November Class Submarine - Service History

Service History

The November class served in the Soviet Navy with the Northern Fleet (in 3rd submarine division, later in 17th submarine division). Four of the class (K-14, K-42, K-115, K-133) were transferred to the Soviet Pacific Fleet in the 1960s: K-14, K-42 and K-115 performed Arctic under-ice voyages whereas K-133 transferred to Far East on south route via Drake Strait (covering 21,000 miles during 52 days of submerged running). The surviving vessels were decommissioned between 1986 and 1990. Several of them have been scrapped already. All of the survivors remain laid-up hulks in Russian naval bases (K-14, K-42, K-115 and K-133 of the Pacific Fleet; K-11 and K-21 of the Northern Fleet). There are plans to convert the first submarine of the class (K-3) into a museum ship in St. Petersburg, but the hulk of submarine remains in Polyarny due to economic reasons and the "radiophobia" of some ecological organizations.