View source for Quebec-class submarine

{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin|sclass=2}}
{{Infobox ship image
 | Ship image =Submarine M-296 2016 G1.jpg
 | Ship caption = M-296 in Odessa
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
 | Builders = 
 | Operators ={{navy|Soviet Union}}
 | Class before = [[Soviet M-class submarine|M class]]
 | Class after = 
 | Subclasses = 
 | Built range = 1952-1957
 | In commission range = 1952-1970s
 | Total ships building = 
 | Total ships planned = 100
 | Total ships completed = 30
 | Total ships cancelled = 
 | Total ships active = 
 | Total ships laid up = 
 | Total ships lost = 
 | Total ships retired = 
 | Total ships preserved = 2
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
 | Hide header = 
 | Header caption = 
 | Ship type = 
 | Ship displacement =*460 tons surfaced,
*540 tons submerged
 | Ship length = {{cvt|56.0|m|ftin}}
 | Ship beam = {{cvt|5.1|m|ftin}}
 | Ship draft = {{cvt|3.8|m|ftin}}
 | Ship depth = 
 | Ship propulsion =*closed cycle system: 2 × 700 hp (520 kW) conventional diesel engines,
*1 × 900 hp (670 kW) AIP (liquid oxygen) diesel engine,
*1 × electric sneak motor; three shafts
 | Ship speed =*18 knots (33 km/h) surfaced,
*16 knots (30 km/h) submerged
 | Ship range =  2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km) at cruising speed on surface
 | Ship complement =  30 officers and men
 | Ship sensors = 
 | Ship EW = 
 | Ship armament =*4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes in bow,
*4 × K-45 anti-submarine/anti-ship torpedoes
 | Ship notes = 
}}
|}

The '''Quebec-class submarine''' was the  [[NATO reporting name]] of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] '''Project 615''' [[submarine]] class, a small [[coastal submarine]] of the late 1950s.

==Background==
Prior to World War II, work on [[Air-independent propulsion#Closed-cycle diesel engines|closed-cycle diesel engines]] was carried out by S.A. Basilevskiy, who developed a powerplant codenamed REDO. The exhaust gases from the diesel engine were compressed and the [[carbon dioxide]] extracted and dumped overboard, before the purified gases were mixed with stored oxygen and fed back into the engine. A prototype of this powerplant was installed in the experimental submarine [[Soviet submarine M-401|''M-401'']], laid down at [[Nizhny Novgorod|Gorky]] on 28 November 1939 and launched on 31 May 1941.

''M-401'' made 74 cruises in the [[Caspian Sea]] including 68 dives and {{convert|360|nmi|abbr=on}} of submerged running on its closed-cycle plant. Further work was temporarily suspended due to the war but was resumed after hostilities ended, at Leningrad.<ref>{{cite book | last = Polmar | first = Norman |author2=Jurrien Noot | title = Submarines of the Russian and Soviet navies, 1718-1990 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 1991 | page = 128 | isbn = 0-87021-570-1}}</ref>

The data obtained from trials of ''M-401'' formed a basis for the design of the Project 615 ''Quebec''-class.

==Description==
Quebec-class submarines were fitted with two regular diesel engines and a third, closed-cycle diesel engine, which used [[liquid oxygen]] to provide [[air-independent propulsion]] while the submarine was submerged.

The Quebec class had a streamlined conning tower with a fixed snorkel housing at the rear end. They were armed with four torpedo tubes in the bow, for which no reloads were carried,<ref>"Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines" by Norman Polmar and Kenneth J. Moore, 2004</ref> and earlier boats also had a twin 25&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft gun faired into the forward end of the tower, making them some of the last submarines to be constructed with deck guns.

The Quebec-class was plagued with problems caused by liquid oxygen evaporation. Their endurance was limited to 14 days due to continuous evaporation of the oxygen and lack of a re-liquefaction system, and the propulsion system led to several serious incidents. In 1957 two submarines were lost due to accidents caused by the oxygen system. [[Soviet submarine M-256|''M-256'']] suffered a fire off [[Tallinn]] in the Baltic, which led to the loss of 35 men, while [[Soviet submarine M-351|''M-351'']] sank in the [[Black Sea]] with no casualties. Other incidents caused oxygen-fueled flames to burst out from the boats, which led to their crews to nickname them ''zazhigalka'' ("lighters") or [[Zippo]]s after the well-known cigarette lighter.
{{stack|[[File:M 261.jpg|thumb|M 261 on display at Museum of military technologies Oruzhie Pobedy]]}}
==Service==
Thirty units were built between 1952 and 1957<ref>John Jordan, Soviet Submarines, 1945 to the Present, London, Arms and Armour Press, 1989, pp.26-28 cited in Sean Maloney, 'To Secure Command of the Sea,' University of New Brunswick thesis 1991, p.316</ref> of the 100 planned before the project was abandoned and the Soviet Union developed nuclear-powered boats. The last ones were retired in the 1970s.

A unit, [[Soviet submarine M-261|''M-261'']] is on display in [[Krasnodar]] in [[Russia]] and another, [[Soviet submarine M-296|''M-296'']] re-christened as M-305 in [[Odesa]], [[Ukraine]].

==Notes==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Breemer |first=Jan S. |date=1989 |title=Soviet Submarines: Design, Development and Tactics |location=Coulsdon, Surrey |publisher=Jane's Information Group |isbn=0710605269}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Gardiner |editor-first1=Robert |editor-last2=Chumbley |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last3=Budzbon |editor-first3=Przemysław  |date=1995 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 |location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=1-55750-132-7}}

== External links ==
* [http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat_cid_152.html Walkaround ''M-305'' Quebec in Odesa]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101130064858/http://russian-ships.info/eng/submarines/project_615.htm Quebec class submarines - Complete Ship List (English)]

{{Quebec class submarine}}
{{Soviet and Russian submarines after 1945}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quebec-class submarine}}
[[Category:Submarine classes]]
[[Category:Quebec-class submarines| ]]
[[Category:Submarine classes of the Russian and Soviet Navy]]