Key Points and Summary – The Soviet Papa-class submarine K-222—Project 661 “Anchar”—was a one-off nuclear cruise missile boat that pushed Cold War engineering to the edge.
-Built with a titanium hull and twin reactors, it set an underwater speed record of 44 knots and carried P-70 Ametist missiles plus torpedoes.
Mike-Class Submarine from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
K-278 Komsomolets Mike-Class. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-But that performance came at a brutal price: staggering cost, complex maintenance, hull cracking, and a reactor incident that cut short its frontline career.
-Withdrawn in the 1980s and left to languish after the USSR’s collapse, K-222 was finally scrapped in 2010, reactors and fuel still aboard—an expensive monument to Soviet overreach.
Papa-Class Submarine Profile
In American English, “Papa” is an informal title for father, akin to “Daddy.” In Espanol, “papa” in lowercase can either mean “Daddy” or “potato,” depending on whether you emphasize the first or second syllable, respectively. (And if you capitalize “El Papa,” it means “The Pope.”)
In the military context, “Papa” signifies the letter P in the NATO phonetic alphabet.
More directly relevant to our current topic at hand, it’s also the NATO reporting name for a class of Soviet-made nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine (SSGN) designed during the Cold War: the Papa-class SSGN, officially known to the Soviets as the Project 661 “Anchar” (named for the Antiaris genus of evergreen trees or shrubs in the family Mulberry.
Papa-Class (Project 661 Anchar) Initial History
Though “P” obviously comes after the letter “O” in the alphabet, somebody apparently forgot to tell that to the eggheads who came up with the NATO reporting names for Soviet subs, as the Papa-class actually preceded the Oscar-class SSGNs (officially known to the Russians as Project 949 “Granit” and Project 949A “Antey”) chronologically speaking.
In addition, whilst 14 Oscar-class boats were completed, only one Papa-class submarine, the K-222, was built.
As was the case with the Oscars that succeeded her, K-222 was built by Sevmash (which still exists today as part of the Russian Federation’s United Shipbuilding Corporation JSC, headquartered in Arkhangelsk Region, Severodvinsk).
She was initially designated the K-18, redesignated the K-162 during construction, and finally renamed, for good, the K-222 in 1978. She was laid down on December 28, 1963, launched on December 21, 1968, completed on December 31, 1968, and finally commissioned in 1969. (Communist efficiency at its finest, eh.)
K-222 Tech Specs and Vital Stats
Displacement: 5,197 tons (5,115 long tons) surfaced,7,000 tons (6,900 long tons) submerged
Hull length: 106.92 m (350 ft 9 in)
Beam Width: 11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Draft: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
Power Source: 2 × nuclear reactors generating 80,000 metric horsepower (PS; 59,000 kW)
Propulsion: 2 × shafts; 2 × steam turbines
Max Speed: 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) surfaced; 44 knots (81 km/h; 51 mph) (submerged)
Test Depth: 400 m (1,300 ft)
Endurance: 70 days
Crew Complement: 82 commissioned officers and matrosiy (enlisted seamen)
Armament:
10 × P-70 Ametist (NATO reporting name: SS-N-7 Starbright) anti-ship cruise missiles)
4 × 533mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes
That incredible 44-knot statistic gave K-222 an unbeaten world speed record for a submarine traveling beneath the surface of the sea. She also made history as the first titanium-hulled submarine ever, a construction material later emulated by the massive Typhoon-class (known to the Russians as the Project 941 “Akula,” i.e., “Shark”), immortalized for Western fiction readers and filmgoers alike in “The Hunt for Red October.”
Operational History in Brief
So then, given all of the impressive and desirable features that the Papa class had, why didn’t it have a more successful career, i.e., why was only one ship of the class built?
In a nutshell, as noted by Joseph Trevithick in a December 1, 2019, article for The War Zone (TWZ), it “also proved too expensive and complicated to be anything more than a one-off, earning the nickname ‘Golden Fish.'”
K-222 did serve in the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet through the 1970s, but the discovery of hull cracks led to a lengthy repair period from 1972 to 1975.
To make matters worse, she had an accident with her nuclear reactor in 1980 (shades of “K-19: The Widowmaker,” anyone?), ergo she had her final operational patrol in 1981 and she was removed from service in 1988, languishing in neglect long after the Soviet collapse, as the original tools to handle the fuel rods had somehow been lost somewhere along the way, and the navy brass couldn’t find a company or organization willing or able to defuel the submarine.
Where Is She Now?
Unlike the six Oscar II subs that remain in service, the K-222 was neither upgraded nor preserved for posterity. By 2008, she had become so decrepit that cracks began appearing in the hull, and the ballast tanks began taking on water.
In March 2010, Sevmash finally scrapped the boat with the reactors and nuclear fuel still on board, and the project was completed that June.
Oliver Hazard Perry-Class Frigates. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In fiction, the Papa-class submarine “died” much earlier and went out with a bang to boot.
In the late great Tom Clancy’s bestselling WWIII novel “Red Storm Rising,” published in 1986 (and one of his few novels not part of the “Ryanverse,” i.e., the Jack Ryan series), the sub is sunk by American naval aviator Jerry “The Hammer” O’Malley, flying an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopter from the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Reuben James (FFG-557), while attacking a convoy.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
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