Atomic submarine "Battle Mole". Secret development of the USSR

A person has long been drawn to the bottom, then to rise into the air, then to reach the very center of the Earth. However, this has been possible for some time only in fantasy novels and fairy tales. In our time, an underground boat is no longer just a fantasy. Successful developments and tests in this field were carried out. After reading our article, you will learn a lot of interesting things about such an apparatus as an underground boat.

Underground boats in literature

It all started with a flight of fantasy. In 1864, Jules Verne published a famous novel called "Journey to the Center of the Earth." His heroes descended into the center of our planet through the mouth of the volcano. In 1883, the book "Underground Fire" by Shusi was published. In it, the heroes, working as pickaxes, paved the shaft to the earth's center. True, the book already said that the core of the planet is hotter. Alexei Tolstoy, a Russian writer, achieved more success. In 1927 he wrote Hyperboloid Engineer Garin. The hero of the work broke through almost through the thickness of the earth, with every day and even with some cynicism.

All these authors built hypotheses that could not be justified. The matter remained for the inventors and engineers, the masters of the thoughts of the people of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. However, in the "Winners of the bowels" published in 1937, Grigory Adamov brought down to the ordinary achievements of the USSR authorities the problem of storming the earth's interior. The design that the submarine had in his book, as if it was written off from the drawings of the secret design bureau. Is this coincidence accidental?

First development

Now no one can answer the question about what formed the basis of the brave guesses of Grigory Adamov. However, judging by the scarce data, there were grounds for them. The first engineer who allegedly created the drawings of the underground apparatus was Peter Rasskazov. This engineer in 1918 was killed by an agent of German intelligence, who stole all the documentation from him. Americans, however, believe that the first development began by Thomas Edison. However, it is more certain that in the late 1920s and 1930s engineers from the USSR A. Treblev, A. Baskin and A. Kirilov performed them. They have developed the design of the first underground boat.

However, it was intended exclusively for utilitarian purposes related to oil production, in order to facilitate this process and meet the needs of the socialist state. As a basis, they took a real mole or earlier developments in this field of Russian or foreign engineers - it is now difficult to say. However, it is known that in the Ural mines, located under the hill of Grace, trial "swims" of the boat were carried out. Of course, the sample was experienced, rather a reduced copy, rather than a full-fledged working apparatus. Apparently, it resembled the later harvesters of coal. The presence of imperfections, reliable engine, slow rate of penetration was natural for the first model. It was decided to curtail the work on the podzemnoo.

Strakhov resumes the project

After a while the era of mass terror began. Many specialists who participated in this project were shot. However, on the eve of the war, they suddenly recalled the "Steel Mole". The submarine was again interested in representatives of the authorities. In the Kremlin, PI Strakhov, a leading expert in the field, was summoned. At that time he worked as a curator on the construction of the Moscow metro . The scientist in a conversation with D. F. Ustinov, who headed the Commissariat of Armaments, confirmed the opinion on the combat use of the submariner. He was instructed to develop, according to the surviving drawings, an improved experimental model.

War interrupts work

Urgently were allocated people, means, necessary equipment. The Russian submarine was supposed to be ready as soon as possible. However, the onset of the Great Patriotic War, apparently, cut short the work. Therefore, the state commission never adopted the experimental model. He was prepared for the fate of many other projects - the sample was sawn to metal. At that time, more airplanes, tanks and submarines were needed for defense. And Strakhov did not return more to the subterranean boat. He was sent to build bunkers.

German submarines

Similar designs, of course, were also dealt with in Germany. Any superweapon that would be able to bring the Third Reich world domination was necessary for leadership. In fascist Germany, according to information received after the war, there were developments of underground military vehicles. The code name of the first of these is Subterrine (the project of R. Trebeletsky and H. von Vern). By the way, some researchers believe that R. Trebeletsky is A. Treblev, an engineer who fled the USSR. The second development is Midgardschlange, which means "Midgard's Snake". This is the Ritter project.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet authorities discovered near the village of Koenigsberg an unknown source of the tunnel, next to which were the remains of a blown up structure. It was suggested that this is the remnant of the "Midgard Snake".

No less remarkable project was the Sea Lion (its other name is Subterrine). As early as 1933 Horner von Werner, a German engineer, had issued a patent for him. According to his idea, this device could develop a speed of up to 7 m / h. On its board could be 5 people, and the weight of the warhead was up to 300 kg. This device, in addition, could move not only underground, but also under water. This underground submarine was immediately classified. The project was in the military archive.

About him, probably, no one would have remembered, if the war had not started. Curated military projects, Count von Stauffenberg, extracted it from the archive. He invited Hitler to use the submarine to invade the British Isles. She had to quietly cross the English Channel and secretly pass under the ground in the right place.

