Project 705 Lira: The Soviet Submarine That's Still the Fastest Ever Built

[@Apater6076]

'You arrogant ass, you've killed us!'. My memory of the Alfa class.

[@davidhipwell3758]

I always thought it was 'American' instead of 'arrogant'.

[@menninkainen8830]

Go to 110 %

[@ayubsalim1303]

Captain Tupolov!

[@joshuabessire9169]

You are telling me you've lost ANOTHER submarine?

[@jamedmurphy4468]

Your turning directly into that torpedo????....Yes

[@AnuViation]

"LONG and HARDENED metal contraptions designed to swiftly PENETRATE enemy defenses before SPEWING forth their PAYLOADS"

[@Subvertebrate]

We’re men of culture here.

[@crazysnake1096]

Oh sure it sounds dirty when I say it….bit it is sophisticated when Simon says it….

[@TheStevedie]

@@crazysnake1096 It's the accent.

[@lewismantle3887]

{Heavy Breathing}

[@trayolphia5756]

It’s called “fucking with people” Convenient that the bombs bullets and missiles are all shaped like 🍆 I’m paraphrasing of course, but the late great George Carlin did a bit on that notion dealing with the first gulf war

[@satricv]

Had a buddy of mine that was a sonarman in the NAVY. He told me all their subs sound like lawnmowers on sonar, even when they are trying to be silent, their pump noise gives them away. The only ones they ever had problems detecting was the older diesel electric boats when they were on battery power. He said some of those boats had some good skippers and could actually sneak around for short periods of time, till their batteries ran out.

[@louiscypher4186]

There was one nuke boat that was hard to detect an akula class and I do mean "an" Due to Soviets sovieting, they cut costs so the rest of the Akula class never received the overhaul to make them quieter. Post Soviet collapse Russians were so proud of themselves they made a big deal about how it managed to track a US sub undetected. Which allowed the US to go back over the hydrophone data and design new software that could detect it in real time.

[@saphyr7868]

the still build theese in my home country of germany iirc

[@nortyfiner]

[@armcchargues8623]

I was on boats that tracked an Alfa and an Akula, and they were very loud according the ST's I talked to. I think we were tracking one of them at somewhere around 15-20K yards.

[@uurkisme]

The soviet navy is so bad.. "do you see torpedo boats?"

[@thalmoragent9344]

​​@@uurkisme That's the best they could hope for, and at that point, even CIWS would be overkill 😅 Russian Navy is a joke.

[@Rob-x7f]

The stats he gave were as fake and poorly fitting as his too tight shirt lol. The sub was a nightmare and never came close to functioning.

[@thalmoragent9344]

@Rob-x7f So basically, the Russian Navy in a nutshell? 😅

[@Sams406fishing]

and its sooo LOUD nato knows when they start their engines in port ..

[@DonWan47]

Probably start it in the Baltic ports and we hear it in the pacific 😂

[@ERAUsnow]

The reactor could never be shut down. The liquid metal coolant would solidify, with no way to re-melt. The shore facilities needed to keep the coolant liquified while the boats were in port never worked properly (shocking!) so the reactors had to always be kept at a nominal power level.

[@thegeneral123]

Liquid bismuth/lead reactor. You can't shut them down.

[@DonWan47]

@@ERAUsnow The reactor and the engines are two different things.

[@Jimtheneals]

That's what I was going to say.

[@1963uspl]

18:11 The prang into a whale is used in the novel Hunt For Red October as part of Marko Ramius back story. He was in command of the K432 and saved the boat after the collision. The book notes that a section of the whale bone is mounted on display in the officers club. Goes to show the sort of detail Clancy could get into.

[@seanbrazell7095]

That would help explaine why he was actually investigated by the fbi if I recall correctly .

[@martymartian7833]

I'm such a fool as I bought the media's story rhat the Hunt For Red October was fiction. Do our media networks report anything that doesn't have a paid for agenda?

