electric boats.
November (Project 627): commissioned in 1959, 13 subs were built as they were the first Soviet nuclear-powered submarines.
Foxtrot (Project 641): a total of 41 boats built between 1959 and 1962. They were diesel-electric patrol submarines.
Juliet (Project 651): 16 were completed. They were diesel-electric, cruise missile submarines, with the first being commissioned in 1963.
Yankee (Project 667): they were 34 nuclear-powered ballistic subs, with the first one commissioned in 1967.
Echo (Project 675): they were 34 nuclear boats armed with anti-ship cruise missiles.
Charlie I, II, III (Project 670): they were nuclear-powered cruise-missile subs, with a total of 33 built between 1967 and 1977.
Victor I, II, and III (Project 671): they constituted a series of 48 nuclear attack submarines, which were built between also between 1967 and 1977.
Alfa (Project 705): 7 nuclear attack submarines, with the first one being commissioned in 1971.
Delta I, II, III, IV (Project 667B): a total of 43 were built between 1981 and 1992. They were nuclear-powered ballistic boats.
Oscar (Project 949): they were 14 nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarines.
Typhoon (Project 941 Akula): they were 6 nuclear ballistic-missile boats.
Below, a November class submarine, which was the first Soviet sub being powered by a nuclear reactor.
