The Sevmash Production Association JSC (part of OSK JSC), a solemn ceremony was held for the floating out of the strategic missile submarine of the Borey-A project on July 16. The nuclear-powered missile submarine “Prince Oleg,” known as a nuclear submarine cruiser in Russian terminology, was built to the improved Borey-A project design, and belongs to the fourth generation of nuclear-powered submarines designed for the Russian Navy. The designer is TsKB MT Rubin. The event was attended by representatives of government, the Ministry of Defense, the Navy, the United Shipbuilding Corporation, JSC PO Sevmash, Central Design Bureau MT “Rubin,” and the government of the Arkhangelsk region.
At the ceremony, words of greeting were delivered by the First Deputy Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Aleksey Alsufiev, Admiral Alexander Vitko, Chief of the Main Staff of the Navy, Leonid Strugov, First Vice President of OSK JSC, Mikhail Budnichenko, General Director of Sevmash Production Association, General Director of Central Design Bureau MT Rubin Igor Vilnit. Before the floating out, Father Benjamin performed the ceremony of blessing the crew and consecrating the submarine. By tradition, the crew commander of the nuclear submarine “Prince Oleg,” captain of the 2nd rank Igor Golubev, broke a bottle of champagne on the side of the nuclear-powered ship.
Prince Oleg (Knyaz Oleg) is a Borey-A-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and the first series submarine of the modernised 955A project currently under construction for the Russian Navy. The submarine is named after Prince Oleg of Novgorod. The submarine was laid down on 27 July 2014. In February 2018 it was reported that the construction of the submarine had been delayed because the builder, Sevmash, had not received a diesel generator for the submarine. According to Sevmash the problem was with its supplier Kolomensky Zavod, which had not been able to deliver the part.
Designed by the Rubin bureau in St. Petersburg, the Borey class SSBN is 580 feet (170 meters) long, has a hull diameter of 42 feet (13 meters), and a crew of 107, including 55 officers, a maximum depth of about 1,500 feet (450 meters) and a submerged speed of about 29 knots. All the Borey class strategic submarines carry up to 16 Bulava ballistic missiles with multiple warheads. The Borey class submarines are expected to form the core of Russia’s strategic submarine fleet, replacing the aging Project 941 (NATO Typhoon class) and Project 667 class (Delta-3 and Delta-4) boats. Russia is planning to build eight Borey and Borey-A class subs by 2020.