[@lazytommy0]

Simon having way too much fun with that intro 🤣

[@markdsm-5157]

"Engineering wizardry" when that term is applied to anything the Soviets did, you know safety becomes a non essential component in anything they designed.

[@Stealth86651]

Depends. Lot of their stuff was crazy unsafe, but that doesn't mean they haven't had some brilliant advances/inventions. Remember, they were the first ones to have a man in space. It's more referencing how they managed to compete despite having so much less resources and funding.

[@PandorasFolly]

​@@Stealth86651 first ones to put a man into space and the first to return one alive.

[@vladogorod]

@@Stealth86651Hey yes, but itcis actually because of ideology. Gagarin was a brainwashed naive guy who was ready to die for Party. Actually he thought he will die there. What he did wasn’t for science. It was for the Party. The rocket was designed thanks to one very talented engineer Sergei Koroliov. But what you might not know is that before sending a man to space Koroliov was a prisoner of gulag (soviet concentration camps system). He wasn’t brainwashed, but he was forced to do this, otherwise he would be sent back to camp. It was sheer luck that we Russians did it. It also was a tragical comedy

[@atomicskull6405]

@@Stealth86651 Good example: The west gave up on rocket propelled torpedoes because of numerous horrible accidents and finally the USS Wasp sinking itself with all hands lost during a test. The soviets forged ahead and actually made a practical "supersonic" rocket propelled torpedo which they paid for with blood. The VA-111 Shkval (Squall) "flies" underwater inside a bubble of gas generated by cavitation, which makes it incredibly noisy, however it also travels faster than the speed of sound underwater which means it reaches it's target ahead of return sonar pings and it's own noise. And it's so fast it's basically impossible to avoid.

[@vic5015]

Somewhat true. A *big* part of the reason Soviet submissions were faster than their Western counterparts is that they hsd *far* less reactor shielding.

[@kweeks10045]

It was insanely loud! Fast, tough, and very loud.

[@klausM54]

"Admiral, the Alfa is just too qick. It´s only a matter of time now, Sir."

[@TheKazragore]

I understood that reference. Also *Alpha

[@klausM54]

@@TheKazragore Strange, I looked it up on Wikipedia to make sure. It says Alfa. 🤷‍♂

[@ToddBurgess]

You arrogant ass. You've killed us!

[@JohnKoenig-db8lk]

​@@klausM54It is Alfa.

[@Shadowboost]

​@@TheKazragore wrong. Alfa

[@cat22_a1]

It's not just speed but ,importantly, crew training, how quiet your submarine is, how good it's passive sonar is, and the speed, power, and accuracy of your torpedoes

[@JeffBilkins]

And how safe you can smoke inside the submarine

[@BonShula]

And they are not smart people

[@pablom-f8762]

"They are doing close to 30 knots, at that speed they could run over my daughter's stereo and they wouldn't hear a thing."

[@MrKekus-o3l]

@@BonShula why are you racist?

[@BonShula]

@@MrKekus-o3l I am white, they are white. Russian is not a race. Also it is not very smart to invade countries making the whole world hate you

[@microb8169]

Would like to see some more mega projects covering heavy equipment or evolution of a specific type

[@Royce16727]

And don't skimp on the penis jokes! 🤣

[@transmaster]

Speed means noise, if a sub can be tracked, it is dead.

[@damonlandsdown]

When these were released, they were so fast and deep diving that torpedoes couldn't get near them so it didn't matter. The Mk48 ADCAP was developed to counter specifically this submarine.

[@GM-xk1nw]

nope, it ran deeper than the western torpedoes.

[@vereferreus5262]

And the influence on the sonar equipment. The noise wil virtual making that sub blind.

[@vereferreus5262]

@@GM-xk1nw and therefore: nuclear depth charges.

