The Soviet Union’s Typhoon-class was the largest submarine ever built, a 48,000-ton nuclear-powered behemoth made famous by “The Hunt for Red October.”
Designed to operate under Arctic ice, it carried an immense arsenal of 20 ballistic missiles, each with multiple nuclear warheads. Its unique multi-hull design enhanced crew survivability.
Despite its formidable power, the class proved economically unsustainable after the Cold War. The last of these giants, the Dmitry Donskoy, was retired in 2023 and is set to become a museum ship, a lingering monument to the immense scale of Cold War ambitions.
The Typhoon- Class, Russia’s Mammoth Cold War Submarine
The Soviet Union’s Typhoon class submarine was a formidable, yet ultimately unsustainable, Cold War nuclear deterrent; it was the largest submarine ever built, designed primarily for Arctic operations rather than true blue-water operations, and carried immense destructive power in its 20 R-39 ballistic missiles.
Made famous by the book and Hollywood film, “The Hunt For The Red October,” while its size, ice-breaking capabilities, and missile capacity were impressive, economic pressures and the obsolescence of its missiles led to the class’s early retirement, with its successors, the Borei class, marking a return to more practical designs.
The first and final Typhoon-class submarine, the Dmitry Donskoy, was retired in February 2023, as reported by the Russian state-run news outlet TASS. It was the end of an era.
“The Dmitry Donskoy submarine cruiser has been decommissioned from the Russian Navy. It will await utilization at a naval base in Severodvinsk together with two other units of this project,” Tass reported.
It was later reported in March 2025 that the submarine would be retired and serve as a museum ship in Saint Petersburg.
The Dmitry Donskoy Submarine Cruiser, Typhoon Class
“Project 941 Akula (Shark in Russian)” codenamed by NATO as “Typhoon,” was created to meet the challenge of operating under the ice thousands of miles from its targets and releasing 200 warheads and decoys on demand.
The Soviet Union responded to the United States’ construction of the massive Ohio class of submarines, which carried 24 Polaris missile tubes and later Trident II missiles, by developing a mammoth ballistic missile submarine that was the largest ever built.
It was 574 feet long, nearly the size of two football fields, with a width of 75 and a half feet. While on the surface, it had a draught of 12 feet. It had an enormous displacement of 48,000 tons, nearly equal to the German WWII battleship Bismarck.
Named in honor of a 14th-century Russian prince, the Dmitry Donskoy was laid down by the Sevmash Shipyard in 1976 and launched on September 29, 1980. The submarine was commissioned into the Soviet Navy on December 29, 1981.
The NATO codename Typhoon was believed to have been linked to a speech by Russian Premier Leonid Brezhnev in 1974, when telling Communist Party members of a new ballistic missile submarine in response to the US Ohio-class submarines.
Multiple Pressure Hulls Protected The Crew
Typhoon-class submarines featured multiple pressure hulls, simplifying internal design while making the boat much wider than a normal submarine. In the main body of the sub, two long pressure hulls lie parallel with a third, smaller pressure hull above them (just below the sail), and two other pressure hulls for torpedoes and steering gear.
This also dramatically increases the crew’s survivability – even if one pressure hull is breached, the crew members in the other are safe, with less potential for flooding.
Typhoon Armament
Their primary weapons system consisted of 20 R-39 (NATO: SS-N-20) submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), each capable of carrying a maximum of ten multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle nuclear warheads with a yield of 100 to 200 kilotons.
Technically, Typhoons were able to deploy their long-range nuclear missiles while moored at their docks.
The Cold War Soviet R-39 was the largest SLBM ever built, measuring 12 meters in length with a 2-meter diameter. The range of the missiles was between 8,250 and 8,400 kilometers, or just under 5,220 miles.
The Typhoon class later tested the Bulava-class ballistic missiles. The RSM-56 Bulava (NATO: SS-N-32) is an intercontinental-range, submarine-launched, solid propellant ballistic missile. Development of the program began in the 1990s, with official production contacts going into effect in the 2007-2008 timeframe.
The Typhoon class featured six torpedo tubes designed to handle RPK-2 (SS-N-15) missiles or Type 53 torpedoes.
Nuclear Powerplant For the Typhoon-Class Submarines
The OK-650 reactor is the nuclear fission reactor used for powering the Soviet Navy’s Project 941 Акула/Akula (Typhoon) class submarines. Each Typhoon submarine had two of these nuclear reactors.
This pressurized water reactor (PWR) uses 20-45% enriched uranium-235 fuel to produce 190 MW of thermal power.
Developed during the 1970s, these reactors were designed to minimize the likelihood of accidents and malfunctions. Monitoring subsystems, designed for rapid detection of leaks, were included, along with newer-generation emergency cooling systems for the main reactor core.
The reactor is now also used to power the new Project 955 Borei submarines. OKBM Afrikantov developed it.
These reactors could power the massive missile boat to 22 knots on the surface and 27 knots submerged.
The Typhoon class carried a crew of 160. Living conditions were plush for a submarine with even a swimming pool and sauna for the crew’s comfort. They could stay submerged for 120 days.
The Soviets built six Typhoons; a seventh was started but never finished. All of the Typhoons are now retired—a legacy of the Cold War.
Russian submarines are sometimes referred to as cruiser submarines because some models were designed for long-range, independent missions—a role comparable to that of surface cruisers. In the Russian naming system, the prefix ‘K’ stands for kreyserskaya, meaning “cruiser.”
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
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