Soviet submarine B-39

32°43′15″N 117°10′28″W / 32.720738°N 117.174320°W / 32.720738; -117.174320

B-39 in San Diego, California
History
Soviet Union
Name	Б-39
Builder	Admiralty Shipyard
Laid down	9 February 1962
Launched	15 April 1967
Commissioned	28 December 1967
Decommissioned	1 April 1994
Homeport	Vladivostok
Fate	Museum Ship, Maritime Museum of San Diego, San Diego, California, United States (closed)
Status	to be scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type	Foxtrot-class submarine
Displacement	1,953 long tons (1,984 t) surfaced 2,475 long tons (2,515 t) submerged
Length	89.9 m (294 ft 11 in)
Beam	7.4 m (24 ft 3 in)
Draft	5.9 m (19 ft 4 in)
Propulsion	3 × Kolomna 2D42M 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) diesel engines 3 electric motors; 2 × 1,350 hp (1,007 kW) and 1 × 2,700 hp (2,000 kW) 1 × 180 hp (130 kW) auxiliary motor 3 shafts, each with 6-bladed propellers
Speed	16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) surfaced 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h) submerged 9 knots (10 mph; 17 km/h) snorkeling
Range	20,000 nmi (37,000 km) at 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) surfaced 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) snorkeling 380 nmi (700 km) at 2 kn (2.3 mph; 3.7 km/h) submerged
Endurance	3–5 days submerged
Test depth	246–296 m (807–971 ft)
Complement	12 officers, 10 warrants, 56 seamen
Armament	10 torpedo tubes (6 bow, 4 stern) Up to 22 torpedoes

B-39 was a Project 641 (Foxtrot-class) diesel-electric attack submarine of the Soviet Navy. The "B" (actually "Б") in her designation stands for большая (bolshaya, "large")—Foxtrots were the Soviet Navy's largest non-nuclear submarines.^[1]

In 2005, B-39 became a museum ship on display at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, California, United States. In October 2021 the decision was made to withdraw the deteriorating submarine from the collection and scrap her.^[2]

Her keel was laid down on 9 February 1962 at the Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad (now known as Saint Petersburg). She was launched on 15 April 1967 and commissioned on 28 December 1967.^{[citation needed]}

Transferred to the 9th Submarine Squadron of the Pacific Fleet, B-39 was homeported in Vladivostok. She conducted patrols and stalked U.S. warships throughout the North Pacific, along the coast of the United States and Canada, and ranging as far as the Indian Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. After the end of the Vietnam War, she often made port visits to Danang. During the early 1970s, B-39 trailed a Canadian frigate through Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island.^{[citation needed]}

In 1989, in the Sea of Japan while charging batteries on the surface, B-39 came within 500 yards (460 m; 0.25 nmi) of an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate of the US Navy. Both crews took pictures of each other.^[3]

B-39 was decommissioned on 1 April 1994 and sold to Finland. She made her way from there through a series of sales to Vancouver Island in 1996 and to Seattle, Washington, in 2002 before arriving in San Diego, California, on 22 April 2005 and becoming an exhibit of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. During her sequence of owners she acquired the names "Black Widow"^{[citation needed]} and "Cobra", neither of which she had during her commissioned career.^{[citation needed]}

When B-39 was made a museum, the shroud around her attack periscope was cut away where it passes through her control room. As built, a Foxtrot's periscopes are only accessible from her conning tower, which is off-limits in the museum. With the shroud cut away, tourists could look through the partially raised periscope (which is directed toward the USS Midway museum, some 500 yards (460 m; 1,500 ft) away). However, the unidentified and unexplained change gave the false impression that one periscope could be used from the control room.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, while stored in Vancouver, B-39 was used as a stage for scenes in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Small Victories" (S04E01).^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, B-39 was proposed to be sunk to create an offshore diving reef,^[4] but an outcry from teachers and enthusiasts ensured the sub would stay on display a while longer.^[5]

In 2012, B-39 was a stage for the film Phantom (2013).^{[citation needed]}

During the 2010s, B-39 had become badly rusted with large holes visible in the outer hull and upper deck. In October 2021, the Museum decided to withdraw the submarine from its collection. On February 7, 2022, she headed out to Ensenada, Mexico, to be scrapped.^[2]

• B-427, a Foxtrot on display in Long Beach, California
• Submarine U-475 "Black Widow", a Foxtrot class awaiting restoration on the River Medway, England

Wikimedia Commons has media related to B-39 (submarine, 1967).

• Submarine B-39
• B-39 Project 641, serial number 210 (in Russian)
• B-39 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego
• Soviet B-39 at Historic Naval Ships Association