[@MarcusRhodes-q2s]

@@GM-xk1nw Not the spearfish. This torpedo has a 30 KM range. 80 Kn speed and no known crush depth. There is a saying in the royal and US navy. If a Spearfish locks onto your acoustic signature, you are already dead. Manoeuvring, countermeasures, depth. Doesn't matter you can't evade it. This torpedo can track a submarine through a cluster of decoys, identify the real sub from the decoys by the propeller sound and chase the sub for hours. This torpedo came into service in 1992 by which point no submarine was safe from it. This torpedo is used by every royal navy submarine during the period, vanguard, Trafalgar and now Astute class.

[@graemepennell]

By 0:20, In H Jon Benjamin's voice, Archer "PHRASING..... Are we not doing phrasing any more?"

[@bryanweisser8195]

Fuck yea

[@firstnamelastname6216]

Omg thank you!! I knew I couldn't be the only one!!! 😂😅😂

[@NickY-lx7rr]

SERIOUSLY😂

[@matthewcox7985]

Liquid metal cooled reactors present some interesting challenges. Starting from the heavy end of the periodic table, Simon mentioned the Bismuth-Lead mix. Pure Lead is good option but servicing the reactor is a real problem due to Lead having a fairly high melting point and vapor pressure. Mercury has been tried, but that has its own problems of which toxicity is one of the lesser ones. Tin has been investigated, but so far never used as it has a bit of a corrosion problem that could lead to clogs. But the most interesting ones are Sodium and Sodium-Potassium amalgam: they don't corrode most metals, and if the coolant gets neutron-activated, the half lives are fairly short; the biggest problem with these is that they are _insanely_ reactive with air and water. You really don't want to get NaK'ed.

[@WolfhuntFayed]

THe problem was about shutting the reactior down for maintenance - in the end, Russians created a system of superheated steam that kept the lead-bismuth coolant liquid without the reactor to be active. Before that time the reactor had to be active all the time, even when the sub was moored at the base.

[@maxchizhov]

K-222 was the sole Project 661 "Anchar" (Cyrillic: Анчар) (NATO reporting name: Papa class) was the fastest ever with a top speed of 44.7 knots. The Alfa class, Soviet designation Project 705 Lira had "only" 42 knots.

[@The31stcenturyfox]

Thank you. Someone knows their stuff unlike this channel.

[@ginbei711]

​@@The31stcenturyfoxhe mentioned k-222 in this video around 9:15 you know

[@cameronspence4977]

Still not very impressive, because 1. Its a ship....even the fast ones are pretty slow and 2. Even ww2 warships could break 30-35 knots

[@wazza-au]

​@@cameronspence4977 Nope, the Papa class was a submarine. The fastest in the world so far.

[@WolfhuntFayed]

To complete maxchizov, Project 611 was so loud at full ahead that it got a nickname "the roaring cow". At that time it was a great achievement (not to discredit the Project 705 at any way) and they pushed the limits to the edge - but at a great cost (not refering to accidents) - the hight speed deprived the sub of its greatest weapon - STEALTH. Therefore it is more convenient for a sub to be a bit slower (30+knots is not slow at all) in order to be quiet .

[@xitheris1758]

I think I remember reading they were so expensive that Soviet admirals called them "the golden fish"

[@l.b8896]

0:13 idk which one of you wrote this one but ya nasty

[@gianurwiler5098]

Hello Simon i wish you and all that see this a Good New Year

[@memphoonthemississippi642]

Generic comment for Megaprojects videos: Please fix the volume at 18:00! Are you worried people have dozed off and need to be jarred awake?

[@andycocchia4202]

For real. It’s 7:21am. I’m sitting outside work waiting to start… that woke me up more than the redbull.

