Project 705

[LostCosmonaut]

The USSR's Project 705 class submarines incorporated many technological advances for their time. For instance, operation of the submarine was intended to be highly automated, reducing the total crew by a large amount. Additionally, it used large amounts of titanium in the hull, and a liquid metal cooled reactor, meaning that it could dive to much deeper depths and travel at higher speeds. In theory, the 705s should have been superior to any US Navy submarine design. However, they suffered from maintainence issues, were expensive to operate, and were exceptionally noisy, even compared to contemporary Soviet submarines.

 

 

(via wikiped)

 

I'm not very knowledgeable about naval matters, so I'm curious as to whether the 705's failings were the result of an inherently flawed concept behind their design, or because the Soviets at the time did not have the knowledge/technology to implement it properly.

[SuperComrade]

Well, for one thing, they were titanium hulled, which is very difficult to build with and also really expensive.

 

Liquid metal reactors also means they had to be kept above a certain temperature constantly, or the liquid metal would solidify