Crew area

The next area is the living quarters for the sailors where the majority of the submarine crew live. Here are a relaxing area with a big table where sailors would probably eat and recreate, a kitchen, toilets and sleeping cabins for officers. A total of 84 navy men (16 officers, 16 NCO's and 52 sailors) manned the submarine during deployment. The sailors sleep in field beds on the lower decks, three cooks are responsible for providing meals to the submarine crew.

The diesel engine room

The next compartment is the control room for the diesel engines, with three similar control systems for the submarines three diesel engines. The 6 cylinder turbo diesel engines use a fuel injection system only now used in modern truck engines. The engines are compact, fuel efficient, quit and are even today considered as modern diesel engines.

The electric engine room

Next room is the electric engine room, here are three electric engines allowing the submarine to stay submerged for 90 minutes sailing top speed. The batteries, placed in other compartments deliver a total capacity of 16.000 Ah (a car battery has 60 ah). The batteries are being recharged when the submarine sails on the service with its diesel engines. There is one small additional ultra quit electric engine used for spying missions when the submarine needs to stay undetected.

The stern section

The last section in the stern of the submarine houses the drink water tanks, the fire prevention system (a kind of foam as water can not be used in an electric environment and the hydraulic system for the site and dept rudders. The five bladed propeller of the ship is also displayed in this part of the submarine. The more blades a ship has the quieter it can operate, hence the five blades for this spying submarine.

Conclusion

There are not many modern Soviet submarines converted to museum ships, the U-434 is probably one of the most interesting Soviet submarines that can be visited around the world. The submarine is in original state, with many added decoration which gives the feeling it could depart on a mission at any moment. Hamburg’s harbour is one of the biggest in the world, a visit of the U-434 can very well be combined with a harbour port tour. Comtourist recommends anybody to visit the U-434 who is in the neighbourhood of the famous hanseatic city.

Technical data: Project 641B (Tango class) attack submarine

History of the Soviet Project 641B submarine

The project 641B (Tango class) diesel submarine is a third generation Soviet diesel submarine and was the successor of the project 641 (Foxtrot class). The Tango’s larger hull compared to earlier Soviet diesel subs enabled it to have a significant higher battery capacity, also makes the clean lined hull it much quieter than its predecessors. The Tango can stay under water for more then a week before it has to snorkel and recharge the batteries. The overall performance of the Tango came very close to it’s nuclear counterparts. The first Tango was completed in 1973 at the Krasnoe Sormovo ship yard in Gorky. A total of 18 Tango’s were build in 2 versions.