[@fredceely]

I think that it's safe to say that the services never tell us the true extent of their ships and planes capabilities. Regarding the SR-71, I recall one being sent from the east coast on a mission to photograph events on the battlefields in one of those middle eastern kerfuffles involving the Israelis. It was refueled once on the way and once on the way back, but it never landed until it was back in the states. It returned much sooner than the stated top speed would allow. Same for the super-carriers. I was in the Vietnam Era Navy (in a very minor capacity) and I spoke to, and drank with, guys that were either on the USS Enterprise or on very fast destroyers on carrier battle group duty. The stated top speed of the Enterprise was about the same as the proven top speed of the destroyers. Their mission was to get somewhere far away ASAP. One fellow on a destroyer turned in with the Enterprise in sight, but opening up a lead. By about six hours later when he woke up, the Enterprise was nowhere in sight. The US issues modest numbers to mask their products true capabilities. The Russians exaggerate theirs to cover up their insecurities. Plus, I don't think it would be a good idea to run any Russian submarine at the top of the performance envelope for any length of time. But that's just me: cautious by nature.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

At least one example of the remaining Alfa-class should be preserved as a museum-ship.

[@michiganengineer8621]

I didn't realize the Alpha class still holds the _official_ speed record for a manned submarine. You have to wonder what could be (is being) done with current technologies!

[@1TakoyakiStore]

It does as a production submarine. The experimental K-222 (nato designated papa class) does beat it, but it's a one off that could be better described as a tech demo to figure out the viability of the later Alpha class. The fastest the K-222 ever got was 44 knots or 51mph submerged. The top speed of the Alpha is 41 knots. They actually mention it in the video briefly.

[@aoife1122]

"Official records" mean little to nothing in the rather secretive world of military weapon development. P.S. The NATO reporting name was Alfa (with an "f").

[@mattmiller4613]

The "Papa" was the fastest of all time.... at least up untu😢until a decade or two ago. I'm not sure if its beat yet but maybe... maybe not🤔

[@michiganengineer8621]

@@aoife1122 Habit is a wonderful thing when typing stuff out LOL. And after serving on CV-60 I agree 100% about "official speeds". "Sara" topped 45kts during trials in 1983, 10kts over her "official" speed.

[@aoife1122]

@@mattmiller4613 We may never know. There are some "wild claims" that the Seawolf class can reach a top speed of 45 knots (though this is rather doubtful with a displacement of nearly 10.000 tons). Some prototypes/research vessels maybe... like in the 1950s the (diesel-electric) USS Albacore reached a top speed of 35 knots or more even. I believe, the US Navy is never really publishing such details, "in excess of 25 knots"... is all you need to know. 😀

[@phizc]

12:18 I couldn't believe that this was a quote from CDC about polonium 210, but it actually is. For reference, the LD-50 of polonium 210 is 1 microgram. Large quantities indeed.

[@Harry-yz2jv]

Babe wake up, Mega projects has uploaded another Soviet video

[@preparedscouter2357]

Lol

[@soberek]

I was delighted to see Konovalov skipper survived and later sung Abba songs with Mark Darcy and James Bond on a Greek Island.

[@Dudeman9339]

What's the point of having the fastest submarine in the world if when you use that speed EVERYONE KNOWS WHERE YOUR SUBMARINE IS?

[@Capeau]

To get away once detected, obviously

[@tehgerbil]

Because them knowing where it is isn't much help if they can't get there fast enough to do anything about it. In a war, saying "we know you're going to attack us!" Doesn't mean a lot when you can't respond to it before it happens.

[@MarcusRhodes-q2s]

@@tehgerbil Wrong on so many levels. Russian subs are fast. 41 knots at most. But they are VERY noisy and mostly deaf. Nato subs are always going to be quieter. Russian subs never sail at top speed everywhere as that just wears out the machinery faster and Russians are allergic to maintenance. A NATO sub can sneak up close to a Russian sub without being detected and fire a torpedo. even if they get to speed immediately it won't save the Russian sub. A typical Nato torpedo can travel at 70-80 knots and has a range of 20-30 KM often targeting the enemy subs unique acoustic signature rendering countermeasures useless.

[@Dudeman9339]

@@tehgerbil You know what anti-submarine-warfare planes are, right?

