How A British Submarine Spent Hours Under A Russian Aircraft Carrier

The Drive / The WarZone ^ | 1/11/23 | MATUS SMUTNY

[MAGA2017]

A Cold War British nuclear sub sneaked into a Soviet naval exercise and took closeup underwater pictures of Russia’s new aircraft carrier.

n 1977, with the Cold War in full swing, the U.K. Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarine HMS Swiftsure (S-126) slipped right into the heart of a large-scale Soviet Northern Fleet exercise in the Barents Sea. The British submarine penetrated undetected through the layered escort screens of destroyers and frigates and meticulously approached the Russian aircraft carrier Kiev. The submarine recorded extremely valuable acoustic signatures and took incredible underwater periscope pictures of the Soviet carrier’s hull and propellers. As an example of a perfect covert operation, the Soviet Navy had absolutely no idea about the presence of the NATO attack submarine and the amount of valuable data it was able to collect.

The origins of the Swiftsure class of nuclear submarine can be traced back to the mid-1960s. At the time, the Royal Navy was facing the growing threat of nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed Soviet submarines routinely operating in the Atlantic Ocean. To counter these, the Swiftsure included improvements based on the lessons learned from previous all-British-designed classes, allowing for deeper diving, higher speeds, and lower radiated noise.

[atomic_dog]

Oceanographic research in the North Atlantic. That is my story and I am sticking to it. ;-)

"Weather observation" exercises.

[AppyPappy]

Kiev was kinda sorta an aircraft carrier. VTOL/STOL planes. I think it is now a casino