SKB Rubin - History 1941-1955

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 206 submarines had been built on 19 projects of TsKB-18. Another 54 submarines were completed during the war. TsKB-18 was evacuated from Leningrad to the city of Gorky. The Leningrad TsKB-18 group was established in Leningrad in 1944. For the creation of Soviet submarines successfully operating against Nazi Germany, TsKB-18 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The year 1945 saw the return of TsKB-18 to Leningrad and temporary placement on the Griboedov Canal, 166. In 1946 TsKB-18 moved to the building, which occupied until the Great Patriotic War. In TsKB-18, a group of engineers led by the chief designer of an experimental submarine "M-401" with a "single" engine, working under submarines in the KPI cycle, was transferred from OKB-196 NKVD. In 1947 TsKB-18 completed the development of a technical design for the 613 torpedo diesel-electric submarine of medium displacement (the main designers are VN Peregudov, Ya.E. Evgrafov, Z.A. Deribin), the first post-war submarine project taking into account the experience of military operations Soviet and German submarines during the war. The lead submarine of this project was transferred to the Navy in 1951. According to project 613, the world's largest submarine series was built - 215 units. About 25-30 submarines were built in the People's Republic of China according to the same project, which was transferred as technical assistance to the Chinese People's Republic. Research and experimental work, carried out in large numbers on these submarines, made it possible to closely approach the creation of future nuclear submarines and the installation of new weapons on submarines - ballistic and cruise missiles. For the development of projects of high-speed submerged submarines, the second in the USSR submarine design bureau, SKB-143 (now SPMBM Malachite) was created in 1948. Over 100 designers of TsKB-18, including designers sent to Germany in 1947. and those who worked there at the Antipin Bureau. About the same number of engineers who worked in the department of "unified" engines of the Central Research Institute-45, headed by B. D. Zlotopolsky. Ten German engineers worked at the Antipin Bureau in Germany. The head of TsKB-18, A.Antipin, was appointed head of SKB-143, the chief engineer of the TsKB-18, PZ Golosovsky, became the chief engineer of the new bureau; D. Zlotopolsky. In the new bureau, work started on TsKB-18 and Bureau Antipin on the submarine of Project 617 with a combined-cycle turbine unit using high-concentration hydrogen peroxide (the so-called Walter cycle) as an oxidizer. The TsKB-18 was entrusted with the work planning, financing and logistical support of the work of the OKB-196 NKVD (Bureau Slezina). OKB-196 ceased operations in 1953. The technical design of a large (ocean) torpedo submarine of Project 611 (26 units) (chief designer - S.A. Yegorov) was completed in 1948. The lead submarine of this project, the B-61, was commissioned by the USSR Navy in 1953. This project, the largest Soviet submarine at that time, was adopted as a prototype for creating the first atomic submarine of the USSR, Project 627. The converted submarines of this project the first sea ballistic missiles were installed and tested. On the basis of the project 611, several series were subsequently created that continued the development of this type of ocean-powered diesel-electric submarines — projects 641, 641B, 629. Also in 1948, a technical project 615 of an experimental small submarine with a machine installation (chief designer - A.S. Kassazier), operating in a closed loop using liquid oxygen and a solid chemical carbon dioxide absorber (KPI), was developed. This project was a further development of ideas carried out on the experimental submarine M-401. An experimental submarine of Project 615 M-254 was commissioned to the USSR Navy in 1953. Her successful trials allowed to start the construction of a series of such submarines on an improved project A615 (30 units). In 1949, in TsKB-18, design projects have begun for the installation of missile weapons in submarines. In 1953, in connection with the conversion of SKB-143 to the design of nuclear submarines, the entire order book of SKB-143, the main of which was Project 617 (chief designer - A.Antipin), was returned to TsKB-18 along with the majority of employees working in design departments. All test benches, a chemical laboratory, and research departments have been transferred to TsKB-18. Work on the creation of an experimental submarine 617 of the S-99 project ended with its transfer to the USSR Navy in 1956. For the first time in the USSR, the submarine S-99 reached an underwater speed of 20 knots. For the deployment of work on the project of the first nuclear submarine on project 627 to SKB-143, another group of engineering and technical workers (more than 100 people) was transferred from TsKB-18. The design bureau of torpedo tubes (CBA) was organized in TsKB-18, into which 17 leading specialists in submarine torpedo armament were transferred. In connection with a significant increase in the scope of work on underwater shipbuilding, work on project 613 was transferred to the new Central Design Bureau No. 112 (TsKB-112), the third underwater design bureau of the USSR, formed on the basis of the design bureau of the Krasnoe Sormovo plant. At the same time, a group of employees led by Chief Designer of the 613 project Z.A. Deribin was transferred from TsKB-18 to TsKB-112. For the same reason, for the development of serial drawings of the A615 submarine of the Leningrad TsKB-16, a group of designers was transferred under the leadership of the Chief Designer of this project, A.S. Kassacyer. In 1955, both the project and the designers returned to TsKB-18.