[@JohnDoe-rj9cq]

Dudeman, the idea of having the speed is to shoot and scoot. When torpedoes go off underwater it disturbs the sounds carried by the water. There is a window of time where a sub wouldn't be heard as easily and if they could reposition fast enough they would have a firing advantage while their enemy was trying to reacquire them. Didn't quite work out that way, but that was the intent

[@unmortal8672]

been awhile since ive seen any of your channels Simon you are looking really healthy lately keep up the good work

[@Lizardo451]

They will forever be remembered from "Crimson Tide" and "The Hunt for Red October".

[@wiadroman]

"In which they one up each other developing long hardened metal contraptions designed to swiftly penetrate enemy defenses before spewing forth their payloads" I see what you did there.

[@EShirako]

I mean, it was just STICKING OUT there, the humor jutting in our faces for all of us to admire..! :D

[@matthewcox7985]

And these are full of seamen...

[@JC_WT]

Okay, I wasn't ready for Swole Simon lol. Well done. 😸👍

[@Hammerhead547]

And the right after this they built the largest missile attack sub class in history with the Typhoon Class. A sub so large that it had space for a small swimming pool and a gym for sailors to use to maintain their fitness.

[@davidjernigan8161]

It was also the noiseist submarine. The titanium hull meant that it's maximum operating depth kept decreasing every time it dove deep.

[@optimusprimer4392]

Problem with titanium is it doesn't give like steel it just cracks and breaks very strong but brittle making it very hard to repair

[@mikecegelski1208]

It's was a titanium alloy so deep dives did not lower subsequent test depths

[@EmilyJelassi]

I loved the whale comparison!! Please use that one again in future videos! 🙏🏻 😊

[@KgMetcalfe]

The Alfa class, Soviet designation Project 705 Lira (Russian: Лира, meaning "Lyre", NATO reporting name Alfa), was a class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in service with the Soviet Navy from 1971 into the early 1990s, with one serving in the Russian Navy until 1996. They were among the fastest military submarines ever built, with only the prototype submarine K-222 (NATO reporting name Papa-class) exceeding them in submerged speed

[@tigerpjm]

Wow. Someone should put that info on Wikipedia...

[@BzizzleXD]

Simon. Every future must have whale comparison. Speed must be measured in Whale power. Kinda like horse power. But the sea.

[@molybdaen11]

Which species, subspecies, age and gender?

[@BzizzleXD]

@molybdaen11 that's Simon's choice.

[@juliusraben3526]

I hate to say: your enthousiasm got the better part of you: he wasnt talking speed. He was talking displacement...

[@BzizzleXD]

@juliusraben3526 both then. Whale speed and displacement

[@juliusraben3526]

@@BzizzleXD why stop there. Why not whale whale whale whale 0.7 whales ?

[@pzykezutube1165]

Simon been hitting the gym, looking good dude

[@YuriBoris-s8u]

We should get submarine drag racing 🏁

[@lousclue9567]

Ima need a drink after that intro.

[@jamesmatticks70]

The cost of R&D, production, repairs, decontamination, operation, decommissioning, storage & scraping sure paid off,huh? They learned a lot!

[@navypowertv]

The Project 705 Lira (Alpha Class) submarine truly pushed the limits of engineering! Despite its speed and cutting-edge design, it faced numerous challenges, from noisy reactors to maintenance nightmares. It’s fascinating how this ambitious project sparked NATO's countermeasures, proving just how much it impacted naval strategy. Do you think this high-risk, high-reward approach was worth it, or would the investment have been better spent elsewhere?

[@commanderrazor]

Minor nitpick: The Afla-class wasn't the fastest submarine in the world. That title goes to the Papa-class, AKA the Golden Fish. She went 44kts, but she was also an ultra-expensive one-off design (hence the nickname). The Alfa-class, however, is the fastest overall class of production submarines that weren't one-offs.

[@bluerider0988]

Commonly misquoted, titanium is not stronger than steel. It's specific strength is higher, aka strength to weight ratio, but not stronger. There are many different alloys of both but here are some general numbers. Yield strength of steel 350 mpa, titanium 140 mpa. Where titanium shines is in weight savings, aka strength to weight as i mentioned earlier. You could in theory design 2 parts of equal strength of titanium and steel, the titanium part would need to be bigger, but it would weigh less. If you took 1 equal sized pieces of steel and titanium, the steel is much stronger.