However, these plans were not to be realized. Hermann Goering convinced Adolf Hitler that England was forced to capitulate much cheaper and faster than simple bombing. Therefore, the operation was not carried out, although Goering could not fulfill his promise.

Study of the project "Sea Lion"

After the victory over Germany in 1945 on the territory of this country, an unofficial confrontation began. Former allies began to compete for the possession of military secrets of Germany. Among some other developments, the German project of an underground boat called the Sea Lion fell into the hands of Abakumov, General Smersh. The group, led by Professors GI Pokrovsky and GI Babat, engaged in the study of the capabilities of this apparatus. As a result of the research, the following verdict was passed: the submariner can be used by the Russians for military purposes.

M. Tsiferov's development

His own underground projectile at the same time (in 1948) was created by engineer M. Tsiferov. He was even given an author's certificate of the USSR for the development of an underground torpedo. This device could move independently in the thickness of the earth, developing at the same speed up to 1 m / s!

Construction of a secret factory

In the USSR, meanwhile, Khrushchev came to power. The trump cards, military and political, were necessary in the Cold War . Engineers and scientists, to whom this problem was posed, proposed a solution that advanced the project of creating an underground boat to a new level of development. It was supposed to be done with an atomic engine, the type of the first submarines that had an atomic reactor. In a short time for the pilot production it was necessary to build another secret plant. By order of Khrushchev in early 1962 near the village Gromovka (Ukraine) was started its construction. Soon Khrushchev publicly declared that it was necessary to get the imperialists not only from outer space, but also from the ground.

Development of the "Battle Mole"

Two years later the plant produced the first underground Soviet submarine. She had an atomic reactor. The subterranean nuclear submarine was called the "Battle Mole". The design had a titanium case. The forage and nose were pointed. Underground boat "Battle Mole" in diameter reached 3.8 m, and its length was 35 meters. Of five people was a crew. In addition, the submarine "Battle Mole" was able to take on board a ton of explosives, as well as another 15 paratroopers. The nuclear reactor "Battle Mole" allowed the boat to reach speeds of up to 7 m / h.

Why was the nuclear submarine "Battle Mole" intended?

The combat mission, which was put before it, is the destruction of the missile mines and underground command bunkers of the enemy. The General Staff planned to deliver such "subterins" to the US using atomic submarines specially designed for this purpose. As the destination, California was chosen, where high seismic activity was observed in connection with frequent earthquakes. She could disguise the movement of the Russian submariner. The submarine of the USSR, in addition, could establish a nuclear charge and, having undermined it remotely, cause in this way an artificial earthquake. Its consequences could be attributed to an ordinary natural disaster. This could undermine the power of Americans financially and materially.

Tests of a new underground boat

In 1964, in the early autumn, the "Battle Mole" tests were conducted. Good results were demonstrated by the submariner. He managed to overcome a diverse ground, as well as destroy the underground command bunker that belonged to the conventional enemy. Several times the prototype was demonstrated to members of government commissions in the Rostov region, in the Urals and in Nakhabino outside Moscow. After that, mysterious events began. During planned tests, the nuclear-powered vessel allegedly exploded in the Ural Mountains. The crew, headed by Colonel Semyon Budnikov (possibly that's a fictitious name), died heroically in this way. The reason for this - allegedly a sudden breakdown, as a result of which the "mole" was crushed by rocks. According to other versions, there was a sabotage of foreign special services or even getting the device into an abnormal zone.

Minimizing programs

After Khrushchev was removed from the leading posts, many programs were curtailed, including this project. The subterranean boat again ceased to interest the authorities. The economy of the Soviet Union was cracking at the seams. Therefore, this project, like many other developments, such as the Soviet screen-flights flying in the 1960s and 1970s over the Caspian, was abandoned. The Soviet Union could compete with the United States in an ideological war, but it lost considerably in the arms race. It was necessary to save literally everything. This was felt by a simple people and understood by Brezhnev. The existence of the state was put at stake, therefore, advanced bold projects were not kept secret for a long time and curtailed not promising rapid superiority.

Are the works continuing?

In 1976, the press leaked information about the underground nuclear fleet of the Soviet Union. This was done for the purposes of military and political disinformation. Americans fell for this bait and began to build such devices. It is difficult to say whether such machines are being developed in the West and in the United States. Does anyone need an underground boat today? The photos presented above, as well as historical facts, are arguments in favor of the fact that this is not just a fantasy, but a real reality. How much do we know about the modern world? Perhaps, right now, I am plowing the earth with underground boats. Secret development of Russia, as, indeed, and other countries, no one is going to advertise.