The Charlie class submarine is a nuclear powered

Nuclear marine propulsion

Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship by a nuclear reactor. Naval nuclear propulsion is propulsion that specifically refers to naval warships...

 cruise missile submarine built for the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 and later operated by the Russian Navy.

Background

The Charlie I class submarine (Project 670 Skat) SSGN

SSGN

A cruise missile submarine is a submarine that can launch guided missiles. SSGN is the United States Navy hull classification symbol for a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine. The SS denotes "Ship, Submersible" , the G denotes "guided missile," and the N denotes "nuclear powered"....

 was first launched at the Krasnoye Sormovo inland shipyard

Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112

Krasnoye Sormovo Factory No. 112 named after Andrei Zhdanov was one of the oldest shipbuilding factories in the Soviet Union, located in theSormovsky City District of Nizhny Novgorod .- Early history:...

 at Gorkiy in 1967 with another 10 following over a period of five years. The Charlie Is had two banks of four missile tubes angled upwards on each side of the bow outside the pressure hull. The tubes were covered by large outer doors and the design was to incorporate the P-120 Malakhit (SS-N-9 Siren) medium range anti ship missile. Due to delays in the missile development, the missile was substituted with the short range P-70 Ametist (SS-N-7 Starbright) submerged launch missile which itself was a development of the P-15 Termit

P-15 Termit

The P-15 Termit is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. In Russian service today it also seems to be called the Rubezh...

 (SS-N-2 Styx) surface launched missile. The purpose of the missiles was to be used for pop up surprise attacks on high value surface targets such as aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s.

In 1972 to 1979, six improved units called the Project 670M SKAT-M (Charlie II class) were built. The improved Charlie IIs were built at Gorkiy with an 8m (26 ft 3in) insertion in the hull forward of the fin to incorporate electronics and launch systems for targeting and firing of the long range P-120 Malakhit anti-ship missile.

The Charlie Is and IIs had to return to port for reload once they had expended their payloads, although the secondary armament of torpedoes and sensor suite of sonar systems meant that they provided useful anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 capabilities.

The last Charlie was retired in 1994. While still operational, one unit of the class was leased to the Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

 between 1988 and 1991, mainly for India to gain experience in the operations of a nuclear submarine

Nuclear submarine

A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...

. India's Arihant class submarine is believed to resemble a Charlie II boat.

Ships

• 11 Project 670 (Charlie I) submarines were built between 1968 and 1973. K-43 was leased to the Indian Navy
  Indian Navy
  The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
  
   as the Chakra from 1988 to 1992. K-429
  Soviet submarine K-429
  K-429 was a Project 670-A Скат nuclear submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down on 26 January 1971 at Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky...
  
   sank near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
  Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
  Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...
  
   in 1983 with 16 fatalities, but was raised and used as a harbour training hulk.
• 6 Project 670M (Charlie II) submarines were built between 1973 and 1980.

All ships were scrapped between 1990 and 1994.

Charlie I class — significant dates

#	Shipyard	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fleet	Status
K-87 from January 15, 1978 K-212	Gorkiy	February 6, 1965	March 20, 1968	December 28, 1968	Pacific	Decommissioned April 19, 1990 for scrapping
K-25	Gorkiy	December 2, 1965	July 31, 1968	December 30, 1968	Pacific	Decommissioned June 24, 1991 for scrapping
K-325	Gorkiy	September 6, 1969	June 4, 1971	November 5, 1971	Pacific	Decommissioned June 24, 1991 for scrapping
K-429 Soviet submarine K-429 K-429 was a Project 670-A Скат nuclear submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down on 26 January 1971 at Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky...	Gorkiy	January 26, 1971	April 22, 1972	September 15, 1972	Pacific	Decommissioned for scrapping
K-43 leased to India as Chakra	Gorkiy	May 9, 1964	August 2, 1966	November 5, 1967	Pacific	Decommissioned July 30, 1992 for scrapping
K-121	Gorkiy	November 25, 1966	April 29, 1969	October 31, 1969	Pacific	Decommissioned June 30, 1992 for scrapping
K-313	Gorkiy	July 14, 1966	July 16, 1969	December 16, 1969	Pacific	Decommissioned April 19, 1990 for scrapping
K-308	Gorkiy	December 29, 1967	February 19, 1970	September 20, 1970	Pacific	Decommissioned July 30, 1992 for scrapping
K-320 Soviet submarine K-320 The nuclear-powered Charlie-I Soviet submarine K-320 had a reactor accident prior to commissioning while under construction. The event occurred on January 18, 1970...	Gorkiy	April 30, 1968	March 27, 1971	September 15, 1971	Pacific	Decommissioned April 19, 1990 for scrapping
K-302	Gorkiy	January 17, 1969	July 11, 1970	December 1, 1970	Pacific	Decommissioned June 30, 1992 for scrapping
K-201	Gorkiy	November 16, 1971	September 1972	December 26, 1972	Pacific	Decommissioned April 19, 1990 for scrapping

Charlie II class — significant dates

#	Shipyard	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fleet	Status
K-458 .	Gorkiy	February 12, 1974	June 30, 1975	December 29, 1975	Northern	Decommissioned June 24, 1991 for scrapping
K-452	Gorkiy	December 30, 1972	June 1973	December 30, 1973	Northern	Decommissioned May 30, 1998 for scrapping
K-479	Gorkiy	December 20, 1975	May 6, 1977	September 30, 1977	Northern	Decommissioned July 5, 1992 for scrapping
K-503	Gorkiy	February 7, 1977	September 22, 1978	December 31, 1978	Northern	Decommissioned June 30, 1993 for scrapping
K-508	Gorkiy	December 10, 1977	October 3, 1979	December 30, 1979	Northern	Decommissioned August 4, 1995 for scrapping
K-209	Gorkiy	December 20, 1979	September 16, 1980	December 30, 1980	Northern	Decommissioned 1996 for scrapping