[@tigerpjm]

How about Aloominem? Or have the Americans not let anyone else test it?

[@darylcheshire1618]

as a POC, how effective were the titanium hulls? Titanium is difficult to work with but would be a wonderful marine material for boats and things you don’t want to rust. A lot of difficulty is in refining the titanium so already having the metal would be a bonus.

[@KurtisMorris-o5v]

Awesome channel.

[@johnicenogle593]

"Prone to breakdowns" seems to be a common trait of Soviet era hardware.

[@virtual-viking]

You might have mentioned that the reactor ran on weapons grade Uranium. Or, that the Americans found a tiny piece stamped "705" among the Titanium scrap they sourced from the USSR for their own projects - confirming the hull material.

[@Ayrshore]

Nah, NATO's nightmare is a Typhoon class with an electromagnetic drive. I saw a documentary about it, some guy called Ryan in it.

[@Ubique2927]

that's right. EVERYTHING the USSR and now Russia claims is 100% true. I had a cousin in a Hunter Killer Sub. he said that most USSR subs were so noisy and had zero basic anti sonar stuff that they knew almost to the minute when they started their motors.

[@Staingo_Jenkins]

I like how they used a stopwatch animation at 3:35 and just slapped "weight" on it like its a scale lmao.

[@funkyjbass7762]

12:56 Incorrect Sir! Everyone knows that Capt. Marko Ramius took at the first new submarine of each class.

[@tylergenepinson9186]

The first 0:36 seconds I thought this was a brain blaze episode 😂

[@erasmus_locke]

👁️👁️ that opening 📸

[@mikethespike7579]

I'd have thought that high speeds are unimportant for subs, that it's stealth that marks marks a good sub.

[@RayTheMickey]

"Allegedly" they had several of those cores rock up on them when they got too cold.

[@TheRealCoolDude1989-nt5ed]

it almost sounds like the Red October , from "The Hunt for the Red October " .Just does not as big , or have those silent screws making the ultimate stealth sub .But the Russians always get creative when comes to their gear , but it sounds like a Jack Ryan story , and that class was shown in the Red October . And that is a great Cold War movie , which came from that Cold War era .

[@halfsourlizard9319]

Red October didn't use screws for its nearly silent propulsion system.

[@actschp1]

Agree with all of the comments on how loud they were. I'd like to mention that they were known as human microwaves. Minimal reactor shielding would allow ionizing radiation exposure many times more than a US Navy nuclear power plant would, and trhe fact that US Navy reactors use pressurized water, as opposed to liquid metal in the K64 russian reactors, meant that coolant spills were orders of magnitude more radioactive, and bismuth is a toxic metal all by itself. If you were a Russian sailor you could reach the US Naval Reactors lifetime ionizing radiation limit in a single cruise. The Russians were going for speed and deep operations, but they were loud, easily tracked, and both of those together negated any advantage their speed and deep running advantages. It was an ambitious design that was a "sucessful failure."

[@tylervaughn6328]

Do you know only one torpedo has ever hit another submarine, one, one time , uno, one more than zero.

[@nightwaves3203]

Submariner friend told a story of when they would hear the Alphas it was a case of oh well there they go and pointless to try following them. Crushed a bunch of egos I suppose.

[@DenofLore]

When it isn’t on fire. Or sinking. Or leaking radiation or blowing up under the surface. You know.

[@CodeRonin42]

Those titanium hulls were only good for one deep dive. Titanium doesn't spring back like the HY steel used on US built boats.

[@cideltacommand7169]

Double hulls can mitigate this effect, but true

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

An Alfa-class, the V.K. Konovalov, was feature in the film The Hunt for Red October.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:15 - Chapter 1 - A titanic endeavour 5:55 - Chapter 2 - Features & bugs 12:45 - Chapter 3 - The trouble with sea mammals 15:30 - Chapter 4 - Decomissioning 16:45 - Chapter 5 - Conclusion

[@szelingoj6212]

I like your style looking like mobster 👌

[@thomascarpenter8177]

One side went for speed over all, the other quiet over all, quiet eventually won out

[@victorgarciasilva8183]

Hi Simon, you could activate the automatic youtube audio transcription to spanish or another language, the whole world will thank you for it.

[@cartoonfan925]

2:27 ‘stand greater pressure without gaining weight’. That is my current goal, ie no chocolate when under stress but I suspect Simon was talking about something else.

[@jefferyedwards5003]

You played up the titanium hulls as their major strength, but then quietly added that "their hulls were prone to cracking..." You also added their dive capabilities. What those two have in common is that when they went to those depths, the titanium would become more brittle thereby decreasing each sequential diving depth capability. Ex-sonar analysis instructor...

[@stephenmiller5004]

A retired UK submariner witnessed a Soviet sub exceeding 50 to 55 knots underwater. The UK sub “surprised “ the Soviet and in their effort to get away wound up the reactor,probably over the normal operating limits….UK subs do not exceed these parameters.

[@donaldhoward8090]

Got some guns going dude. Simon

[@j.d.4697]

Russian speed just can't be beat. It's the result of centuries of mastering the art of running away.

[@NikolayMIA]

Lmao that’s why it is so big, enemies just cease to exist from running?

[@spencerstevens2175]

Pretty fancy for something you'll only use once

[@mightaswellbe]

Never tracked one myself (SS1 P-3 aircrew) but the folks I talked too that had said they were crazy noisy and easy to track.

[@dominickathiravel9453]

Great video as always, one issue though. When recording your mic keeps picking up on your sibilances which often be quite a discomfort when listing. Other than that keep going and sorry for the but

[@deanwaring6100]

Interesting 😊

[@Nebarus]

Don't worry, I glued an AirTag to it...

[@oliverwunkent5333]

Interesting at 18:11 you show the dismantling of the Australian Oberon Class Submarine HMAS Otama in Western Australia. Easily recognisable by it CSU3-41 Sonar Dome.

[@MarcusRhodes-q2s]

Yeh we have one here in the UK at Chatham dockyards where the Oberon class submarines were all built. Even the Australian ones. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. These submarines would go out at night. Remain submerged for days and return at night with no indication of where they went. The mission reports of the HMS Ocelot at Chatham are still classified to this day.

[@chincemagnet]

The thing about the USSR is we don’t even know for sure how many subs are lying in the ocean floor we never heard about

[@johnredcorn2476]

Look at that head! It's magnificent! I'm hypnotised by it's shape and sheen

[@stuartmiddleton1972]

Is that Simon or the Submarine?

[@johnredcorn2476]

@stuartmiddleton1972 simon ofc

[@rogergoodman8665]

The Typhoon class was the most feared submarine design Russia ever put to sea. Russia's newest subs are literally half of the displacement of the mighty Typhoon.

[@stefanmarraccini8646]

So am I the only person that is slowly going bonkers from that open door on the set? It was an interesting and unique touch initially but I've wearied of examining that deadbolt and latchplate. Please shut the door guys!! 🙏

[@garrettmastantuono8043]

You forgot to mention that those long hard penetrating contraptions are full of seamen

[@JoeDiGiovanniIV]

Simon is a cheeky fellow

[@rumatadestora]

The liguid-metal reactors are a very bad idea, but who cares when the crew safety is a non-issue for you...

[@michaelhannah5376]

and it was so noisy they didn’t need to be in the same ocean to track it.

[@charlesjmouse]

The most important thing is, "Never underestimate your enemy,." But in the light of recent events I wonder how much of Russia's 'might' is illusory?

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

Anyone who knows anything about soviet subs or who can use google probably also knows that the Alfas predecessor/testbed Project 661 aka Papa was the fastest sub ever built.

[@thetruthexperiment]

Titanium is very strong and very light but it’s a tricky element to work. Those who work with still know many tricks to make it strong where needed and flexible where needed and all these things can be welded together. Titanium on the other hand is very difficult to work and doesn’t nearly have the varying characteristics of steel. At least not yet and it will probably never be as well understood as steel.

[@zapman2100]

everyone talks about its top speed but ignores the fact when doing that speed you could hear it from across the ocean with how loud it was.

[@CTCAC2000]

Apparently the whale didn't hear it...

[@bbfoto7248]

While I would never say that the Soviet submarine fleet is not a serious threat (and I say "Soviet" and not "Russian" because 90% of their "modern" tech was engineered in and derived from the Soviet era), do you remember before anyone knew about the SR-71 Blackbird, or the F-117 Nighthawk flying in our skies until many years later??? So Yeah, be assured that the U.S. still has some unknown tech and tricks up its sleeves "flying" under water as well. The primary issue for the current Russian Navy is that its submarine Support Fleet has been decimated and forced to move and stay in "safer waters" far away from danger, as well as losing several important Naval admirals and commanders with valuable tactical experience. In addition, with all of the sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, and all of the money being spent on the ground and air war in Ukraine, the manufacture and availabilitiy of parts and the Budget to fund regular maintenance and refitting of their sub fleet has been severely impacted. When submarines in particular are not properly maintained, they quickly become noisy and therefore much more easily detectable. In addition, systems and the TRAINING for them need to be constantly and consistently upgraded and exercised to maintain proficiency and a tactical advantage. When stealth can no longer be maintained, subs lose their key advantage and become susceptible, no matter what defensive systems they may carry. Maintenance and timely refitting/updates have been a long-standing issue in the Russian Navy's sub fleet, well before the war in Ukraine. But the current war and economic strain only exacerbates this issue. In addition, 80% of the defence technology and engineers was developed in and located in Ukraine before it was given its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union. Then there is also a shortage of talented young engineers, and available submariners with the unique dispositions to reliably and competently perform in long-term submarine deployments due to the "Brain Drain" when so many fled the country to avoid conscription. Submarine crews need to be especially numerous to maintain redundancy to allow for frequent rotation for the necessary R&R so as not to "break". VERY Few possess the right temperament and disposition to "handle" the life of a submariner, and their pool of available talent is continuously dwindling, and/or fewer &.fewer have any interest in this type of life given that the risks grow exponentially higher with each passing day. Just My OPINION and Assessment. YMMV

[@BlueRoseShilloh]

If you haven’t made a video on the Swedish Götland submarine, please do

[@MichaelJohnson-ej1pl]

*Pushes glasses up nose* Actually, the fastest submarine constructed was the one-off Soviet boat K-222(NATO reporting name "Papa") capping out around 44 knots submerged, 3 knots faster than the Alfa class.

[@JacobNoelz]

Lookin' good fam, did you get some sun lately?

[@tigerpjm]

As a miner, I often wonder if I contrubuted to buliding the reactors. But I guess it's probably none of my bismuth.

[@sultanabran1]

Excellent video. I have a request, Messerschmidt ME-262 please.

[@bantazmo1978]

My dude has been lifting. I see you, bruh.

[@nathanchristensen824]

The Soviet built Papa class (NATO designation) is the all time speed demon. 44+ knots underwater. Never beaten, officially.

[@thomasgeekohoihanssen9242]

Great video👍 The audio is not as good as before, have you changed to a lavalier or something? Very sharp esSy and Teey✌️

[@billsoo306]

The basic concept is that of a fighter aircraft. Something fast and nimble that could win a dogfight. Conversely, NATO subs are more like stealth aircraft. We see a lot of the same today where Russian aircraft are arguably more maneuverable than F-22s. It's a bad choice, stealth is better in both arenas, but it gives the Russians something to brag about.

[@andrewlast1535]

Have they changed the aspect ratio on the host? He looks more compact?